Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 111 Home Ownership Scheme
In the Municipal Council Hall, Zheng Yi still sat in the first seat, eating a whole pot of hot pot alone. On the long table, the other four people shared a hot pot.

There is one big disadvantage of eating hot pot, especially the copper hot pot from the north, and that is that the water will make noise.

The sounds of burning charcoal and water are not loud, but when seven or eight people eat hot pot together, the noise becomes quite loud.
In addition, the table was long and there was no microphone, so when Zheng Yi spoke at the head of the table, the entire table had to remain absolutely quiet so that people at the back could hear him clearly.

If you make the slightest noise while eating, you might miss important information. But what Zheng Yi is going to say today is extremely important, and everyone is eager to listen.

This resulted in a very funny meal, with everyone looking as listless as rabbits.

Apart from the sounds of water and charcoal, the only sound was Zheng Yi's chattering. Except for a few people who were nearby and dared to occasionally speak in a low voice, no one else dared to speak.

"This northern hot pot actually has its merits. The soup is clear, and it's all seasoned with this bowl of sesame paste. So it's different from how we southerners eat hot pot, where we pay three for one or four for one."

"In other words, it takes three or even four chopsticks of meat to finish a single bite of a vegetarian dish. Only when you use more meat and let the soup absorb the aroma of the meat, and then eat the vegetables with it, will it taste good."

"Usually, they use frozen tofu, pickled garlic, and Chinese cabbage. In fact, it is mainly used to relieve greasiness. Eating in copper pot means eating meat. Sometimes I wonder why this kind of hot pot is not eaten much in our southern part of China."

"Do you think it's because our animal husbandry in the south is underdeveloped and there's not so much meat to eat? Even though we're considered wealthy, we don't have the habit of eating meat in such large mouthfuls?"

"Come on, eat meat, eat meat, eat less vegetables. I'm treating you to this meal. I went out this time and brought back a lot of money.
I won’t mention my own share, as it was made with the Penang Petrochemical project, so even if it was public funds, it was exactly 10 million US dollars, no more, no less.”

"I know that everyone has mortgaged their assets, even most of their wealth, to support me for this Penang Petrochemical project. This money has been earned back.
I hold a 30% stake in this, and I don't plan to pocket it. Let's see, do you pocket it and pay the bank interest first, or keep it in the public account for the time being and use it to do something for the people of Penang?"

After he finished speaking, the entire venue fell silent, and everyone couldn't help but stare wide-eyed.

What the hell?
Ten million US dollars,

Is this the profit?

Zheng Yi did not explain what the 10 million US dollars was about, so everyone seemed to be acupunctured by the sunflower acupoint-pressing finger. They stared at Zheng Yi blankly, not daring to respond, and forgot to move. They all froze.

Different experiences naturally lead to different perspectives. Ten million US dollars may be just the cost of an oil survey for an oil giant, but for these Southeast Asian Chinese, it is the entire wealth of all of them combined.

How did the money come back?
Isn't this equivalent to giving them a factory for free?
Of course, there are not many tycoons who can share the money from this. When Penang Petrochemical was raising funds, only top tycoons could invest.

For a moment, everyone was staring at the top ones. They even stopped eating hot pot and just watched how they were going to cook it. Zheng Yi was the only one left in the room, slurping his food with relish.

These people were also confused. You know, this money is equivalent to their entire fortune, and it is all pledged in the bank with interest.

But there was Zheng Yi himself setting an example above, and there were so many other people watching them below. Besides, the money came in a really strange way for them. Zheng Yi hadn't known anything about this before he talked about it, and they really didn't know what had happened.

It's basically the same as what Zheng Yibai gave them.

Who would have the nerve to put money in their pocket like this?
There is no free lunch in the world. You put so much money into your pocket without any explanation. Aren’t you afraid that the money will bite you?

But it's no wonder that everyone is confused when they suddenly encounter such a big thing. To say that they don't want so much money, carry forward their style and make contributions, and donate it all to the public treasury, this... is really a bit too crazy.

