Archive for category Indians
Samy Vellu’s days are numbered – Subra as next MIC leader
Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has become the most unpopular politician in the country and probably in Malaysian history, being booed, jeered, car blocked, thrown stones, rotten eggs and even slippers almost every day in public places.
This public rejection of Samy Vellu has spread to MIC and Barisan Nasional (BN) functions, with other MIC and BN leaders becoming also the target of public resentment and fury, as illustrated by the meet-the-people session led by Perak Mentri Besar and Barisan Nasional chief Datuk Seri Mohamad Tajol Rosli Ghazali in Buntong, Ipoh yesterday.
The political days of Samy Vellu, MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister for over 28 years, are numbered. Moves in fact are afoot for the former deputy president, Datuk S. Subramaniam, to become the next MIC leader as Samy Vellu is slowly phased out of the political scene.
I expect Subra to make a political comeback on Sunday on his nomination as a Barisan Nasional candidate for the 12th general election and preparatory to his joining the Cabinet – something Subra had been denied and been waiting for nearly three decades. Read the rest of this entry »
Freedom of the press
By Ishwar Nahappan
Dr Mahathir thrust a deep dagger into the heart of fundamental and civil liberties of Malaysia. This is the legacy that he will be known best for. Progressively under his rule the concept of “Free and Fair” elections were thrown out of the window.
The expression “Free and Fair” incorporates many underlying principles including legal, ethical, and internationally accepted historical conventions. It does not just mean the freedom to vote. An open free press to express its views without duress and manipulation is a fundamental liberty which is the absolute right of ALL MALAYSIANS OF ALL RACES.
The newspapers and visual media (government controlled) are blanketed and filled with goodies and ang pows from the barisan government and all opposition activities are blocked and blacked out by a pliant press and media under the control and ownership of the constituent parties of barisan. UMNO or UMNO members control the New Straits Times, Berita Harian, The Malay Mail, the Utusan, etc. MCA control the Star and Nanyang Siang Pow and Datuk Samy Vellu’s personal family members control the Tamil Nesan.
Freedom of the press in Malaysia is like a wayang kulit, now you see it now you don’t. Or a water tap which can be turned on and off or reduced to a trickle whenever the government so chooses.
The press deliberately ignores:
• Any mention by the opposition of continuing breaches of civil liberties, the incidents of endemic corruption, acts of wasteful expenditure, the list could go on and on but I will save that for another day.
• It now appears that Bukit Bintang has 5,000 new postal voters who have suddenly appeared without any logical or legitimate rhyme or reason. One should ask WHY and the reason being is to neutralise one community’s voting strength.
• The leadership of the MIC is fast losing any residual credibility with the Indian community. Its great leader Datuk Samy Vellu has been harassed on two occasions in the last few days and just yesterday with eggs and slippers. Consequently more and more Indians are joining the DAP, totally frustrated with Samy Vellu’s self-centered and self-aggrandizing leadership. Last Thursday evening, at a dinner I hosted in Klang, 250 ordinary Indians, many of them from the MIC openly joined the DAP.
• Samy Vellu can’t even speak out and on behalf of 300 men, women and children who were demonstrating peacefully and calling them criminal to boot. Perhaps he should look at a mirror himself and adjust his coiffeur (hairdo), it might help him see things more clearly. A meaningful response to this horrendous act by the police was made by Datuk Anwar yesterday. His speech was reported in The New Paper.
Fortunately for us today and what makes this election a watershed is the power of electronic media communication both through the internet and the sms. The Thaipusam celebration which was boycotted by the Indian community at large resulted in the number of devotees visiting Batu Caves reducing to a generous estimate of approximately 250,000 people as opposed to the usual 800,000 – 1 million people. Samy’s days are numbered. It could not happen sooner. He will be the fourth of a pack of rotten apples who came to power in the seventies who so spoiled Malaysia. I wish him a peaceful retirement.
Samy Vellu should apologise to ISA detainees and peaceful demonstrators for equating them as “criminals”
MIC President and the sole Malaysian Indian Cabinet Minister for over 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has become the most unpopular Malaysian Indian leader in the country, being booed and jeered almost daily by the Malaysian Indians in the country.
