Wednesday, June 20, 2012

MY LETTER TO YB KUBANG KERIAN WITH REGARDS TO THE DEBATE ON STREET DEMONSTRATIONS: STRENGTHENING OR DESTROYING DEMOCRACY

To the honorable YB Salahuddin Ayub, as an MP and also vice president of a senior opposition party I think your statements during the recently organized debate by Sinar Harian were both out of order and veritably rude to all Hindu religion believers in our country. YB, this debate was to explore if street demonstrations strengthen or weaken a democratic system. Yet you likened a pious spiritual activity such as the holy Thaipusam festival to street demonstrations. This similarity you have advocated has slighted and desecrated the holy event and injured the feelings of the over 1 million Hindu believers in the nation.

YB, I would like to request you to please clarify how a holy Hindu religious event such as the Thaipusam celebrations can be likened to a politically and socially aligned event such as street demonstrations. The two mentioned events are apart as much as night and day. Thaipusam is a day that devotees fully embrace divine fervor and offer thanksgiving to the all pervading god for his blessings and ocean like compassions. By equating this holy event to a street demonstration is both insulting and very hurting to the Hindus of our beloved nation and also shows either your care less attitude towards the Hindus who belong to the Indian community or just plain naivety towards the lofty ideals of the Thaipusam celebration. Either way I feel it’s your responsibility to please clarify your statement or more appropriately unreservedly apologize for this gross mistake of a statement.

Too add insult to injury you have also said that the Hindus who carry the kavadi during this spiritual ceremony are semi conscious and yet they don’t need tear gas to keep the situation calm. Sir, this statement reeks of political expediency and is not a character becoming of someone so senior in our countries political environment. Belittling the practices of another religion and calling the devotees semi- conscious street demonstrators shows your lack of understanding and respect to the Hindu devotees of our Malaysia. In a land with such a rich tradition of many cultures and multi religious such statements are unwarranted and even seditious in nature. Bearing this in mind id like your response and clarification to your statement in the next 24 hours, barring which a more appropriate action will be taken.


NOTE: The latter was delivered to YB Tuan Salahuddin b. Haji Ayub - MP Kubang Kerian on 20th June 2012 at 18:50 hours.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

DESPERATE TO REGAIN SUPPORT, PAKATAN STARTS LYING ABOUT BN

Sharing an opinion sent to me by Mr. Shiva Karthikeyan, a very good and well researched analysis, enjoy reading the article;

When pushed into a corner, a wounded animal is most dangerous. The political animal that is Pakatan Rakyat is no different. Their 4 years in power have yielded nothing meaningful for Indians in Malaysia in the 4 states they have governed. This is despite the fact that it was the Indians who swung the 2008 elections and voted almost en-masse for the Opposition. But its been made clear since then, by the Pakatan state governments in their 4 states that this was a mistake.

Now that it is apparent that the Indians are fed-up with them and are choosing to once again place their faith in Najib Razak’s BN, the wounded Pakatan has launched a series of targeted attacks.

Not only do they belittle the concrete efforts taken by the Najib administration, they also spread malicious and dangerous lies. One of Pakatan’s most controversial moves has been to recently spread rumours that the BN Government has demolished Hindu temples. However, it is a fact that no temples have been demolished since 2009.

Pakatan also claims there are more than 300,000 Indians without proper documentation such as IC/BC and citizenship. In fact their appointed Vice-President N. Surendran even claimed recently that the number was as high as 450,000. Using figures from a 1970’s population survey they projected that this was the number. While not subscribing to the sensationalism of these Pakatan leaders and refuting the exaggerated numbers, the BN government still recognised that this is a problem central to the lives of Indians in Malaysia.

Instead of just crying foul and waving about magical numbers the BN through the MyDaftar initiative have solved more than 6,000 cases till March 2012. This initiative is an on-going programme as till today a special taskforce called SITF are still getting cases and resolving them. Citizenship is a human right but also a privilege awarded by a country and thus it takes time to process the numbers. However, the Pakatan in usual fashion are not helping the process but hindering it.