After a while, Tan Kah Kee frowned and said, "If we use this much money to confiscate the public treasury, what will we do with it? Will we use it to buy weapons and build the army and police?"

Zheng Yi ate his meat and shook his head. "No need to buy weapons. I'll pay for them myself. Besides this 10 million, I have another 10 million in US dollars, which is mine."

Everyone: "…………"

Zheng Yi said, "The problem in Penang right now is that there are too many people and too little land. With so many people coming in, there are too few public services and infrastructure. There are too many men and too few women. Many people's wives and children are in China and they are not allowed to bring them over."

"Penang will continue to expand, and many large European and American factories will come to invest, so there may still be a shortage of labor.
This is not a sustainable way forward, and for many people, Penang is just a place to work and earn money, and they don’t consider it their home at all.”

"As the saying goes, those who have constant property have constant determination. I plan to vigorously develop real estate in Penang and implement a public housing program where everyone has a house. This way, every resident in Penang can live in a house. Only when they have a house will they regard Penang as their home." "So, if you all agree to use this 10 million US dollars as public funds, I plan to use it to build houses, about six stories high, with water, electricity,

Anyone who works in Penang and has a Penang ancestral home can apply for such a house. The fee is only a small symbolic amount, around 100 dollars.”

"Of course, this kind of free housing will be smaller. Each room cannot exceed 30 square meters, and at least a family of three must live in it."

“As long as you work for Penang and contribute to it, after a certain number of years, everyone will have a share of this house.

Only when ordinary people truly own property in Penang will they consider themselves Penangites, love Penang from the bottom of their hearts, and stand up when Penang encounters problems in the future.”

“If ordinary people in a city don’t even have a house or a place to stay, then no matter how well the city develops, what does it matter to them? Why should we expect them to feel a sense of belonging to the Penang community?”

Everyone: "…………"

There is no other meaning. This is purely to learn from Singapore. The main purpose is to give people a sense of belonging.
Moreover, he built his houses to be six or seven stories high, and each room was only about 30 square meters.

In addition, by then everyone in Penang will be armed.

If the Japanese really managed to break in, he would let them know what it meant to have bunkers everywhere.

In fact, the purpose is the same as that of Singapore after the 80s in history.

The city is small, has a large number of immigrants, lacks local identity, and does have such a large amount of money, so the city itself does not need to rely on land finance.

Directly dividing the house can solve many problems at once.

Of course, just like Singapore, there is also a less glorious purpose:
"Let the people live in their own houses, the houses don't have to be big, but they will also have their own weaknesses,

For the municipal government, management will be much easier, tax collection will be easier, and it will be easier to assign tasks and organize mobilization when something happens. The city's public security will also be greatly improved."

"If you're willing to invest in this housing, we'll build the communities under the Chamber of Commerce. Whoever puts up the money will build it themselves, and whoever gets to live there first and who gets to live there later will also be up to you."

"As long as it's generally in accordance with the city's master plan, that's fine."

Simply put, the people who have been allocated houses will be easier to control and manipulate. Giving the power to build and distribute houses to various chambers of commerce will further increase the control of each chamber of commerce over its members.

In Southeast Asia, money can buy power, and power can produce money. This is a basic rule that has been practiced for hundreds of years.

Moreover, Zheng Yi deliberately left a bug in it, that is, although the money was in the public account, the right to build the house was their private property.

It is equivalent to being both the developer and the builder yourself.

Then I will open a cement factory, a brick factory, and a reinforced concrete factory, and take on all the work in the entire construction team.

After hearing this, everyone really understood.

If you want power and fame, just build more houses, make less money from it, and distribute all the houses you build to your fellow villagers. From then on, you will be guaranteed to have the final say among your fellow villagers and maintain a stable position.

If they want to make more money, they can just do a little financial manipulation. They can organize their own construction team to build houses. It's a matter of transferring money from one hand to the other, and most of the money can be washed into their own pockets.

After a while, it was still Chen Jiageng who took the lead and was the first to express his opinion: "Since it is for the public welfare, I, Chen, will naturally do my duty."

(End of this chapter)