14 August 2025 – [Talk] Empowering Penang: The Case for Greater Decentralisation

Empowering Penang: The Case for Greater Decentralisation

Speakers: YB Gooi Hsiao Leung & Prof. Wong Chin Huat
Moderator: Dato’ Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
Date: 14 August 2025
Time: 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Venue: Conference Hall, Penang Institute

Note: Entrance is FREE. Join us in person or watch the livestream on Penang Institute’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

Abstract

As Malaysia continues to evolve within a federal framework, the question of how much power should be devolved to state governments remains critical — especially for progressive and economically vibrant states like Penang. While calls for decentralisation are not new, the urgency for reform has grown in the face of uneven development, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and growing demands for local autonomy.

This forum brings together two prominent voices to explore the structural and political pathways toward meaningful decentralisation in Malaysia. Prof. Wong Chin Huat, a leading scholar on federalism, democracy, and electoral systems, will provide a deep dive into the institutional reforms needed to empower states. Joining him is YB Gooi Hsiao Leung, ADUN for Bukit Tengah and former Member of Parliament, who will share practical insights from his experience navigating both state and federal governance.

Together, they will examine:

The current limitations of Malaysia’s federal system.
Why decentralisation matters for Penang’s future.
Legal, political, and fiscal reforms needed to empower state governments.
How states can lead the charge for a stronger, more democratic Malaysia.

This forum is organised in conjunction with the reactivation of the Select Committee on Federal-State Relations in the Penang State Assembly.

About the Speakers

YB Gooi Hsiao Leung, Chairman of the Select Committee on Federal-State Relations, ADUN for Bukit Tengah and former Member of Parliament for Alor Setar and legal practitioner.

Prof. Wong Chin Huat is a political scientist at Sunway University working on electoral system, parliamentary democracy, federalism and ethnic politics. Before that (2012–2019), he was the head of Political Social Analysis and fellow at Penang Institute. He is a member of Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek SAMA). He writes political commentaries in English, Malay and Chinese.

About the Moderator

Dato’ Dr Ooi Kee Beng (黄基明博士) has been studying the process of nation-building in Asia and analyzing Malaysian politics over the last three decades. He was appointed Executive Director of Penang Institute in 2017.

He received his Ph.D. in Sinology from Stockholm University, Sweden. Before returning to the region, he worked at Ericsson Electronics in Sweden for 22 years during the heyday of that company’s mobile phone era, while studying in Stockholm University. Courses that he taught at Stockholm included Chinese History, Chinese Philosophy and General Knowledge of China. His major academic interests were in Language Philosophy and Ancient Chinese Political and Strategic Thinking.

He joined Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (now ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute) in 2004, becoming its Deputy Director from 2011 to 2017.

He writes regular opinion pieces for regional and global mass media on Malaysian matters and regional matters. These have been compiled in seven separate volumes. Many of these works can be accessed at www.wikibeng.com. He was Visiting Associate Professor at the City University of Hong Kong (2009–2012); Adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Southeast Asian Studies (2009–2011); He is the Founder-Editor of Penang Monthly and ISSUES (Penang Institute) and ISEAS Perspective (ISEAS). He is also Series Editor for Trends in Southeast Asia (ISEAS).

Event Summary

Dr. Ooi Kee Beng opened the forum by noting Penang Institute’s long-standing push for federalism reform, highlighting the report produced by the institute in 2022, Enabling Decentralisation and Improving Federal-State Relations in the Federation of Malaysia. He expressed that with the revival of the Federal-State
Relations Select Committee, as spearheaded by YB Gooi Hsiao Leung and the backbenchers, this was an opportune moment for Penang to take leadership, and explore how federal and state powers can collaborate in the most effective and efficient manner to benefit all states in Malaysia.

YB Gooi Hsiao Leung then framed the discussion as the start of wider public engagement on federalism and the return of state autonomy. He set out three essentials of a genuine federation: clear division of powers, meaningful fiscal federalism, and greater cooperation between the central and the state. In practice, Malaysia remains highly centralised: the federal government dominates education, healthcare, policing, transport and even local services, leaving states with narrow jurisdictions.

Dr. Wong Chin Huat placed Malaysia’s system in comparative perspective, noting it is more centralised than many other federations (Australia, Germany) – and even some unitary states (United Kingdom, Indonesia). He traced this to the 1948 Federation of Malaya framework, that was then carried into 1963, and to the asymmetric arrangements for Sabah, Sarawak and (then) Singapore. He emphasised the importance of shifting from piecemeal, state-specific deals to a national, constitutional approach, which he termed as “MA63+”. He continued to urge the formation of an Inter-Governmental Committee 2.0 that includes the federal government, Sabah and Sarawak, and all 11 states in Peninsula Malaysia. Decentralisation, he stressed, should function as insurance for all states and empower the local government to avoid reproducing centralised power at the state level.

As a way forward, YB Gooi highlighted the bipartisan revival of the State-Federal Relations Select Committee and three priorities: raising public awareness of federal versus state responsibilities, building interstate collaboration with plans for a symposium and advocating for the establishment of a Federal-State Commission to review existing state powers and state finances and propose a more equitable system of federalism in Malaysia.