Another favourite Pakatan criticism is that the BN Government is being biased in awarding scholarships to Indians. But the facts show an average of 10% JPA scholarship per year being awarded to Indians from 2009 to 2011. Furthermore, through 1MDB a total of 175 grants have been given out to Indian students.

Sure, there were decades of bias in the scholarship system but finally it seems the BN government under Najib is taking steps to redress this situation. In fact, PM Najib Razak recently announced that the top 100 1stclass Indian graduates in 2011 will be given a full fees scholarship to pursue their Masters or PhD in an IPTA in 2012.

Knowing that education is a hot-button political issue for the Indian community, Pakatan then goes on to claim the BN Government has not been doing enough for the Tamil schools and is neglecting them.

However, from 2009 to 2012, the Government spent over RM340 million on a total of 258 SJKT projects which include new buildings, kindergartens, repairing roofs, upgrading canteens, library, toilets, wiring etc. A total of 75 new blocks with 680 classrooms were built from these allocations. In 2012, 7 new licences for SJKTs were approved by PM Najib bringing the total number of Tamil school to 530. Compared to this, what have the 4 Pakatan state governments done in their 4 years in power? They complained about the Federal Government having all the power. They do this not realising that this effectively means that there is NO USE in Indians voting them into power at the State level.

Pakatan’s claim of bias against Indian students in institutes of higher education (IPTA) is also a lame political tactic. Some of the measures undertaken by the Najib administration for these students include, vegetarian food in the institutes and even a free bus service to take them the temple. The 100 scholarships for top Indian students in IPTAs are a further proof of the sincerity of PM Najib Razak’s efforts to uplift the community.

The latest Pakatan tactic has been to send out mass SMS to the rakyat to spread their malicious propaganda. It would be nice if they had included some facts in their SMS but they know that the facts do NOT support them. This is gutter politics and a shameless depolyment of underhanded tactics. Everyone already knows all the mistakes the BN has made in the past. PM Najib even admitted to them. I’m more interested in what Pakatan has done in their 4 years in power to give me confidence that they should lead Malaysia. I suspect the answer is very close to nothing!

This BN government under PM Najib Razak has worked hard to redress the 50 years of neglect experienced by Indians in Malaysia. The 2008 election was an eye-opener for the PM and he has taken some concrete steps to ensure the Indians put their trust back in the BN. 4 years is not a long time and yet the measures taken have resulted in a flow of support away from Pakatan. Even Pakatan’s Strategic Director, Rafizi Ramli, admits to this. The fact is that the BN Government realizes that the Indian community had been left behind.

It is often that we read about the misdeeds and past wrongs of the BN in the alternative media. But if they claim to be truly independent then surely they should also take the Pakatan Rakyat government in the 4 states they rule to task. Surely, they should be questioned about what exactly they have done for Tamil schools or Indian education, Indian jobs, Indian economic opportunities in 4 states after being in power for 4 years?

Pakatan deeply underrates the influence of Indian political will. Just as we swung to give them great gains in the last elections, things could swing against them the next time around and they would have only themselves to blame. Not the BN or PM Najib.

Monday, June 4, 2012

NO, NO, NO!

I recently received an interesting article via my email from Mr. Shiva Kartikeyan, he forwarded to me an article, I think written by Mr. Prassanan Aathinarayanan, it was indeed an article worth reading.........


INDRAF 2.0: NO gaya, NO mutu, NO keunggulan!

The Opposition-backed Indian Rights Action Force (Indraf) 2.0 rally in KL recently was notable for one main reason…the lack of participation by Malaysian Indians, even though it was held in KL’s main Indian area of Brickfields or “Little India”. This embarrassment must have been felt by the Opposition politicians gathered in support and who did their usual BN bashing speeches to mark the rally.