Last night, as reported by the press, Samy Vellu was again the target of boos and jeers by Indian crowds in Prai, Penang. This is the New Sunday Times report: “Mob jeers Samy Vellu, blocks his car”:
BUTTERWORTH: MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu went through a harrowing experience last night when some 100 people blocked his car and demanded the release of Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) protesters detained at an illegal rally in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The crowd surrounded and banged his car as he was leaving SRJK (C) Chung Hwa 3 in Prai here after attending a function at 9pm.
The works minister was earlier escorted to the car after a mob started to jeer him. Read the rest of this entry »
Samy Vellu “lost his marbles” over Ishwar joining DAP
MIC President and the sole Malaysian Indian Cabinet Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu seems to have “lost his marbles” (to do something senseless or stupid) making him to publicly declare “DAP telah mati”.
I don’t ordinarily watch television news but last night I caught a snippet of television news and saw Samy Vellu in a rampage against the DAP with the ultimate swear term: “DAP telah mati”.
DAP has been active, productive and vibrant for 42 years in Malaysian politics and is looking forward to the “battle of the century” in the upcoming general election. DAP will not die just because Samy Vellu wishes so.
What I am more concerned is how the longest-serving Cabinet Minister in Malaysia could so embarrass himself as to make a fool and public spectacle of himself over national television with such intemperate language and conduct.
Samy Velllu has never been under greater pressure as he is fighting for his political life.
The last straw must be Sunday’s announcement by the bearer of one of the most illustrious names in MIC history, more famous than the name of Samy Vellum, Ishwar Nahappan, joining the ranks of the DAP. Read the rest of this entry »
Tribute to Athi Nahappan and Janaki
(Media Conference Statement welcoming Ishwar Nahappan as the latest member for DAP in Penang on Sunday 10.2.08)
Let me introduce Ishwar Nahappan, who has taken the momentous step to join the DAP.
But let me say a few words about his parents, TAN SRI and PUAN SRI ATHI NAHAPPAN who were instrumental in the formation of the MIC and who independently contributed much to our country.
Athi Nahappan has an honoured and unblemished name in the annals of Malaysian history, and among his most famous contributions to Malaysia is the report bearing his name, the Athi Nahappan Report on Local Government where he called for restoration of local government elections.
In 1974 , Athi Nahappan , who was then the deputy president of MIC , was appointed deputy minister for law by TUN Abdul Razak (the father of Dato Najib Razak). In March 1976 TUN Hussein Onn (the father of DATO Hisamuddin ) appointed Dato Nahappan as the second cabinet minister representing the MIC – Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of law and justice portfolios.
Tragically , just two months after his appointment as full minister , DATO Athi Nahappan died of a sudden heart attack while he was personally addressing a dinner gathering held in his honor by over a 1000 MIC members and other leading Malaysian Indians from all over the country.
Athi Nahappan was a totally self made man who came to Penang at the age of 9, alone with his father, not knowing a word of English or Malay. Read the rest of this entry »
Ishwar Nahappan joins DAP
(Media Conference Statement by Ishwar Nahappan on joining the DAP in Penang on Sunday, 10th February 2008 at 10.30 am)
My father Tan Sri Athi Nahappan died 32 years ago . On April 4th 1976 , one month before he died he made a speech at a dinner in his honor by the Penang State MIC at Wisma Perseketuan .
Let me read you a paragraph from his speech .
“The Government is now concerned with the eradication of poverty of all the races. This will be emphasized in our 3rd Malaysia Plan .
“Poverty is to be found in every community. In solving poverty we should not think of Malay poverty, Chinese poverty or Indian poverty. There can only be one poverty and that is NATIONAL POVERTY which must be solved regardless of race. I am aware that the Prime Minister (Tun Hussein Onn) is determined to eliminate the poverty of the nation as a whole. The answer to poverty is the equal distribution of opportunities, income and wealth. The MIC is determined to work with the govt to ensure that this will happen.”
A few weeks ago Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said “There are not just poor Indians, but also poor Chinese, Malays and other Bumiputras as well. This is why eradicating poverty among Malaysians, and I stress the word Malaysians, has been on our agenda and remains one of our priorities.”
