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How Samy Vellu can transform from Dracula to saint

Works Minister and MIC President, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu is both incensed and very hurt.

This came across powerfully in the exclusive interview he gave for New Sunday Times today, “‘Works Minister, still smarting over being accused of ‘going for blood’, says… ‘I’m no Dracula'”.

He showed his feelings in the very first question of the interview, when he was asked about his “outburst about not being ‘the bad boy’ of tolls”, as follows:

Q: Your outburst about not being “the bad boy” of tolls took many by surprise. All kinds of allegations have been levelled at you over the years regarding toll hikes, so why did you react that way?

A: There’s pressure being applied now by the opposition. They were trying to paint a picture that I make all these decisions to bring hardship to road users and the people, which is not true.

I had wanted to say it for a long time, so I did it on that day (Feb 11), because, the previous day, Lim Kit Siang (the Opposition leader) had used a word which was really hurtful.

Lim Kit Siang said I was going for blood. He was indirectly saying I’m a Dracula. Only a Dracula goes for blood. A man and politician of his age and experience should be more cultured when he talks about other people.

First, let me state that “Dracula” had never entered my mind when in my statement of 3rd February I had demanded to know why Samy Vellu was “suddenly so ‘bloodthirsty’ as to want four Opposition leaders, namely Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and Tian Chua of PKR, Ronnie Liu of DAP and Dr. Hatta Ramli (PAS) jailed for at least a year under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for revealing that the government had guaranteed profits to Litrak in the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) concession agreement?”

My statement continued:

What have the four done that they must be treated like ‘highway robbers’ and must be made to suffer the most severe form of punitive punishment, of being jailed for at least one year, if they are charged under the OSA and found guilty of unauthorized communication of an official secret?

Have they done anything akin to sabotage or imperil the national economy, subvert the national security or undermine national stability?

I do not believe that Samy Vellu, even in his most creative best, would be able to make out a prima facie case that the four Opposition leaders had done any of these terrible things in connection with the publication of the Litrak LDP concession agreement.

I went back to the news reports as to what was revealed about the Litrak LDP concession — that the LDP concession

  • was “lopsided and not done in the best interest of the people”.
  • allows the concessionaire to continue collecting toll irrespective of whether the company is reaping profits or making losses.
  • that the government has very little power under the agreement as the concessionaire can continue to collect toll regardless of how much collection it has made.

Are these revelations so earth-shattering as to shake the government, society and nation to their very roots as to require invocation of a draconian and repressive law to jail the four for a minimum term of one year each?

In fact, astute Malaysians would have guessed the lopsided contents in the concession agreements and privatization contracts, even without sighting them.

The question is what has made Samy Vellu so ‘bloodthirsty’ that he is behaving as if he has usurped the powers of the Attorney-General or had arrogated to himself the powers of a Super Attorney-General on toll concessions and OSA prosecutions? Why is he demanding his pound of flesh, muttering that ‘they will have to pay the price’?

Samy Vellu should know that anyone charged and convicted under the OSA would be mandatorily jailed for a minimum of one year, regardless of whether the offence is grave or trivial, or the motive — whether it is to betray the country by selling national defence secrets or in the exercise of the highest form of patriotism to uphold accountability, transparency and integrity and to expose corruption and abuses of power.

This was because Samy Vellu is one of the few remaining Cabinet Ministers responsible for the most shameful, undemocratic, repressive, draconian and pernicious pieces of legislation in the land – the 1986 amendment to the Official Secrets Act imposing a mandatory minimum one-year jail sentence on conviction, regardless of the gravity of the offence or the noble motivation for the disclosure.

It was only after Samy Vellu had lost out in the public argument for his “bloodthirstiness” in wanting the four Opposition
“whistleblowers” jailed for at least one year under the OSA while being blissfully unconcerned of similar breaches of the OSA by the concession companies, equity analysts and rating agencies which had freely made use of “official secrets” in the highway concessions to publicly flog their shares, loans and bonds that the Works Minister reacted with a lot of hurt and angst.

