PNB seeking ways to counter rising anti-tower protest
The meeting also outlined how PNB plans to overcome and counter the negative public perception through social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
PNB Merdeka Ventures is a wholly-owned unit set up by PNB has to undertake the RM5 billion skyscraper project in the land it bought from Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad in 2000.
PNB paid RM310mil or RM220 per sq ft to buy the land but the market value of the land has since appreciated to RM800 per sq ft today. The land was initially given to UEM Berhad in exchange for the infrastructure giant building the National Stadium complex in Bukit Jalil for the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
As at 2pm today, 204,658 out of 8,815,780 Malaysian Facebook users have clicked “Like” on the “1M Malaysians Reject 100-storey Mega Tower” page to signify their opposition to the PNB project.
The page was created anonymously hours after the prime minister announced the proposed new tower during his 2011 Budget speech on October 15.
People have been writing on the Facebook wall almost every minute since and are blaming the Najib administration for promoting grandiose projects, despite the best efforts of the government in denying that any public funds will be used.
“We need a MEGA HELP for the poor not a MEGA TOWER for the rich,” said Facebook user Nizam PerppisLd, illustrating the typical comments which have appeared on the page.
Many of the protestors on Facebook have also voiced their dissatisfaction by using “placards” from the page’s 165-image collection as their profile pictures, featuring messages like “RM5 billion to help stop child abuse”, “RM5 billion. Improve facilities for the disabled”, and
“No mega tower! We want world class public transport system!” among others.
In contrast, a pro-Warisan Merdeka page titled “Kami Sokong Menara Warisan” is stagnating at 2,272 fans — about 1.1 per cent of the anti-Warisan Merdeka page fan population — at 2pm.
The page is also filled with comments by anti-Warisan Merdeka protestors while majority of the page’s posts are made by the page administrator instead of its fans.
Analysts have warned that dismissing the growing opposition to the proposed 100-storey Warisan Merdeka project on Facebook can erode Barisan Nasional’s (BN) support among the youth in the general election.
To date, there are 8,815,780 Facebook users in Malaysia who make up a 33.70 per cent penetration of the country’s population, according to a Facebook statistics website called Facebakers.com.
The 18-24 year age group comprises 38 per cent and the 25-34 year age group comprises 33 per cent, totalling 71 per cent of the Malaysian Facebook population.
Malaysian Facebook users account for 52.16 per cent of the country’s online population and has made the country the 16th largest Facebook population in the world.
With more than four million eligible but still unregistered Malaysian voters, political parties are racing to get them on the electoral rolls.
Last year, Umno registered the highest number of new voters at 24,818, followed by DAP with 17,756 and PAS with 16,987, according to the Election Commission (EC).
The EC has also stated that there are currently 11,381,193 registered voters nation-wide, with 191,970 new voters registered during the second quarter of the year.
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have also derided the grandiose skyscraper project as wasteful and accused Najib of trying to “out-Mahathir” former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who embarked on a massive development spree after he took power in 1981 by building highways, the Penang Bridge, opening new industrial estates and oversaw the construction of the Petronas Twin Towers, the KL International Airport, the Sepang International Circuit, intra-city train lines, several ports, and the new administrative capital Putrajaya and its neighbouring Cyberjaya, which was central to the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) project.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak appeared to distance himself from the controversial tower when he made it known that the project did not originate from him but PNB.
He nevertheless defended it, saying that it would have a “multiplier effect” on the economy and help drive it forward, in addition to providing an attractive commercial centre for Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera businesses alike.
In his 2011 Budget speech, Najib said the rationale for the Warisan Merdeka tower was similar to that of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, in that it would serve as a symbol of a modern and developed Malaysia.
The 19-acre development area of the mega project — which includes a condominium and a shopping mall — is sited on the car park and land adjacent to Stadium Negara and Stadium Merdeka.
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