Ladies and gentleman, what Prime Minister Badawi said was first mentioned by my father 32 years ago. Obviously, nothing has changed and the Barisan government continues to make empty promises.
Events of recent months have clearly shown that the MIC leadership has dismally failed in their duty to ensure that the Indian community has had equal opportunities or equal distribution of wealth and income as outlined by my father in 1976. In fact, the MIC has totally neglected to address the desperate conditions faced by large sections of the Malaysian Indian community. This transcends every facet of human life and endeavor.
Whether it is in EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION, HOUSING, CORPORATE WEALTH or simply EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES, the Indian Community as a whole has fallen behind and missed out these last 28 years. Let me give you some facts. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib apology on demolition of Hindu temple on Deepavali eve – six more apologies by Umno/MIC leaders awaited
Posted by Kit in Indians, nation building on Monday, 4 February 2008
The front-page headline of the night edition of China Press is “Najib apology – demolition of Hindu temple on Deepavali eve”.
This is a manifestation of Makkal Sakti (People’s Power) but it is a grave error for the Barisan Nasional and MIC leadership to think that such an apology is acceptable or satisfactory answer to the Malaysian Indian political awakening and uprising following the seminal 30,000-people Hindraf protest in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 25 last year.
If Najib and the top Umno leadership are serious in wanting to making amends for the long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural religious polarization of the Malaysian Indians resulting in their becoming the new underclass in the country, Najib’s apology must be followed by at least six other apologies and ensuing actions, such as:
• Apology by Selangor Mentri Besar, Datuk Seri Khir Toyo as the No. 1 man in the Selangor state government who must bear full responsibility for the demolition of the Hindu temple in Shah Alam on Deepavali eve;
• Apology by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for Umno insensitivity in holding the Umno General Assembly last year on the day of Deepavali – when it would be regarded as highly insensitive and offensive if MIC, MCA or Gerakan had held their national delegates meeting on Hari Raya Aidilfitri for instance.
• Apology by the Umno Youth deputy chief, Khairy Jamaluddin, the Prime Minister’s son-in-law in publicly castigating the Indian news vendors for “anti-national” actions in having a press holiday when the Umno general assembly was being held resulting in the policy speech of the Prime Minister and Umno President at the Umno general assembly not given coverage the next day – when it was the fault of Umno in fixing its general assembly on Deepevali, long a press holiday.
• Apology by MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister for over 28 years in refusing to admit the fact of the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians – a stand which he reiterated during his recent visit to India;
• Apology by Abdullah for the detention of the five Hindraf leaders under the Internal Security Act for fighting the cause to end the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians – and the five should be released immediately and unconditionally.
• Apology by Samy Vellu for the 20-year-long Maika Telekom Shares hijacking scandal in betraying the rights and interests of Malaysian Indians who had put their trust in him by placing their life-savings in Maika shares.
Are these six apologies from the UMNO and MIC leaders forthcoming to demonstrate that there is now a genuine change of heart in the top Umno leadership to meaningfully end the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians in the country?
(Speech at the DAP ceramah in Buntong, (Ipoh Barat) on Sunday, 3rd February 2008 at 10 pm)
Samy Vellu dropped as BN candidate in next general election?
Would Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu be dropped as a Barisan Nasional candidate in the next general election?
This question does not sound so far-fetched and unthinkable now as the query which I posed a fortnight ago as to whether Samy Vellu would back out of contest in Sungai Siput in the next general election during my two-day 14-place “whistlestop” campaign in Perak to highlight the DAP national general election theme of “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia”.
I had said on 12th January that Samy Vellu had become the lightning rod of the long-suppressed anger and frustration of the Malaysian Indians over their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization in the country and the very personification to the Malaysian Indian community of everything that is wrong and unfair about Barisan Nasional policies in the past three decades which have reduced them into the new underclass in Malaysia.
I said:
“If Samy Vellu re-contests in Sungai Siput in the next general election expected within 65 days, again leading the MIC election campaign, MIC parliamentary and state assembly candidates throughout the country will face massive rejection by the Malaysian Indian voters.
