MPPP and MPSP demonstrated their commitment to gender responsive and participatory budgeting by allocating an annual grant of RM200,000 (USD$60,000) each to the three year project which began in 2012.

PPR Jalan Sungai has a total of 529 units of flats with a population of around 2500 and PPR Ampangan has 250 units of flats with an estimated population of around 1200. The fact that the local authorities were the owners and managers of the low cost flats helped tremendously in facilitating acceptance of the GRB project staff by the communities living there.

Nonetheless many members of the community initially kept a cautious distance from the GRB team. The strategy adopted by the team was to work with the Resident Association (RA) committee at each of the two PPRs.

The first key exercise was to conduct a baseline demographic survey of the communities, to obtain sex-disaggregated data on the age, ethnic, occupational, socio-economic and educational profile of the communities.

Armed with that information, the second phase involved organising focus group discussions (FGD) as an avenue for the residents to voice their concerns and needs.

The focus groups were organised along age and gender lines. Having focus groups of boys, girls, men, women and people with disabilities (PWD) ensured diversity in representation and sensitivity to gender differences.

The FGDs explored issues / problems faced by specific groups in the PPR communities and their recommended solutions. Through this process, six key concerns (building maintenance, safety, cleanliness, parking, recreational facilities and residents’ civic consciousness) were identified in PPR Jln Sungei. In PPR Ampangan the seven priorities established were: recreational park, safety of premises, traffic lights, site for small business enterprises, site for community activities, securing perimeter of building and cleanliness.

This then led to the third phase of the participatory budgeting process which was to have the residents of the PPRs prioritise their areas of concern through a voting process.

Every resident aged 10 and above was entitled to vote and was given five voting slips with a nominal value of RM100 (US$30) each. The voting slips were colour coded to indicate the age group and “gender” was indicated by punching a hole on the appropriate male/female column.

At PPR Jalan Sungai 1667 residents were entitled to vote, with the number in PPR Ampangan being 886. A three-day voting period was provided and voting was allowed till nine at night to ensure eligible residents had ample time to participate in the process.

This unique social experiment is a first for Penang and Malaysia. It represented a democratic exercise wherein stakeholders were provided with a platform to “voice” their priorities and concerns. It was a “bottom-up” approach as opposed to the conventional “top-down” approach where the authorities make decisions on how limited resources are to be expended. Indeed it was an exercise in people-centred participatory democracy which empowered the community.

The fourth and final phase of the project involved the local authorities acting on the top three priorities identified by each of the PPRs through the voting process. For PPR Ampangan, the main priority was for the upgrading of the recreational park for the residents and it is indeed heart-warming and satisfying to note that the MPSP has expended RM66,000 (US$22,000) to carry out and complete this exercise.

As for PPR Jalan Sungai, the residents chose building maintenance as their top concern and this has resulted in the MPPP providing a special allocation for the painting of the flats and the entire cleaning contract for the common areas of the PPR being awarded to the Residents Association committee instead of private contractors as was the norm.