In another statement, I had described this as a most deplorable and retrograde government and Ministerial mindset which is only interested in using the OSA against whistleblowers who had acted in the public interest but not against profiteers for personal and private gain.

Now, Samy Vellu wants to fly the standard of a reformer and advocate for government openness, accountability and transparency over his efforts in the Cabinet to declassify the highway concessions.

Let me tell Samy Vellu that he cannot make the transformation from “Dracula” (his own term and not mine) to a saint unless he publicly apologises for his earlier “bloodthirstiness” in demanding that the four Opposition leaders be jailed for at least one year for “blowing the whistle” about the lopsided Litrak LDP concession.

This act of remorse and contrition must be followed up by his public advocacy, starting in the Cabinet, that all OSA investigations and proceedings, including against the four Opposition leaders over the toll concession, should be halted until the OSA is phased out and replaced by a Freedom of Information Act.

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48 Replies to “How Samy Vellu can transform from Dracula to saint”

  1. Kit, please don’t insult Count Dracula! To compare our Samy Value that way is to insult the late Count.

    Samy Value sucks blood whenever he gets the chance. Count Dracula does it to survive and chooses his victims well. So I think Samy should be referred to just as an ordinary blood sucker.

  2. Samy Value says, “Lim Kit Siang said I was going for blood. He was indirectly saying I’m a Dracula. Only a Dracula goes for blood. ”

    Purleaaaaaase!! Don’t even think of comparing yourself to the late Count. Your caste does not merit such a comparison. You’re a leech – not a Count. The late Count is now turning in his grave at the mention of your name. If he could rise from the grave he would not think of sucking your blood – for fear he could contract HIV, at the very minimum.

  3. Samy Value says, “He (Kit) has been talking and getting away with it, so he feels that he has the licence to shoot.” Kit has a gun??

    “Take the Butterworth Outer Ring Road project. His son Lim Guan Eng asked why the cost of the road had shot up from RM470 million to RM700 million. He does not realise that it is a total scheme.”

    That’s why he asked! When we do not know, we ask.

    “The opposition has been saying all sorts of things but I had kept quiet.”

    Why do you keept quiet? Are you like Sir Lancelot who when asked by King Arthur upon the latter’s return from the Crusades “How is Lady Guinvere?” was “dumbfounded”? Have you also lost your tongue??

  5. Any student with a good grade in SPM English will tell you that “bloodthirsty” is used figuratively by Kit.
    Surely Samy knows that Kit meant that he (Samy) was being vindictive against Tian Chua and company.
    Then Samy has always been a dramatist.

  7. the best governance is government with responsibility, by the people and for the people, if only BN can stick to basic needs of the people without enriching a select few (which i doubt the ever can or have the will to), … the opportunities are now presented more than ever to topple BN in the coming election, they will fall for thier own self-inflicting reasons which are way way too many.. from annihilating body that could speak with C4 to small but rampant corruption such as RM70k/ watch tower (which should cost less than a fraction),… oh btw why would a population of 5,000 need a MP? beats me

  8. “Cabinet paper is a classified paper, the attachment also becomes classified. Until we take it out and say this is separate, anything attached to a Cabinet paper automatically becomes classified under the OSA.”

    What kind of bull is this Samy?? If the attachment is not indivisible and is severable from Cabinet minutes, then you cannot treat it as undistinguishable from the Cabinet minutes.

    This concept of “automatic classification” must be the result of your brain cells not being functionally connected to one another. The resulting echo effect has obviously led you to think that God is whispering to you, telling you that through this novel concept of “automatic classification” any document can be placed within the ambit of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

    C’mon lah Sam! Show us some respect. If you must rationalise, do so logically.

  11. DarkHorse Says:

    “February 25th, 2007 at 11:02 am
    Samy Value says, “Lim Kit Siang said I was going for blood. He was indirectly saying I’m a Dracula. Only a Dracula goes for blood. ”

    Purleaaaaaase!! Don’t even think of comparing yourself to the late Count.”

    Not Samy again! I’d rather he never appears in the public eye at all for all those ‘bloody’ wrong reasons.