“Are MIC leaders trying to find a way to convey and convince Samy Vellu that the best service he can do to the MIC after being the MIC President and sole Malaysian Indian Minister for close to three decades is for him to fully absorb the anger and frustration of the Malaysian Indians at the MIC failure to check the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians by accepting full personal responsibility and not contesting in the next general election – thus saving the MIC slate of parliamentary and state assembly candidates from the full wrath of the Indian community in the polls?”
Undoubtedly, my statement a fortnight ago struck a chord in the MIC and there were moves behind-the-scene to prepare for an alternative leadership – which has angered Samy Vellu resulting in the reported sidelining of the MIC leaders concerned. Read the rest of this entry »
I owe no apology to Samy, who owes apologies to me, MIC, Malaysian Indians, BN and Malaysia
Yesterday, MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu demanded that I apologise to the Indian community for asking the people to light candles in a temple.
Bernama in its report “Samy Vellu Demands Apology from DAP Chairman For Insulting Hindus” demanded that I apologise to all Hindus for “insulting their religion”.
He said that M. Kulasegaran and I had called for Hindus to bring candles into their temples, which he described as “tarnishing the holiness of the religion”.
Samy Vellu said: “He doesn’t know anything about Hinduism. He belittles the religion. Kulasegaran, despite being a Hindu, is also insensitive in the matter because as Hindus, we are only allowed to light a certain type of lamp or fire for religious ceremonies in temples, not candles.”
Bernama also quoted Samy Vellu as demanding that I should “make an open apology for using Hindus house of worship for political purposes”.
Samy Vellu, who had been MIC President and the sole Indian Cabinet Minister for more than 28 years, is not only fighting for his political life – but is waging a losing battle.
This has become such a great burden for him that it has affected his judgment, words and deeds.
It has been said that when a person is under extreme stress, it could be seen from his increasingly irrational utterances and actions – and this can be seen in the case of Samy Vellu.
I do not owe Samy Vellu any apology as it is Samy Vellu himself who owes me, the MIC, Malaysian Indians, the Barisan Nasional and the Malaysian nation at least five apologies. Read the rest of this entry »
Hindu festival marked by protest in Malaysia
By Thomas Bell in Kuala Lumpur
Telegraph, UK
Last Updated: 5:13pm GMT 23/01/2008
Hindus in Malaysia mortified their flesh with hooks and spears as they delivered a protest against the government which has imprisoned their popular leaders without charge.
With elections in the multi-racial country expected within weeks, ethnic grievances pose a mounting threat to the party that has governed for all of the 50 years since independence.
The annual festival of Thaipusam is big event for Malaysia’s two million ethnic Indians, who make up 7 per cent of the population.
Devotees hang limes and pots of milk from hooks in the flesh of their backs, and pierce their faces with spears, to thank the god Murugan for good fortune or ask him to grant their wishes.
This year the festival was marked by boycotts and hunger strikes. Read the rest of this entry »
Pak Lah’s announcement of Thaipusam as public holiday – Thousand pities
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, culture, Indians on Monday, 21 January 2008
Thousand pities that Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s announcement yesterday of Thaipusam as a public holiday is seen as highly opportunistic and self-serving to salvage Samy Vellu’s political life and Barisan Nasional’s political fortunes in the coming polls than the start of a serious and genuine national commitment to end the long-standing marginalization of Malaysian Indians as the new underclass in the country.
Although the Prime Minister had said at his Ponggol speech in Bukit Bintang on Saturday that he would consider the call to make Thaipusam a public holiday, it was clear that he had decided to use the “Thaipusam a public holiday” as a gambit to restore the political stocks of Samy Vellu and the Barisan Nasional among the two million Malaysian Indians, which was why there was the front-page story in the Star on Friday “PM to hold BN council meeting on polls” which reported: “On Sunday, Abdullah will meet 20,000 MIC members and supporters at the Cheras Badminton Stadium where he is expected to make a major announcement.” Read the rest of this entry »
Abdullah – declare Wednesday January 23 as first Thaipusam national public holiday
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Indians on Sunday, 20 January 2008
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should immediately declare Wednesday, January 23, 2008 as the first Thaipusam national public holiday instead of just thinking about it.
