GEORGE TOWN, Jan 10 ― Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow today told city councils to focus on its “soft power” through public engagement and communication as a way to avoid racial and social-political conflict.

He said it is through soft power that the local government can communicate with stakeholders and implement social programs for the people.

“When we talk about infrastructure, that is hard power ... so when we talk about social programmes, it is soft power that the local government must pay more attention to,” he said in his speech at the swearing-in ceremony of a new lineup of councillors for the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) at the City Hall here.

Chow said it is now a challenging time for both the federal and state governments in terms of social politics and racial tolerance.

“The federal government is facing many issues that could worsen the racial tolerance among the society if the situation is not managed well so here, in Penang, we have to focus on how to protect the harmony, mutual understanding and tolerance among the people here,” he said.

He said Penang can start by looking after its people to ensure their livelihoods are protected and ultimately to increase the quality of living for all Penangites.

“This is so that Penang can continue to prosper and be the hope of the nation,” he said.

He said Penang similarly faces challenges in social politics and racial tolerance, urging the local government to support the state in improving the quality of life for its people.

“At the local government level, you have to work to strengthen what I said and not to create situations that can cause racial conflict or conflict within the community due to our policies,” he said.

He said the implementation and enforcement of policies must be planned meticulously and with full stakeholders’ engagement to avoid conflict.

Chow said 2020 is the year that the project he had been championing for many years, the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), will finally be implemented.

“I believe this will be the year that we can finally implement projects under the PTMP,” he said.

As for the state’s focus on creating a “cleaner, greener, safer and healthier” Penang in the past 10 years, Chow said many of these aspects were achieved but the state will continue to focus on them.

“We can double our efforts to be two times cleaner, two times greener, two times safer and two times healthier,” he said.

Earlier, MBPP Mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang in his speech said MBPP had focused on public engagement to obtain the best city solutions and will continue to do so this year.

“Design thinking workshop will be held to collect data, analyse the data and resolve city issues according to priority,” he said.

He also said town hall sessions will be held whenever the need arises.

Today, a total of 24 councillors were sworn in for MBPP where 13 were re-appointed and 11 are new faces.

Out of the 24 councillors, nine are from DAP, seven from PKR, two from Amanah, two from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and four from non-governmental organisations.