    He is now whining with a singsong tone, trying to speak with the soft, reasoned voice of Dr. Jekyll, with the religiosity and sickening sentimentality and cant of politics, after receiving all those brickbats and public outcry over his wearying train of rodomontades.

    Of a truth, Samy is more like the hideous Hyde. He struggles within himself, between his seldom-seen good side and his predominant evil nature; the latter gives him the public appearance of the hideous Hyde as well as the bloody Dracula.

    YB, would you be so kind to tell Samy to retire from politics (forever!) so that he can stop sucking the people’s blood. Maybe there would be a sliver of hope his Jekyll side might have a chance to see some daylight.

    We have had enough of Samy’s voodoo politics.

  13. “YB, would you be so kind to tell Samy to retire from politics (forever!) ..”

    How dare you ask Samy to retire. Don’t you know that Indian Malaysian need him? Don’t you know that the Indian Malaysian community will vanish from Malaysian soil without Samy to guide them into properity?

    When MGR died, many Indians in Tamil Nadu who hero-worshipped him committed suicide as they couldn’t bear to see their hero go.
    Probably, many Indian Malaysians might do the same if Samy retires.
    So, it would be in the best interest of the Indian Malaysian community for Samy to lead the MIC for the next 100 years. Long Live Samy Vellu!

    On Yes, the Toll Concessionaires need you too.

  14. As reported in NST Feb 25th, when asked whether he has “created a new style of approach with Indians, Works Minister and MIC President, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said “Take me for instance. When I switch on my handphone in the mornings, there will be a hundred calls from people trying to communicate their needs”.

    It is true : Samy has a successful and prosperous political career for nearly 30 years in part due to his accessibility to and willingness to hear those who went to see him. The other attribute to which his political success is owed is the ability to ingratiate UMNO bigwigs.
    But these two attributes – accessibility and ingratiation to which his political success is owed – are hardly a “new style” of political approach. Not that I blame him. Old patterns of behaviour, especially when they brought success, have a way of clinging stubbornly on like a weed that has taken firm root after 3 decades. You can remove the top, but the old weed will spring up again – and again.

    And that’s what happened when in an attempt to ingratiate UMNO Bigwigs, he went ballast on national TV to declare “I have also suggested that the Cabinet take appropriate action against the person (or persons) who had stolen and exhibited (the Litrak Concessionaire) agreement. The agreement is solely between the government and the company and it is a secret document,” (The Sun). Knowing that the OSA is draconian and imposes mandatory jail term of 1 year, why else was he so adamant and vociferous in demanding investigation and prosecution of the 4 opposition leaders if it were not otherwise due to an attempt to ingratiate UMNO leaders? After all he cannot be blamed as privatization and concession are purely an EPU decision under the PM’s jurisdiction, which were approved by cabinet and merely taken over for implementation by the Works Ministry. That’s what earned him the rebuke from YB as being “blood thirsty”.

    In his alacrity to lynch the whistleblowers, he apparently forgotten about the untenability of having commercial concessionaire agreements classified as official secrets when by their nature they have to be disseminated in the public domain to rating agencies, bankers, investing public to raise finance for the mega projects.
    In part, public opinion plays a major role via blogs etc to tell the government why it is untenable to classify these concessionaire agreements under OSA, recognizing which the cabinet decided to declassify them.

    But Samy has a problem for taking a hard public stand that has embarrassingly proven erroneous, earning him a label as a “bad boy of Tolls”! He has to contain the political fall out, minimize the costs, and preserve at all costs his infallible and competent image as a “know all minister” who is not impetuous to commit silly and basic errors.

    So he resorts to the well-tried method of a political spin.

    Now the main purpose of a political spin is to reorient potentially embarrassing or ambiguous actions, (mis)statements, and/or circumstances in such a way as to deflect, minimize, or refute critical attention from himself – the political actor – as primary target. So he called for a Press interview, which is an appropriate stage for spin because of its reach.