Abdullah told a Ponggal Festival event at Bukit Bintang last night that he would consider declaring Thaipusam a national public holiday.
In the past decades, both inside and outside Parliament, DAP has been calling for Thaipusam to be declared a public holiday and not just a state holiday in Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Johor.
As there is nothing more to consider, Abdullah should immediately announce Wednesday as the first Thaipusam public holiday so that Thaipusam could be celebrated by all Malaysians throughout the country beginning on January 23, 2008.
Will Keng Yaik redeem his political sins in his last few weeks in Cabinet?
Gerakan Minister for Energy, Water and Communications, Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik, with over two decades as Federal Minister, must bear responsibility together with the MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister for over 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu for the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians into a new underclass.
Keng Yaik should redeem his “political sins” in his last few weeks in Cabinet before the dissolution of Parliament in the next six weeks by speaking up for the Indians instead of undermining their cause for justice.
The least Keng Yaik should do is to defend the Gerakan Youth vice chief S. Paranjothy who had said that the 30,000 Indians had taken part in the November 25 Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur “to express their frustrations and anger” because the community has been “marginalized, oppressed and ignored”.
Keng Yaik should tell the the Umno Youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein that Paranjothy had neither committed any wrong nor indiscipline in speaking the truth and blaming Hishammuddin and the Deputy UMNO Youth Leader Khairy Jamaluddin for racial posturing and inciting racial sentiments among Malays to gain political mileage – citing against the former the keris-wielding episodes and against the latter his berating of the Indian news vendors when the UMNO presidential address of Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was not carried in the press the next day as UMNO general assembly fell on Deepavali, with the next day an annual press holiday. Read the rest of this entry »
Postmortem on Hindraf rally (1)
Posted by Kit in Hindraf, Human Rights, Indians on Thursday, 17 January 2008
By Helen Ang
The authorities are now intimidating Hindraf donors. And Samy Vellu was in India, saying everything’s hunky-dory, defending his Umno bosses. While civil society here is grappling still with the ramifications of the Nov 25 rally.
You may recall that Haris Ibrahim and Nat Tan were the two opinion shapers in cyberspace advancing antipodal schools of thought on the rally.
On Nov 24, Haris posted “Why I will not walk this Sunday and why the walk must not proceed”, while Nat vice versa. Readership for both websites – the People’s Parliament and Nat’s blog – experienced a sharp spike during this period; ours eliciting 105 comments.
Increased site traffic is an indicator of the influence that political blogs wield as opinion movers when information is blacked out or distorted in the mainstream media. In this regard, the lacuna was a dereliction of duty, that is, if MSM did not altogether abdicate duty at the behest of their political masters.
The Indian grassroots agitation must have been building up discernibly, yet the Hindraf groundswell washed upon us as suddenly as the tsunami. Reporters, not Haris and Nat, are paid to do the job of informing the public. When you fork over your money for your day’s paper, you’re part-financing their operations to keep you informed. They did not give readers value for money. They sinned by omission.
Now with the benefit of hindsight, it might be instructive to revisit the events of November that opened the curtain to the Hindraf saga. Read the rest of this entry »
Is MIC politics the most violent of all political parties – and if so, why?
I received SMS from Malaysian Indians expressing alarm at the statement by Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu yesterday (reported in the Sun) that he wanted to be MIC President for another ten years.
I do not know whether Samy Vellu was serious about wanting to be MIC President for another ten years but the alarm he created among Malaysian Indians to have him around for another ten years as the MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister is very real and serious indeed!
This is because the Malaysian Indians have never felt more deprived, alienated and marginalized from the mainstream of national development after Samy Vellu’s more than 28 years as the MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister – a fact which Samy Vellu had stubbornly refused to concede.
The investigations into the gangland-style murder of Johore MIC Deputy chief and Tenggaroh State Assemblyman, Datuk S. Krishnasamy last Friday seems to have taken a totally strange and surprising twist. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Samy prepared to go in repentance to Cabinet tomorrow to admit marginalisation of Malaysian Indians?
The more MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu speaks, the more he ties himself up in circles.
