I have said before that some of the best letters written on political issues have their origin in Malaysiakini. This alternate portal provides us with so much of information on what is happening behind the scenes as well us filling in with information the main media has censored. If not for Malaysiakini, Malaysians would be like the proverbial blind man and the elephant, touch, you feel, you assume, but not knowing what the heck the truth is.
Another such letter originates from reader Prem who has written at length to justify the existence of MIC and treat this organisation as a saviour of the Indians.
MIC still the best bet for Indians
Prem | Jan 9, 08 2:37pm
I refer to the Malaysiakini report Hindraf declares war … of roses.
I read with interest Hindraf’s plan to present roses to the prime minister. How sweet. Really. I mean, where else in the world has there been a plan for 10,000 people to give flowers to their prime minister on Valentine’s Day?
Okay, they plan to give the roses two days after Valentine’s Day. I guess roses would be cheaper then. No, wait! Perhaps Hindraf is sparing a thought for all the florists out there who have access stock unsold after Valentine’s Day, and wants to give their business a shot in the arm. How thoughtful. Perhaps there is a plan to source the flowers only from Hindu florists. I wouldn’t put such a directive past Hindraf.
One lone Singaporean has gone on a hunger strike for five days. Why? What’s wrong in Singapore? Oh, nothing. A sign of solidarity with his Indian Malaysian brothers, he says. There’s also talk of Malaysians emulating this ‘Mahatma’ across the Tebrau Straits, and starting their own hunger strike. I read in some blogs that the infamous ‘Hindraf Five’ (no relation to Enid Blyton’s Famous Five) plan to launch a hunger strike in Kamunting. How timely. I mean, you just have to hand it to them. At a time when the country faces an apparent shortage of cooking oil, and perhaps flour, such a kind act from Hindraf to lower consumption.
Of course, all these don’t match the headline grabbing, outdoor advertisement stunt of the Nov 25 gathering, where several thousand Hindraf supporters gathered outside the British High Commission to petition Her Majesty, the Queen of England, to appoint her counsel to sue her government. They didn’t actually submit the petition of course. Perhaps they were upset Her Majesty did not show up, as some short mobile messages making the rounds had otherwise suggested. So they decided to go to Buckingham Palace, submit the petition in person, and have tea and scones with Her Majesty.
Life is not a bed of roses for Indian Malaysian (sorry, I just can’t get over the rosy idea). I’m not disputing that. There definitely are problems that need to be looked at. Perhaps a policy overhaul after 50 years of independence. Hindraf was plain lucky to come at the right place, at the right time, found the right issues, and milked it like there was no tomorrow. But let’s give Hindraf credit where it’s due. There is a sense of awakening among Indian Malaysians.
But that said, the ability to mobilise slogan-shouting, placard-holding crowds, with a newfound sense of ethnic patriotism and sensational spirit is about all Hindraf can achieve.
The government will not deal with Hindraf. That much is clear. The MIC is the official and only true representative of the Indian community in the Barisan National government. Strangely, there are some Indians who only yesterday pledged heart and soul to the MIC, who seem to now view just about everything from the MIC with suspicion, scorn and hatred. Amazing. Dramatic even. But then again, drama has never been too far from the Indian community now, has it?
What the MIC has been doing behind closed doors for 50 years, Hindraf did out in the streets. Nothing more. The difference is, while the latter is now publicly seen ‘championing’ issues close to the heart of Indians, what the MIC did – or to be honest, perhaps did not – achieve behind those closed doors, is forgotten. A public relations coup. A fantastic advertising gimmick. But the problem is, this isn’t retail. This is a community we’re talking about. A minority community, in a multi-ethnic nation that knows only too well the risk of any one community exceeding the invisible, but very real boundaries.
Indians need to view these recent developments with maturity. The path Hindraf chose, while creating a short-term burst of attention, is really a collection of extremely unreasonable and unrealistic demands. Demands that will never see the light of day in Malaysia.
The more reasonable choice would be to support the middle-ground NGOs which met the prime minister recently, and the MIC which, like it or not, is the only channel the government will ever choose to implement any policy it might formulate for the Indian community. I know for a fact the MIC, on its part, has perked up and taken notice of the ground sentiments. I believe the leaders are serious about addressing issues.
I know, I know, there’s always the usual rebuke as to what the MIC has been doing for the last 50 years. Well, I’m not saying the MIC has a perfect record. But what I do know, is that they are the best bet for the Indian community. Instead of condemning them and working against them, work with the MIC. Indian professionals need to take that somewhat reluctant step to join the MIC and bring change from within.
Positive change for a community in desperate need of change. Through diplomacy, not drama. Through negotiation, not noise. With reason, not roses.