    He has used 2 types of strategic spins here:

    (1) the Defensive Spin to recast or redefine an unfavorable set of circumstances to encourage viewing them in a more favorable (or at least more understandable and hence palatable) light as far as he is concerned. He therefore explained why he initially mistook the concessionaire agreement as coming within ambit of the OSA by saying in the interview that “Concession agreements are attached to cabinet papers. Since a cabinet paper is a classified paper, the attachment also becomes classified”. (This is of course not true. Even if cabinet minutes on why and to whom the concession is awarded are ‘classified’ under OSA, it bears no nexus to the formal agreement that is signed much later after the award!). He went on in the interview to now say “there is nothing wrong in allowing the people to look at the concession agreement”. He even painted the scenario that at his initiative “I went to the cabinet three weeks ago and asked them if we could open the concession agreements for public scrutiny” to which the “Prime Minister said ‘OK – you submit a paper” (read the cabinet decision to declassify the concession agreement is now all due to the ‘people orientated’ paper he submitted to the cabinet favoring disclosure! But this is not enough! Though this is a good ‘defense spin’ it won’t be the ‘best’ unless it is also complemented by a good offense spin, as Lee Kuan Yew is often quoted – ‘the best defense is a good offense’

    (2) The Offensive Spin, which involves attacking or the strategic use of anger as a means of immobilizing specific political opponent and detractor who would otherwise be in a position to capitalize or continue to capitalize on the embarrassing circumstance to discredit him. So that’s where in the interview he has singled out YB Lim Kit Siang as a target for his ire by alleging that: –

    (a) in labeling the Works Minister as “bloodthirsty”, he was imputing that he was “Dracula” since only Dracula, as vampire, “goes for blood” ; and

    (b) that “a man and politician of his (LKS’s) age and experience should be more cultured when he talks about other people.

    What Samy has engaged here is a fallacious form of argument popularly known as “straw man” argument. It is a logical fallacy based on (i) misrepresentation of an opponent’s position (in this case by misrepresenting and twisting the word “blood thirsty” used by YB LKS as a metaphor for “vengeful” to something else like the vampire Dracula, just because in the literal sense the vampire sucks and is thirsty for blood) (ii) , then attribute that position to the opponent (which is wrong because when LKS called him blood-thirsty, he had meant vengeful and not evil like vampire Dracula) and (iii) finally attack the opponent LKS for being uncivil for calling him a vampire!

    In short, Samy is engaging in a dishonest argument of attributing and extrapolating an untenable statement and position to an opponent who never in the first instance said it.

    What may be summarized from the analysis here? I think the following are fair:-

    First, Samy is consummate politician who has been successful so far because of his attributes of being a good political actor of being accessible at all times to his constituents, yet at the same time adept at accommodating and ingratiating the egos of the UMNO’s bigwigs, and when attacked by political opponents, has an arsenal of defences and counterattacks by way of Defensive and Offensive Spins launched through the media stage;

    Second, he is well aware that like other BN leaders and ministers from Dr Mahathir’s administration, he is overstaying his political career under Pak Lah’s administration. To carry on, he has to hone and sharpen more the very attributes that have helped his political career and success so far including the ability to ingratiate the UMNO bigwigs as well as launch political spins to counter public criticisms. The overzealousness in this regard has got him into trouble uninvited – as in the case of launching into a public tirade and demanding application of the OSA against the 4 opposition leaders for disclosing the Litrak Concessionaire Contract even if such contracts are rightly not blamed on him or the Works Ministry, being under purview of EPU under the PM.

    Third, although he has talked about “a new style of approach” of politics, as it invariably is imperative because of changes in today’s world, he has, however, clung on stubbornly, like a weed that has taken firm root, to well tried successful formulas of the past like using political spins (both Defensive as well as Offensive in combination) to recover, if not, buttress political support perceived lost by an embarrassing circumstance of going ballast on national TV and ‘bloodthirsty’ against 4 opposition leaders over something that the latter has been able to seize a higher moral ground (ie the Litrak Concessionaire Agreement should be declassified for disclosure in public interest that cabinet decision subsequently vindicated).

    Which only shows that he has not adapted creatively to changes in the political environment brought on by better education and the proliferation of the Internet.

