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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?

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Songkok as compulsory uniform for prefects – JB English College backs down

At 20:56,19 hours yesterday, on my thread “Songkok compulsory wear for JB English College prefects”, a blog visitor left the following posting:

However, as far as the “EC prefect wearing songkok issue” is concerned, I am surprised that no one has yet posted that the issue has been resolved amicably as the headmaster himself has announced today during an emergency prefects meeting that it is NOT compulsory for the prefects to wear the songkok for whatever function or duty.

This morning, I phoned and spoke to the principal of Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (formerly English College) Johor Bahru, Haji Zulkifli bin Mahmood and he confirmed the veracity of the posting on my blog – that he had announced that it is not compulsory for school prefects to wear the songkok for whatever function or duty.

I welcome the return to sanity, as the compulsory imposition of the songkok issue has attracted considerable flak and traffic on my blog with three threads and 359 comments in four days, viz: Continue reading “Songkok as compulsory uniform for prefects – JB English College backs down”

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Smarter RCI – summon Lingam first to give him opportunity to admit authencity of Lingam Tape

I read the first day’s proceedings of the Haidar Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape yesterday with dismay and disappointment.

Why wasn’t senior lawyer V.K. Lingam called as the first witness to give him an opportunity to confirm the authenticity of the 14-minute video clip which would have saved time, money and resources and allowed the real issues impinging on the crisis of national and international confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary to be addressed frontally.

If Lingam is prepared to admit upfront the authenticity of the video clip, then the country can be spared the rigmarole of the completely unnecessary testimony of Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) officers going to Lingam’s house in Kelana Jaya to take photographs of its living room and compare it with the location in the clip, finding them to be one and the same as well as other related testimony such as expert evidence from a private laboratory in the Spanish capital, Madrid verifying that the voice on the videoclip matched that of Lingam.

In fact, if Lingam admits to the authenticity of the clip, there would be no necessity to even summon businessman Loh Mui Fah who has surfaced publicly to admit that the video clip was taken by his son sometime in late December 2001 when he and his son had gone to Lingam’s house to obtain legal advice on family and business matters. Continue reading “Smarter RCI – summon Lingam first to give him opportunity to admit authencity of Lingam Tape”