KUALA LUMPUR — Lim Guan Eng has agreed to stop his public campaign over Penang’s controversial quit rent hike, at least for now, after DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke stepped in to arrange a meeting between the Bagan MP and Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
In a Facebook post today, the former Penang chief minister said he welcomed Loke’s move and would hold back from making public statements or press conferences on the matter until the three-way meeting takes place.
“Since the quit rent hike was first mooted last year, I have exhausted all internal mechanisms with the state government and the Penang Chief Minister before making my disagreement public,” Lim said, explaining that he had only gone public after attempts to resolve the issue privately had come to nothing.
Lim had been openly critical of how the Chow administration handled the sharp revision of quit rent rates in Penang, with some landowners seeing their bills rise by more than 3,000 times. The increases have hit owners of village houses and low-cost strata units particularly hard, with many saying they are unable to afford the new rates.
The Bagan MP, who served as Penang chief minister from 2008 to 2018, had called on the state to review its method of calculating quit rent and at one point suggested that voters would not have backed Chow had they known rates would rise so drastically. Chow has defended the calculations, saying Lim had omitted key details such as lot size and land use in his criticism.
The public back-and-forth prompted Loke to step in earlier today. The DAP secretary-general described the dispute as an “unhealthy and inappropriate way to address internal differences on public policy matters” and said Lim’s decision to go public was “highly inappropriate” given his standing as a former party secretary-general and chief minister.
Loke also directed Chow to take the concerns raised seriously and respond in a “balanced, responsive and considerate manner.”
Despite agreeing to pause his public remarks, Lim assured affected landowners that his offices would remain open to those seeking help.
His parliamentary office in Bagan and his state assemblyperson office in Air Putih have so far assisted up to 800 landowners with their appeals against the hike, including helping them fill out the necessary appeal forms. — March 21, 2026