    It will be recalled that it is the Internet and the Blogs therein that have played an effective role to convince the government that it is untenable to classify commercial and concessionaire agreement as secrets under the OSA. It will be further re-called that political spins whether Defensive or Offensive spins, are in today’s world of better education losing their edge and effect as people are able to see through the fallacious contents of these spins.

    In today’s world the watchword is transparency and accountability. To adapt and for political survival, Samy is well-advised to follow YB Kit’s advice to take the transparent approach by staging either a press conference, or a televised interview with a selected journalist with pre-screened questions to make to the public the following points: –

    · That he had made a mistake in originally demanding for the 4 opposition leaders to be investigated under OSA;

    · That if he had erred, he had erred mistakenly thinking that he had the law (OSA) on his side, which he now knows better he doesn’t but he should be forgiven as he is trained in architecture not law!

    · That he would personally make sure the speedy declassification of the 21 concessionaire agreements and answer public queries on them if they were within the authority of his or his Ministry to explain.

    In showing willingness to communicate forthrightly with the public, for a change in this manner, he will seize the initiative – whilst it is still his – to stand out as an example to other ministers of how to give effect to the Prime Minister’s platform of transparency and accountability, and in the process score more political brownie points to ensure his own longer term political survival and relevance in spite of overstaying.

  16. That’s the problem of over privatizing………now it seems that public golf course in Cameron Highlands(between tanah rata and berinchang) may be privatize by a corporate giant that owns a newly refurbished resorts.Hmm..lets see how it turns out to be.Whether the state govt and councils give in or not.

  21. Malaysia is a good example of politicians remaining in power for over 20 years. You cannot call this a democracy.

    It is time political parties incorporate provisions within their party constitutions allowing a maximum of two terms. Samy Vallu has been at the head of his party for far too long – longer than any UMNO leader! It does not mean that the Indian community has no better leader. It only means that over the years the guy has developed very strong vested interests. Any attempt to remove him from his position would be strongly resisted by such vested interests.

    MIC then becomes effectively a party of the few by the few and for the few. MIC becomes a party essentially for ‘hangers on’. The Indians are their own worst enemies.

  22. S. Samy Vellu said “Take me for instance. When I switch on my handphone in the mornings, there will be a hundred calls from people trying to communicate their needs”.

    True. But what he failed to add was the fact that out of the 100 calls he says he receives every morning, 99 are calls from those who ask him for his resignation! The one remaining call is from a re-dial using one of his many phones from his mistress.

  23. “How Samy Vellu can transform from Dracula to saint.”

    The only way Samy Vallu can become a saint is for the Pope to bestow sainthood on Count Dracula posthumously. Since “Samy Vallu” and “saint” are contradiction in terms, the Pope has yesterday deemed Samy Vallu an unsuitable candidate for sainthood.

  24. If Samy truly feels that he is not responsible for the toll saga, then in principle, he should resign from the cabinet protesting against the hike in fees. That is if he even care for the Joe Public at all. He should even be vocal in making recommendations to the cabinet to have the number of tolls reduced. Regretfully, none of these were done and to me, the statement made by him during the interview is nothing more than a farce and NST have wasted precious advertising space. No wonder the company’s performance is so below par.

  26. DarkHorse Says:

    Malaysia is a good example of politicians remaining in power for over 20 years. You cannot call this a democracy.

    To DarkHorse,

    There is democracy in Malaysia, alright. The problem is actually the people who ask him to stay and make him richer. So don’t blame the system. Blame us who are stupid enough to put him there for so many years.

  27. billyong Says:

    February 25th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
    If Samy truly feels that he is not responsible for the toll saga, then in principle, he should resign from the cabinet

    To billyong,

    Do our Ministers make mistakes?
    When an American make a mistake, he would say ” Excuse me “.
    When a British make a mistake, he would say ” Pardon me “.
    When a Malaysian make a mistake, he would say ” Not me, not me “.

  28. Samy Vellu: “We have created a new style of political approach. If it is just talking on the platform and walking away, it doesn’t amount to anything.”

    Here is a public admission that before, the MIC approach has been “talking on the platform and then walking away.” What do we do with people who talk and talk and do nothing?? We boot them out of office.