The use of Tamil words by non-Indian speakers is quite common especially if the speaker wants to excite the crowd (a long-time Anwar trick), but that doesn’t guarantee a real support. This is probably why with much publicity and hoohaa about the gathering, only a crowd of about 1500, many of whom were elderly people turned up for the ‘mega rally’. Quite obviously noticeable were some young students who were paid and bussed in wearing pro Pakatan t-shirts seen roaming around in Brickfields, maybe they couldn’t be bothered about what is happening because, after all, they had made their attendance to make up the crowd and who cares whether they sit in or not.

Another thing that was quite obvious was the absence of some notable DAP Indian leaders like Senator Ramakrishnan, Charles Santiago and a former ISA detainee and ADUN, M. Manogaran. Now this opens the space for doubts if the Indian leaders in the Opposition parties themselves are united. With Haji Thasleem who joined DAP for a political platform after falling out with his former NIAT comrades, Kengadharan and Ganabathirau ditching their brother-in-arms P. Uthayakumar, how are they going to guarantee Indians will be better or more united behind them. This reason probably the reason Anwar chose to ‘honour’ them by spending only about 20 minutes at the gathering.

Worst still, in his attempt to be seen as a ‘cool’ person, ignoring the facts that Indians hold strong to sentiments, Anwar was seen dancing when Indraf’s, or more suitably the hijacked Hindraf’s, theme song was being played. Only one who is ignorant or unaware would dance and make a joke out of such a serious and emotional song. If Anwar thinks all Indian music is meant to make one dance or shake their body, the onus is on the two champions Kengadharan and Ganabathirau to alert him. Instead, these two conveniently joined Anwar in the dance.

Failing in style and support, the leaders who spoke then failed in substance too, clearly failing to address the 10 demands outlined by the Indraf leadership or commit to any Indian specific issues. Instead they predictably went on BN bashing mode. While Lim Kit Siang blamed BN for dirty politics, Anwar showed his class by calling Prime Minister Najib Razak a pandikutty (piglet).

Their often repeated point was mainly to harp on the issue of Bersih leader S. Ambiga being harassed and tried to show their support for her to win the sentiments of Indians. Although what Datuk Ambiga is being subjected to is to be condemned, support for her is hardly proof of the Opposition caring about the plight of Indians. Protecting Ambiga alone is not protecting the rights and life of every Indian in Malaysia.

They kept saying they will fight for the Indian community, but what have they actually done for the Indians after ruling 4 states for 4 years?

Lim Kit Siang asked if the Indians are ready for WAR but in the same breath labeled UMNO as a violent party. He called for “ubah”, but when the Indians helped to “ubah” the Government in 4 states in 2008, they have repaid that massive vote-swing by doing nothing concrete for the Indians over the last 4 years.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng then talked about 1 temple being built in Pulau Pinang. What he failed to mention was that the Federal Government allocated RM1 million to this same temple. In any event, what is ONE temple to the whole Indian community. This is the problem with Pakatan, they build 1 temple in Penang and 1 school in Selangor and then think they have done enough in 4 years.

Then, taking a cue from her father’s tactics, Nurul Izzah used a new word, “Urimei” (rights) to counter PM Najib Razak’s rallying cry of “Nambikei” (trust). The use of words is nothing but political semantics if not coupled by concrete action. She also brought up the Effingham school issue and tried to mislead the public once again even after her colleagues; Sivarasa and Thasleem have chickened out of debates with the MIC’s Saravanan after knowing they were wrong.

All this being said, even after rightly condemning the BN and MIC in particular for 50 years of misrule, even a poorly educated Indian can tell how things are even more difficult under Pakatan’s rule in 4 states in the past 4 years. Anwar Ibrahim said Indians will get a better place under Pakatan Rakyat. But for the last 4 years, are the Indians in these Pakatan states in a better place? What have they done?