For instance, his recent statement calling on Indian community not to fall into despair highlight his failure as the sole Malaysian Indian Cabinet Minister for more than 28 years to ensure that Malaysian Indians enjoy an equal place under the Malaysian sun.
In making the appeal to the Indian community “not to fall into despair”, Samy Vellu admitted that he was aware that many Indians were dissatisfied with several matters such as employment and promotions, especially in the public sector. This was reported by New Straits Times yesterday which carried the headline “Samy Vellu wants to hear views of Indian youths”.
Can Samy Vellu explain why after three decades as the sole Malaysian Indian Minister in Cabinet, large swathes of the Malaysian Indian community have “fallen into despair” as illustrated by the unprecedented gathering of 30,000 Indians all over the country who congregated in Kuala Lumpur in response to the Hindraf rally on November 25, which I explained in Parliament the very next day as the “cry of desperation” of Malaysian Indians at their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization in being the new underclass in Malaysia?
But Samy Vellu has taken the public stance of denying that there is any marginalization of the Malaysian Indians, which he reiterated to the Indian media in his highly-humiliating visit to India recently where he was snubbed repeatedly by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi both in Chennai and New Delhi.
If Samy Vellu could admit that there are Malaysian Indians who are “falling into despair”, why is he not prepared to admit that the very cause of this “community despair” is none other than the long-standing marginalization of the Malaysian Indians by MIC and Barisan Nasional policies?
[The Samy Vellu jinx strikes again, preventing the uploading of the second part of this statement]
Three years ago, Samy Vellu was prepared to admit to the problem of the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians. Why is he not prepared to make such an admission now although the marginalization process had worsened in the past three years?
In the first parliamentary meeting after the 2004 general election, DAP MP for Ipoh Barat M. Kula Segaran and I had proposed to Samy Vellu that a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians should be established to find a solution to the crisis faced by Malaysian Indians which should be regarded as a Malaysian problem and not just an Indian problem.
In June 2004, when Samy Vellu and I were attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Selection Committee, I handed him an official letter proposing the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians and asked him to take the issue to the Cabinet for approval. I suggested to Samy Vellu that he be the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee to highlight the issue of marginalization of Malaysian Indians and to propose a masterplan to eradicate it.
[Identified - one paragraph here (which could not be uploaded) which caused the Samy Vellu jinx. Leave it to IT exorcists to solve this mystery]
What is most significant was that when I handed the letter and proposal to him in June 2004, he raised no objection whatsoever and even commended the proposal as a good one.
This could only meant that in June 2004, Samy Vellu agreed that the Malaysian Indians faced the problem of marginalization. Why has Samy Vellu done a somersault and is now denying that Indians in Malaysia have become a new underclass because of marginalization – although he admits that the plight of the Indian community is so desperate that it is pushing many Indians into despair?
Is Samy Vellu prepared to go in repentance to the Cabinet tomorrow to admit that the MIC and Barisan Nasional policies had failed and marginalized the Malaysian Indians, and that it is this long-standing marginalization which is the reason for the 30,000-people Hindraf gathering in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 25 and that the Cabinet must formulate and announce a New Deal Policy to give justice and fair play to the marginalized Indians?
Will Samy Vellu contest again in Sungei Siput?
Will the MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu contest again in the Sungei Siput parliamentary seat in the next general election which is around the corner?
The question seems to be a no-brainer as the answer appears to be indisputable “yes”.
The truth may not be that simple however.
Many would have no doubt that Samy Vellu would be returning to contest the parliamentary seat of Sungei Siput for the ninth time in the next general election, which he won for the first time in 1974.
There is however no doubt that Samy Vellu has become the lightning road of the long-suppressed anger and frustration of the Malaysian Indians over their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization in the country – as evidenced by the seething ferment demanding change among Malaysian Indians.
Samy Vellu is now the very personification to the Malaysian Indian community of everything that is wrong and unfair about Barisan Nasional policies in the past three decades which have reduced them into the new underclass in Malaysia.
Samy Vellu had compounded this offence in openly going against the struggle of the Malaysian Indians for a just and equal place under the Malaysian sun when he openly denied in India last week that Malaysian Indians are victims of long-standing marginalization.