  30. I agree with My View that the problem is the people that put him there of which the PM is most responsible. It is ridiculous for someone like him that has little support even in his own community for so long to remain in power…

  31. A man and politician of his age and experience should be more cultured when he talks about other people.

    The above statement refers to Samy himself. He is one ofthe most uncultured Ministers. He referred to Tian Chua as a small boy . He is really a big clown.

  32. ..//..It is ridiculous for someone like him that has little support even in his own community for so long to remain in power…//.. – Bigjoe
    I am sure that its not only a MIC’s phenomenon, this applies to UMNO (in TDM’s case), MCA and other political parties.

    Generally speaking, even if a party president and encumbent were unpopular with his community, he could stay his position if he garners the overwhelming of the delegates who comparatively are smaller for him to pamper with largesse and spoils of patronage in exchange for votes and support.

    That is why a leader cannot under the present political and cultural milieu be “clean” and yet stay in power to effect reforms because he doesn’t make the money for distribution in part or award the contracts unfairly to delegates or their proxies and cronies, he would stay at the apex for long. He will be ousted. Game over.

    Such is the system, which continually drains on our natural resources and Rakyat’s moneys to sustain itself.

    It is a political system that like Dracula has to feed continually on Raykat’s “blood” in term as in money and lucrative contracts/concessionaire agreements or else it could not sustain itself.

    Of course those who have a vested interest in such a system will deploy the laws whether OSA, ISA, Printing Press and Publication Act and Sedition Act to suppress detractors who criticize or otherwise challenge or threaten the very system by which they secure power and make money for they and their families for generations to come.

    Race and religion may be used as a card to presently maintain the system but ultimately it is, as elsewhere, drawn on class line representing intra (not inter) ethnic conflicts : the privileged and elite Malays, Chinese Indians or even Caucasian (won’t mention name here) will by virtue of political connection act, say and do to preserve the present system against detractors because they have a vested interest in it.

    There is nothing strange. Be upset but don’t be too terribly upset : it does not affect only our country.

    It is like that everywhere else but manifested in different forms and guises, done in different ways and pretexts.

  34. Aiyoyo Semi Value, your skin is so thick, it can be used as sandpaper, so please stop the Bollywood act. The people of Sg Siput has woken up to your shenanigans, and you better worry about your re-election than to worry about your acting skills.

  35. Correction in 3rd para from top of last posting with amendments in capuitals : “That is why a leader cannot under the present political and cultural milieu be “clean” and yet stay in power to effect reforms because IF he doesn’t make the money for distribution in part or award the contracts unfairly to delegates or their proxies and cronies, he would NOT stay at the apex for long. He will be ousted. Game over.”

  37. A man and politician of his age and experience should be more cultured when he talks about other people
    Samy is also should be cultured as he likes to put all his negligence to GOD !Has he ever make an apology ?

  38. /// Everybody, let’s chant, “Samy Vellu, the Count…!!!”

    Oh, Dang! I was hoping I would mistype or misspell ///

    WFH, if you mistype, misspell or miss out an vowel, you will be taken to task for hurling obscenities! ;)

    DWN WTH VWLS!

  45. Pingback: sedition act

  46. “the only reason i can think of that he is hurt is probably that his wallet is so loaded with toll money he sucked from the rakyat that its cramping his ass and balls”
    i didnt knw that he has any sentiments…

  48. Well, He’s the Joker from Batman movies. That’s the best role that BN can offer him since MIC signed into the pack. With the former President passed away, SV is the only survivor that can wear that well fitted custome. Anyway, we have to show our multi-racial power sharing runling government to the rest of the world. SV have no other choice but to stay on to survive through the rough and tough time. Once, he want to have everything except being poor and now he have everything and yet being a poorman who have sold away his integrity and pride. His overall life journey have been a sad case too. As he aged now, with so little time left for living, he is paying heavily each day just to keep his eyes open for another day. Pity him for that. Thank him for showing to us not to chose what he have chosen some many years back when he wasn’t that mature in thinking of the real values in life.

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