Another issue the Opposition leaders harped on was the registering of stateless Indians. Anwar said Dr. Xavier Jeyakumar is organizing a documentation event. Only after 4 years did Dr. Xavier realise there are Indians in Selangor who are stateless. What was he doing 4 years ago? This very real issue is also in danger of becoming a political joke as the Opposition claims up to 300,000 Indians are stateless.

However, less than 500 people turned out for the event over the last weekend in Selangor out of which only very few are genuine people with documentation issues, the rest were PKR members. Those who came with red ICs had their ICs photocopied and told it will be taken to Parliament. They were then to tell their family members and relatives that BN is evil and not to vote for BN in the next election. In contrast to this, we saw how the BN government under Najib has taken concrete steps to address this problem and has managed to register over 5,000 applicants in its 4 years.

On another one of Anwar’s points about racial politics in the handing out of scholarships. He ignores the fact that since 2009-2011, an average of 10% of JPA scholarships were given out annually to Indians. It is sign of real desperation when one has to lie to garner support.

However, what worried me the most as a neutral observer of politics in this country is Anwar Ibrahim’s fantastical election pledges which have been made a number of times in the recent past. Anwar’s calculations that RM5 billion for free education taken from Petronas’ RM80 billion annual revenue will not bankrupt the country is simplistic at best.

He also claimed he will bring down the petrol price immediately after he becomes the PM. Since when did Malaysia, a non-member of Opec, have the power to force major oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran and other OPEC nations to increase oil production and bring down the petrol price? These pledges are not only nonsensical but are an insult to a Malaysian’s intelligence.

Finally, Pakatan’s record in the past 4 years of rule in 4 states speaks for itself. How many local council contracts have been awarded to Indians? How many schools or temples have been built or repaired in these states? How many jobs have they created for the Indian community?

One thing that is clear is that the BN has heeded the lessons of Indian’ anger after the last elections. It is however sad that the PR has chosen to squander the huge leap of faith by the Indian community. Perhaps realising this now, they are making these piecemeal gestures to try to win back the support which they sense has clearly returned to BN due to PM Najib’s efforts.

Friday, June 1, 2012

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE THROUGH 1MALAYSIA NETBOOK IN HULU SELANGOR

Bridging the Digital Divide through 1Malaysia Netbook in Hulu Selangor

I refer to the article titled BN MP 'in trouble' over 1Malaysia laptops that appeared in FMT on 31st May 2012.

The Malaysian Communication And Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has created an enriching initiative to bring the combination of technology and internet penetration to rural areas under their 1Malaysia Netbook Program. There are a set of detailed guidelines provided by MCMC on the selection of recipients for these 1Malaysia Netbook. The Hulu Selangor constituency is no different and strictly abide by these guidelines. For the readers information, the respective parliament offices recommend the list of recipients to MCMC and MCMC is the final approving body who decides who receives the Netbook. The parliament office is only a conduit for this noble initiative.

Towards kick starting this endeavor, for the area of Hulu Selangor the MCMC has allocated a total of 1000 netbooks via the first phase and 1589 netbooks via the second phase, while 2000 netbooks were allocated via the third phase. For the first two phases all the netbooks were allocated to students while for the third phase MCMC have decided that the allocation will be 65% for students and the remainder 35% for social and community leaders and the society at large in the determined area of Hulu Selangor. They have also broken the distribution process into 3 different phases based on the locality and availability of the netbooks for the Hulu Selangor area.

It is imperative that reports published are factual and accurate as prescribed and upheld by media organisations. It is very unethical and irresponsible of any media organisation that published reports without obtaining clarification from both parties, as it was the case in the above mentioned article published by FMT on 31st May 2012.

Overall the distribution process has been very successful but we would like a bigger allocation for next year so more students and members of the public can have access to a netbook. Programs like this one will have a huge impact on the society at large and bodes well for Malaysia’s future today and tomorrow. As the Member of Parliament I’m very happy to play my role as a facilitator in making this noble project a success for all Malaysians.