Archive for category Indians
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 »
Samy Vellu’s triple shame in Chennai – apologies from mulitiple personalities warranted
I learn from a posting on my blog that the Malaysian Nanban today reported on its front page that the MIC President and sole Malaysian Indian Cabinet Minister for over 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu suffered grave humiliation in Chennai when the Tamil Nadu chief Minister S. Karunanidhi refused to meet him, despite Samy Vellu waiting for an appointment for three days.
Samy Vellu had said when he arrived in Chennai on Dec. 30 that he would meet Indian leaders including Karunanidhi and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to India to attend the three-day People of Indian Origin Conference in New Delhi starting on January 7.
He said he would explain “the real situation concerning the Indian community in Malaysia” to the Indian leaders in view of the “negative publicity” from the Nov. 25 Hindraf demonstration which drew support from 30,000 Indians from all over the country.
Samy Vellu was made to cool his heels in Chennai, waiting for three days and repeatedly phoning up for an appointment with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister but to no avail.
Nanban reported the displeasure of Samy Vellu at being given the cold shoulder, complaining at the ingratitude of Karunanidhi when the MIC President had treated the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister like royalty when Karunanidhi had previously visited Malaysia.
Samy Vellu has brought shame not only to himself, but to MIC, the Malaysian Indians and the Malaysian nation. For this he owes the Malaysian Indian community and all Malaysians a fulsome public apology.
This is the Samy Vellu’s first shame in Chennai.
He suffered a second shame in Chennai. Read the rest of this entry »
Samy Vellu anti-national, disloyal and traitor in his current trip to India?
MIC President and Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu is in India to attend the three-day conference for People of Indian Origin (PIO) and he is taking the opportunity to meet the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to explain to them the position of the Indian Malaysians in the country.
When Hindraf leaders sought to explain to Indian political leaders the plight of the Indian Malaysians as a new underclass after long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization, they were accused of being anti-national, disloyal and traitors of the country.
Can Samy Vellu be equally denounced now as anti-national, disloyal and traitor for involving Indian leaders in the Malaysian domestic affairs with regard to the plight of the Indian Malaysians?
Samy Vellu is organizing a mammoth 15,000-people rally at the Cheras Badminton Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on January 20 to pledge support for Barisan Nasional and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Read the rest of this entry »
Next general election in next 80 days or it will be mid-year or third quarter
MIC Deputy President Datuk G. Palanivel is confident that the Indians will continue to vote for Barisan Nasional because of the hard work put in by the MIC.
“The Indians are loyal to Barisan. They know we have served our constituencies and cultivated the relationship with the people.”
Palanivel was clearly “whistling in the dark” (i.e. keeping the courage up) when the MIC leaders are facing the greatest crisis of confidence and credibility in its party history.
In the past 50 years, the Indian voters were taken for granted by the Barisan Nasional as the unquestioned vote-bank, but there is now a sea-change in the political attitudes of the Malaysian Indians as a result of their political awakening caused by the high-handed and arbitrary disregard of their basic feelings and fundamental rights in their cry of desperation for government attention and action to end their long-standing marginalization as the new underclass in Malaysia.
Nanyang Siang Pau reported that the next general election will be held in the next 100 days. I believe that the polls will be held in the next 80 days or it will be held much later.
A date which had been bruited as given by the Prime Minister’s Feng Shui maestro is March 15, 2008.
I believe if the polling date is not held by the middle of March, we are looking earliest at mid-year or after.
This is because the next Parliamentary meeting is scheduled to begin on March 17, which will be officially opened by the Yang di Pertuan Agong for a 23-day meeting for the Dewan Rakyat till April 23, 2008 to be followed by the Senate meeting.
It would be ridiculous and highly contemptuous of Parliament and the Yang di Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament when it has just been officially opened as there would be no national emergency, like a loss of confidence by the government-of-the-day, to justify such an action. Read the rest of this entry »
Samy “flunked” test 40 months ago – now “rat running across the street”
Posted by Kit in Indians, Parliament, Politics on Thursday, 27 December 2007
MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister for more than 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu announced that the Prime Minister has asked him to monitor all Hindu temples and submit a report on their status periodically.
He said the Prime Minister also wanted the MIC to forward to him and the Cabinet a list of temples that might have to be demolished for various reasons.
In declaring that the MIC “will completely take over” the sensitive issue of Hindu temples, several observations and questions are in order.
Firstly, is this an election gimmick until the next general election expected in March is over – when the various State Governments will again assert their untrammeled power and authority like the arbitrary, high-handed and insensitive demolition of the of the Sri Mariamman Temple at Padang Jawa in Shah Alam a few days before Deepavali?
Secondly, is there a total moratorium and halt on the demolition of Hindu temples, and if so, for what period – is it only until the next general election?
Thirdly, if Samy Vellu is now given additional responsibilities and powers by the Prime Minister on the question of Hindu temples in the country, he must thank Hindraf and he should ask the Prime Minister to release all the five Hindraf leaders under the Internal Security Act immediately and unconditionally – and they should be charged in court and be given their fundamental right of an open trial to defend themselves to any charges that the Attorney-General wants to prefer against them.
