I beg to differ witth you and with the cacophony of protest that has emerged from the inappropriate actions of Hindraf and the Raja Petra Kamaruddin supporters at the prime ministers open house during the Eid celebrations recently.

For starters, it was not an appropriaate moment or a place in which to carry out an embarassment. The second point I make is this. If Hindraf wish to further damage their credibility and the impact of their statement made in 25 November 2007 when they cleverly captured the attention of the world in what was a morally and politically defensible act, they can go around playing Tamil movies and tainting their credibility with a link to Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

What moral high ground they won in November 25/2007 has been squandered through emotional and unnecessary tactless displays of bad manners unlikely to win them any further support from any worthwhile quarter. This is perhaps where the Indians of Malaysia can learn from the more politically savvy and tactically superior Chinese and Malays. The Chinese have made quiet progress with the Batang Kali incident.

That particular incident was one, like the enslavement of Tamils in Malaysia, a matter Britain sought to exculpate itself from for decades.

Whereas Hindraf ventilated their greviance through a high profile demonstration in 2007, the Chinese worked quietly behind the scenes in achieving the same result more effectively.

The culprit that ordered the actions of the Malaysian government against Hindraf on 25 November 2007, was the hand of the British government through its second secretary in Kuala Lumpur aat the British High Commission. It was not Abdullah Badawi acting of his own volition or initiative. He simply reacted under pressure. But I will rest that point here for the present.

Raja Petra Kamaruddin, apart from his very poor command and structure of any language he choses to express himself in, has found himself in the hot water he belongs in not for no good reason.

At a personal level I do not see any political or other value in any of the posts he has made to date other than his inate ability to appeal to an ignorant sub culture of those who value ‘coffee shop gossip’ as being fact and his irresponsible colourful and colourable rhetoric, truth.

Many of his allegations are made without substance. It is for the best part mere conjecture which he relies on to provoke and sensationalise the lives of others. Much more is defamatory and criminally so. The last one I read of a posting by the man would have earned him a jail sentence in many a liberal jurisdiction for his overtly racist taunts and comments about the Malays and by implication their religion Islam. There can be no justification for such slurs against anyone and there were none offered by Petra Kamaruddin.

You are probably as old as myself and would probably remember the May 13 incident, the more recent politically inspired but racially directed pogroms in Indonesia and other parts of the world including Australia (Sydney in summer of 2006). Thats an outcome no one wants to repeat or experience again for whatever reason. In provoking such hatred Petra Kamaruddin is being generous with the lives of others and has no right to the privilege of freedom for his indulgences.

There is never a time when tolerance is not a necessary pre requisite for negotiation. Hindraf are in the hands of ignorant, poor unprofessional and reckless advisors who are playing off the emotional vulnerability of its supporters and exploiting it for pyrric effect. Much of the legal fraternity appears to suffer from this malady.

Never in the contemporary history of Indians in Malaysia has such a spontaneous movement acting with intrepid determination succeeded in unsettling a deeply entrenched culture of dominance in politics by a group like the MIC and its cohorts in the BN reliant on a cultural mindset of total subservience by this minority with such devastating effect. The March 8 election result has by most accounts of foreign observes abroad and with a presence in Malaysia been attributed to the Hindraf action and their ability to have split the vote where it counted.

To now resort to the mundane worthless acts of gate crashing to make a point (what point) at an event such as the Eid open house celebration with Raja Petra Kamaruddin supporters in tow was to demolish the entire gains of November 25 2007 through sheer idiocy.

Negotiation is an art form that requires careful thinking and planning devoid of the emotion that often presents itself as an attractive distraction.

It requires sacrifice and not selfishness. There is much that the Hindraf supporters can learn from those who planned the November 25 event. There is a lot more they can now learn from them in their absence. It requires bold measures that only bold intelligent and committed people are capable of. Hindraf and the spouse of its founding members are certainly not whats required to fruther their cause.

I have had the unfortunate opportunity to have read the Hindraf pleadings before the High Court in Britain if it did reach that forum. It was poorly drafted, it failed to disclose any valid cause of action, it failed to properly particularise any of its claims and it was embarassing. In fact it was begging to be struck out. But thats the standard of the Malaysian legal profession and Hindraf and other clients of this group cannot be blamed for it.

I now go to the root of all of the problems people in opposition and in government face in Malaysia. There is an incompetent and highly self centered culture that dominates the legal profession in Malaysia. The bulk of its lawyers are large fish in a very small pond who perpetuate myths about themselves and from time to time make that fatal contribution to the elevated position of the bench. The rot begins with the inadequacy of post admission experience and continues unabated till practitioners are either caught out, retire or fall on their own sword. In one short sentence, it is the arrogance of ignorance.

There is too much “LA Law” type of a mentality that has permeated every level of the profession there. The advice they proffer to their clients is dangerously inadequate, lacking in substance demonstrative of a shallow understanding of the law and those procedures that go with it whilst their presentation both orally and in writing reflects a lack of probity and skill.

Lawyers are required to be forthright and honest and at all times, work in the interests of justice by upholding the law and defending the honour and integrity of the courts they operate in (and that includes parliament the highest court). In the process they must also of course balance these professional obligations with their obligations towards their clients.

Judging from statements made by or prepared by Theresa Kok’s lawyers, Anwar Ibrahims lawyers, now Hindraf and Raja Petra Kamaruddin (yes even he is entitled to honest and quality legal representation) and having observed the outcomes and public outpouring from information and tactics employed and encouraged by their lawyers, it is not difficult to see where the root of all of the confusion lies and it must be checked.

Gopal Raj Kumar

I would not go that far Albert Schweitzer. You require brains to get then nation to pay attention to your plight. You cannnot achieve anything by pretending to be a famous German scientist. Thats brainless you turd!!

Hinddraf have no leadersip in place and use crude methods to only get them disliked and lose any supporters they otherwise may have had.

However it is the government that lost control in the situation. Instead of cashing in on that failure by government they have squanderd their opportunities by behaving like real coolies.