He starts of with the reported presentation of roses to the Prime Minister, and feels the suggestion is sweet considering it is Valentine day and the novelty of 10,000 offering roses to our leader. A precedence has been set with the pillows, a very original idea, and this offering of roses is in line to remind the Prime Minister that he is being appreciated but subtly. Next he goes on to the late Valentine Day celebration, the fact roses will be cheap post Valentine Day and finally a possibility Hindu florists may benefit from the exercise. Let it be so, let’s not divert from the main reason of wanting to please the Prime Minister.
A single person not wanting to eat his meals for five days, in Singapore, does not in anyway suggest something is wrong in that country. This person showed a token of his involvement with an Indian cause and as such if you don’t appreciate that, let it be. The fasting, not hunger strike as Prem puts it, undertaken by Gandiji should not be taken lightly, it was in the case of India a forerunner to the British leaving India. Though it may appear t be a silly idea to fast, let me reiterate this has roots in religious rituals. Well, if all these fasting is alluded to the current shortage of cooking oil and flour, this is something new to me, and I will appreciate the person or persons doing it.
The chaps behind the movement had legal training, and I am sure, their training and experience would have helped them to meet Her Majesty, in other ways, maybe not to eat scones and have tea, but the least to see her and if possible greet her. Here again there was another precedence some weeks earlier when a group presented a petition to the Agong. Petition submission is now becoming a norm, when other action fails, and whether liked or not one has to live with the petition submission culture.
Here I agree to what the writer says, the crux of the problem is, the Indians are being treated badly.
Finally, the Indians were never totally in agreement with MIC. The party had its card carrying members, their supporters and cronies but they failed to get the full cooperation of the community. The enigma behind the scene is that the Indians were not to sure of MIC, it belonged to a group of people who treated their leader as a demi-god and owed everything to this symbol of authority. Some wanted some change. There were this group of professionals in Ipoh who started a Gorok branch within MIC but it had a untimely demise, the powers to be could not tolerate another group with modern ideas. They had to go. They are no more around.
I do not want to go back 50 years. There were good leaders in MIC like V.T.Sambanthan who the Indians called the Father of Independence. He was rich, owner of an estate and he did a lot for the poor Indians, rubber tappers etc, remember fragmentation of estates etc. He was never got caught with his hands in the kitty and he was true leader. God bless him.
MIC is delivered the duty of looking after the interest of all not just their followers. MIC has painted a picture of satisfied Indians to the Government. Remember the shock of Badawi of the you too Brutus kind when he heard of the rally. That has what MIC has done. Quoting a often repeated political comedy, semua-nya ok, MIC had its own agenda. There are many accusations. This one is a bit annoying as what MIC has done.
This is a post from Violet:
Monday, January 7, 2008
WILL SAMY VELLU RESIGN???
Some 50 disgruntled shareholders of MIC’s troubled investment arm Maika Holdings held a brief but noisy protest outside the Kuala Lumpur Court complex calling for MIC president S Samy Vellu’s resignation.
This is
“Step aside! Step aside! Samy Vellu, step aside!” they chanted. The group also held banners denouncing the veteran politician’s alleged failure to uplift the Indian community.
Leading them was opposition party PKR’s national integration committee chief N Gobalakrishnan.
“Former health minister and deputy MCA chief Chua Soi Lek recently resigned from his party and government posts. We urge Samy (Vellu) to follow suit.
“Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should appoint in his place someone who is really capable of leading the Indian community,” he told Malaysiakini.
The protest took place just as Maika lawyers wrapped up their submissions in the chambers of Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Kang Hwee Gee to set aside an injunction obtained against it by a shareholding company.
Koperasi Nesa Pelbagai Bhd, a company which has 625,000 shares in Maika, applied to stop the sale of Maika’s insurance subsidiary Oriental Capital Assurance Bhd (OCAB).
The injunction is part of a suit filed by Nesa to declare Maika’s Aug 30, 2007 annual general meeting (AGM) and the resolutions passed in it as null and void and to be set aside.
The suit is being heard together with a similar one by eight individuals against Maika Holdings and four others.
Justice Kang fixed Jan 15 for for the plaintiffs’s lawyers to make their submissions. They claim Maika’s shareholders had been obstructed from exercising their right to freely debate the motions at the AGM, the main agenda of which was the disposal of OCAB.
No dividends, statements of accounts
Maika executives said the RM129 million sale of OCAB would ensure that its shareholders – who have long waited for a return on their investments – get their money back as well as ensure the survival of Maika itself.
Some shareholders, however, believe the sale of OCAB – considered as Maika’s only ‘golden goose’ – would sound the death knell for the investment arm.
They have also demanded that an independent party look into the impact of OCAB’s disposal and advise accordingly.
Most of those who were at court today were Maika shareholders from Klang who had withdrawn substantial amounts of their life savings to invest in the company, headed by Samy Vellu’s son Vel Paari.
The company, however, has been a spectacular failure with many of its business ventures failing to take-off.
“Since Maika began, until today, we haven’t seen any dividends or statement of accounts,” said a shareholder, who only identified herself as Reckana, when met outside the court.
Is MIC the only way?