It is moot however that this latest announcement is going to reverse Samy Vellu’s political fortunes, who is akin to the Chinese saying of a “a rat running across the street with everybody shouting ‘smack it’”. Read the rest of this entry »
Hishammuddin threat – Tsu Koon should requisition BN Supreme Council meeting to stop bullying/intimidation
Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has denied that his statement on what Gerakan Youth deputy chief S. Paranjothy said was a threat.
Hishammudin said he was not threatening anyone nor being emotional when he said that Umno Youth and Barisan Nasional would sever relationship with Gerakan if the Gerakan Acting President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon could not give a satisfactory explanation and response on Paranjothy’s statement for saying two things:
• that the 30,000 Indians who took part in the Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on November 25 did so to express their frustration and anger because the community had been “marginalized, oppressed and ignored”.
• Blaming Umno leaders, particularly the Umno Youth Leader Hishammuddin and Deputy Umno Youth Leader Khairy Jamaluddin for racial posturing and inciting racial sentiments among Malays to gain political mileage – citing as examples the keris-wielding episodes against the former and the public castigation of the Indian news vendors by the latter 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 the Umno general assembly fell on Deepavali, with the next day an annual press holiday.
Hishamuddin’s denial that his statement on Paranjothy was a threat raises the question what would be Tsu Koon’s reaction if the Umno Youth had issued his “threat”.
Hishammuddin was however denying the undeniable as everyone, except him, would have recognized that he had issued an ultimatum and a threat.
Tsu Koon had issued a plaintive complaint that Hishammuddin should not make statements ”that can mar relationship between component parties within Barisan” when he should have berated Hishammuddin for his arrogance and presumption in threatening that the Barisan Nasional would sever relationship with Gerakan as if all the 14 Barisan Nasional component parties and their leaders, including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, have no minds of their own and were all at the Umno Youth leader’s beck and call! Read the rest of this entry »
Gerakan to expel Paranjothy – George Orwell’s Animal Farm dictum reigns supreme in BN
What a weak and panicky start for Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon as Gerakan’s No. 1 – immediately buckling under pressure by Umno Youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to take disciplinary action against the Gerakan Youth vice chief S. Paranjothy who dared to speak publicly what others only muttered privately. – that the 30,000 Indians who took part in the Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on November 25 did so to express their frustration and anger because the community had been “marginalized, oppressed and ignored”.
Paranjothy had also blamed, and rightly, Umno leaders, particularly the Umno Youth Leader Hishammuddin and Deputy Umno Youth Leader Khairy Jamaluddin for racial posturing and inciting racial sentiments among Malays to gain political mileage – citing as examples the keris-wielding episodes against the former and the public castigation of the Indian news vendors by the latter 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.
There can be no doubt that if a private vote had been taken among the Gerakan leaders, in fact, even MCA and MIC leaders, all would have agreed with the sentiments expressed by Paranjothy!
Hishammuddin had immediately issued an ultimatum to Tsu Koon with the threat of severance of ties with Gerakan not only by Umno Youth but also by Barisan Nasional unless Tsu Koon could give a satisfactory response and explanation.
What was Tsu Koon reaction? Although he protested that “it is not right” for Hishammuddin to issue the threat and ultimatum of severance of all relationships with Gerakan, Tsu Koon clearly panicked, which was why he complied instantly by referring Paranjothy to the Disciplinary Committee and even anticipated the disciplinary process by saying that the Gerakan Youth vice chief would be suspended or expelled! Nanyang Siang Pau’s headline today is “Gerakan to sack Paranjothy”!
Is Barisan Nasional a coalition of equals of 14 political parties? Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysian Indian political awakening – must not fall into trap of being tarred “anti-Malay”
MIC President and sole Indian Minister for more than 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu should have realized by now that it was a fatal mistake for him to believe that the “frustration and anger” of the Malaysian Indians who had taken part in the 30,000-strong Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 25 was not directed against him.
In his second TV appearance on RTM in four days, this time over the hour-long Tamil programme Karuthu Kalam or Opinion Forum on Saturday, Samy Vellu said the Indians had taken part in the Nov. 25 Hindraf demonstration “to register their anger over the inadequacy in the implementation of projects by the Government” and that their anger was not directed at him because he had not raised questions about or fought for the plight of the community.
Samy Vellu is wrong. The Hindraf demonstration had clearly two targets: Firstly, as the Gerakan Youth vice chief S. Paranjothy said, the 30,000 Indians took part in the demonstration to express their “frustration and anger” because the community had been “marginalized, oppressed and ignored”.
But there is a second target – none other than Samy Vellu himself for his failure after more than 28 years as MIC President and sole Cabinet Minister to prevent the long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization of the Malaysian Indians as to become a new underclass in Malaysia.
If Samy Vellu was in denial for almost a month after the Nov. 25 Hindraf demonstration, Samy Vellu should have begun to sense the truth when he was publicly booed and humiliated by a crowd of 2,000 – 3,000 at the Aattam 100 Vagai 3 (100 types of dance) cultural performance at the Penang International Sports Area (Pisa) on Saturday night.
There is palpable anger on the ground among the Indians in Malaysia at their long-standing marginalization, raising the question whether this political awakening could become a political tsunami by the Malaysian Indian voters in the next general election, creating upsets and surprises. Read the rest of this entry »
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