IT is common for the government of the day to present budgets annually. The same goes for the opposition who would present a shadow cabinet. Malaysia even witnessed political parties BERSAMA and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) tabling its own budget.
For the first time, a Penang-based NGO has tabled a shadow budget. This is rather ironic since Perikatan Nasional (PN) – the state opposition bloc – failed to table its shadow budget.
The shadow budget is authored by John Ooh Sin Hwa with the cooperation from the Legislative Research Group & Civil Society Fiscal Taskforce and presented on Friday (Oct 30) – on the same day Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow tabled the state budget.
Ooh was former special officer to then Penang deputy chief minister I Datuk Mansor Othman until 2018. He is at present the Impact Madani Welfare Organisation advisor in Penang.
The shadow budget is made up of two key sections. Section 1 provides an executive fiscal assessment and financial overview and section 2 is made up of its recommendation framework. driven as an analysis not an accounting- driven budget.
The budget presented also does not seek to dismiss the good work of the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan state government in Penang.
Ooh pointed out that the budget is explicitly not designed to blindly condemn, or dismiss the good work of the state executive. Rather, it seeks to offer a rigorous, alternative analytical framework—identifying areas of fiscal leakage, proposing innovative non-tax revenue streams, and re-prioritizing capital investments towards high-impact public welfare.
The alternative budget calls for reforms in many areas of revenue gathering instead of continuing state dependence on land premiums and taxation of local government services.
The recommendations include a framework that outlines a 50% state government linked companies (GLC) consolidation strategy. A total of eight state GLCs were identified.
The eight are Invest-in-Penang Bhd, Georgetown World Heritage Incorporated, Penang Infrastructure Corporation Sdn Bhd, Penang Science Cluster, Penang Global Tourism Sdn Bhd, Penang Agrotech Sdn Bhd, Penang FC Sdn Bhd, Penang Waste Management Corporation Sdn Bhd.
Its strategic rationalization measures are projected to capture RM23 mil to RM25 mil annually in direct net treasury savings by eliminating duplicate corporate administrative overheads and grant allocations as well as leakages.
PN at the federal level too failed to table a shadow budget. – Nov 2, 2026.
Main image credit: Kwong Wah