This is not only untrue – but Samy Vellu knew that he was not speaking the truth! Read the rest of this entry »
Samy Vellu should resign as Minister for continuing to work against the cause of Indians to end marginalisation
MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu was again snubbed by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in New Delhi while attending the “People of Indian Origin” Conference, after he had been conspicuously snubbed by the Tamil Nadu leader in Chennai last week, where Samy Vellu waited for three days for an appointment which never came!
Samy Vellu had said he wanted to explain to Indian leaders the “the real situation concerning the Indian community in Malaysia” but clearly the MIC President has lost all credibility in Tamil Nadu which has 70 million Tamils and no Tamil leader is prepared to lend him their ears.
Never before in his over 28 years as the sole Malaysian Indian Cabinet Minister has Samy Vellu brought more shame and dishonour to the MIC, government and Malaysia.
I call on Samy Vellu to resign as Works Minister not so much for being regarded as a “persona non grata” by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and other Indian leaders, but because he has continued to work against the cause of the Malaysian Indians for justice and fair play and an end to their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization.
This is because Samy Vellu has continued to maintain that there had been no marginalization of the Malaysian Indians during his current visit to India – when he knows in his heart of hearts that this is untrue.
The least that Samy Vellu, as President of MIC which claims to represents the rights and interests of the two million Malaysian Indians, should so is to openly acknowledge the fact and reality of the marginalization of the Indians in Malaysia causing them to become the new underclass in the country – for it is only with the MIC ending its denial syndrome about the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians that the Barisan Nasional government could abandon its denial complex on the same issue.
Is Samy Vellu afraid of losing his Ministerial position should he speak the truth and own up to the marginalization of the Indians in Malaysia?
Samy Vellu should cut short his India trip to get Hindraf 5 released from ISA since there is no evidence of their terrorist links
MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu should cut short his current India trip and rush back to the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to uphold justice for the Hindraf Five wrongly detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) since he has admitted to the Indian media that there is no evidence about Hindraf’s terrorist links.
Samy Vellu had told the Indian media in Chennai that the Malaysian government did not have any evidence that Hindraf had connection with Tamil Tigers or terrorists. He was responding to questions from reporters in Chennai.
This is the Q & A on the NDTVG.com where Samy Vellu admitted that there is no evidence that Hindraf has terrorist links:
NDTV: Do you have any evidence to back your government’s charge that the Hindraf has links with terrorists?
D S Vellu: Hindraf said they would fight like the Tigers, the way the Tigers are fighting in Sri Lanka. It was by Vedamurthy. After he talked like that, we did an investigation and it was felt that he may have gone there for training.
NDTV: Do you have evidence of this?
D S Vellu: No. It is our suspicion.
It was because of the alleged Hindraf’s terrorist links that the Hindraf Five, P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganabatirau, M. Manoharan, R. Kenghadharan and T. Vasantha Kumar were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan had told Malaysians immediately after their ISA arrests on 14th December 2007 that the detention of the Hindraf Five was “imperative” because “they clearly have links with international terrorist organizations”. (NST 15.12.07) Read the rest of this entry »
Obama’s historic Iowa victory should spur historic role by Malaysians Indians in next general election
In the 21st century of globalization and information/communications technologies, Malaysians and their leaders cannot continue to live like frogs in the well.
When Hindraf leaders sought the understanding and support of political leaders in India about the plight of Malaysian Indians, they were labelled as anti-national, disloyal and traitors of the country.
But now, the MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu is on a extended trip to India on precisely the same purpose – although with very little results, but he has not been condemned as being anti-national, disloyal or traitors to the country.
If Malaysian leaders do not want to be “frogs in the well”, they must be sensitive to the fast-changing global developments and world opinion.
The continued marginalization of the Malaysian Indians will become an international issue, even more so for the Indian diaspora with a population close to Malaysia’s population – over 20 million.
The eyes of the world are on two awakening giants and they are both in Asia – China and India. The Indian company, Tata, for instance, is poised to take control of the British icons, Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, and within the next decade, India will become a bigger economy than the UK, the first Commonwealth country to do so. Read the rest of this entry »
-
You are currently browsing the archives for the Indians category.
