PENANG Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang today officially signed off as a civil servant after 32 years, serving the last five years as the MBPP mayor.
Yew, 60, started off his career as an architect in the city council on March 1, 1991.
He then rose through the ranks as the engineering director, Building Department director and the city council secretary before assuming the top council position as a mayor on Jan 22, 2018.
While serving as the MBPP mayor, Yew, an avid cyclist, is noted for making the island a pedestrian and cyclist-friendly city, introducing side and back lanes transforming project, promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) programmes, especially through MakerSpace@MBPP in Balik Pulau, and also implementing several other infrastructure projects for the state.
A group of councillors, department heads and staff members were also present to bid him farewell as he placed his thumb on the digital fingerprint device to sign off at his office in Komtar at 5pm.
Also present was the MBPP secretary Datuk A. Rajendran, who is due to be Yew’s successor.
Yew also told Buletin Mutiara in an exclusive interview (before the signing-off ceremony) that one of his proudest moments during his tenure as MBPP mayor was being elected as president of the Malaysian Association of Local Authorities (Mala).
“Ever since I became MBPP mayor, I have been elected as president of Mala as well.
“And every two years we will have an election and until now, I still remain as the president. Thus, this shows that Penang really leads.
“We have a total of 102 local councils under Mala and all of them give me their full support.
“It is my fervent hope that Rajendran will continue to lead the local governments through this platform,” said Yew.
He also thanked the Penang government for the mandate given to him.
“I also appreciate the support from all the councillors, MBPP staff and the public.
“I hope that the council will continue its transformation plan to make Penang a better state for everyone,” he added.
Yew also thanked Buletin Mutiara for their excellent coverage of every MBPP programmes all these years.
When asked about his plan after retiring, Yew said he will take a break first.
“From there, I will see where I will go after that,” he concluded.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Siti Nuratikah Rahmat