Posts Tagged ‘Samy Vellu’

« Older Entries

Coalfields Estate problem never ending

August 3rd, 2010
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Then (2007):

Workers get option to buy houses:

Workers of three estates belonging to Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) Bhd will be able to own single-storey terrace houses after KLK implements the housing schemes.

president Datuk Seri S. said the company had already agreed to implement the scheme after obtaining the approval from the relevant authorities.

“The workers in Tuan Mee, Caledonia and Coalfield estates will be the main beneficiaries,” he told voters at a community centre.

Tuan Mee’s senior manager Chuan Chong Meng, National Union of Plantation Workers general secretary Datuk G. Sankaran, deputy president Datuk G. and other leaders were present.

said the estate workers had put forward a proposal for the houses two days ago.

“This is how the Barisan Nasional Government works. We discuss and got the approvals within a short time for the benefit of the estate people,” he said.

said estate workers who wanted to upgrade their houses or even own bungalows could do so after discussions with the company, which is constructing the houses.

He said that there would also be other infrastructure like schools, temples and a playing field that would help to upgrade the standard of living of the people.

Officials said the estate workers would be given priority to buy the houses at RM35,000 while others would have to pay RM42,000 for the two-room houses. [still got two room houses ah???]

also added:

KL Kepong Berhad will be asked to allocate land for housing and agriculture for workers in the Tuan Mee, Caledonia and Coalfield estates, president Datuk Seri S. said.

He said this came under the government’s regulations requiring estate owners to provide housing schemes for the workers.

said this following a request for land by Tuan Mee Estate branch chairman K. Ramavellu at a meet-the-people session at the estate last Sunday.

“I will have discussions with KL Kepong, which owns the estates, on the matter. We will urge them to allocate land for housing for the more than 200 workers in the three estates.

“We will also ask for agriculture land so that the people can farm and cultivate vegetables to raise their income,” he added.
He said that more than 56 housing schemes for estate workers had been implemented by the various estates in the country, with the first scheme in Dovenby Estate in Sungai Siput.

Earlier in his speech, said the estate workers in the country were being paid a monthly wage because of his relentless efforts in compiling a working paper for the Cabinet.

He claimed that when opposition candidate Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim was at the helm in Guthrie, he had opposed housing schemes for estate workers.

“He (Khalid) was the one who insisted in putting the estate workers in low-cost apartments. If he had the interest of the estate workers in mind, he should have approved the housing schemes for them.

in 2009, said this:

said one of the conditions imposed by the state government concerning land status conversion was that approval for estates larger than 40ha would only be sanctioned if the landowners agreed to provide housing for the displaced estate workers.

“The luckiest lot come from the Bukit Raja Estate in Klang where they recently signed the S&P with Sime Darby for terrace houses costing RM70,000 each but valued at RM150,000,” he said, adding that Coalfield Estate workers in Subang also successfully fought for their cause.

In late 2009, there were attempts to relocate workers to other estates. Also, workers couldn’t afford to buy the houses allocated to them due to inability to obtain loans.

Now:

July 2010 saw visiting the estate:

A 15-year dispute between workers and palm oil estate owners over their residence and job has yet to be solved, although numerous promises.

The 30 families of Coalfield estate are hoping for terrace houses and better facilities where they are now, instead of forcing them to a new housing area – located across the road from the estate.

Yesterday, when Datuk G. Pala­nivel visited the estate, they told the Plantations, Industries and Commo­dities deputy minister that they were tired of the empty promises made to them since 1995.

“We were living without water and electricity supply since December,” said Coalfield estate action committee chairman Lobat Rajoo.

“But yesterday (Thursday), the utilities were restored.”

He said their woes began after a change in ownership of the estate in 1995.

Lobat said that in 2009, the previous owner, claiming to be their current employer, had told them to vacate their quarters at Coalfield Estate by June 30, last year.

“They wanted us to move to Desa Coalfield by purchasing houses there but not all of us can afford a RM35,000 house with our RM21 pay a day,” he said after handing a booklet documenting their plight to .

The minister, who met the estate management, said: “I have told them not to be harsh on the workers but adopt a give-and-take attitude.

“Their (the workers) requests are simple and they are poor.” [so what? you think these companies care about this?]

As of yesterday, the school also asked to be moved:

MALAYSIA Nanban reported that parents of students in Ladang Coalfield in Sungei Buloh will stage a against the plantation owner and housing developer.

The estate workers, who defied an order to vacate their homes, have now been asked to move the school.

A spokesperson for the parents, Lobat Raj, slammed the management and developer KL-Kepong Sdn Bhd, for using various tactics to shift the school and two places of worship, a church and a temple. The oil palm estate has been earmarked for a housing project.

He said that the developer and the management are more interested in making profits rather than considering the welfare of the estate workers.

He said that the estate workers want the school to be located near their houses instead of the present location which is about 4km away.

About 400 people, comprising parents and locals planned to gather at the school field yesterday.

Lobat said that no state government representatives have been invited because the parents have no faith in the exco in charge of Indian affairs, PKR’s Dr Jeyakumar.

Firstly, these folks should ensure they are registered voters. Then talk to politicians. Who can solve this problem within 2 months, gets their votes in next election. If nobody helps, then you realise that you are indeed worth less in their eyes.

Anyways, 4KM is still OK as long as the school is not in middle of cemetery, next to electric cables/sewerage pond/industrial plots or other unimaginable places (which seems to happen to Tamil schools). Probably the parents can try negotiate for a school bus or two vans as well to ferry some of the poor children.

As for housing loan, there are schemes to help people with low or fluctuating income to obtain loans. They should be guided on this procedures. Who will do it? or HRP or DAP/PKR? Who will help the folks from A-to-Z of getting their houses?

No comments »

Posted in Indian, Tamil-Schools

Tags:

MIED loan given out

July 2nd, 2010
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Surprising news indeed since there wasn’t any news of the loan application being open in recent times. Maybe I missed it.

Anyway, RM96 million has been given out since 1984, which is 26 years period. That’s about RM3.69 million per year. Its also an average of RM10105 per student. For the current session, RM1.5 million for 189 students averages about Rm7936 per student.

The Maju Institute of Educational Development () has disbursed study loans and grants worth RM96 million to 9,500 students since 1984, its chairman Datuk Seri S. said today.

, who is also the president said would continue to assist needy students in pursuing their at tertiary level.

“At the same time, I also urge recipients who are currently employed to repay their loans so that we can help other students,” he said before handing out study loans worth RM1.5 million to 189 students at the headquarters here.

He said to-date, the had managed to collect more than RM38 million from previous recipients.

“We managed to recover this amount following several reminders and legal notices to some loan recipients,” he said.

He also said the owned-Tafe College in Seremban managed to create more than 40,000 professionals to-date.

“The will continue to place priority on amongst the Indians,” he said, adding that he was happy that the target set by the party to create a graduate in each Indian family has gained momentum.

“In fact, there are more than one graduate in a family and many of them are professionals. The itself has helped thousands of students to become doctors and lawyers,” he added.

No comments »

Posted in Indian

Tags:

MIC overhaul

June 8th, 2010
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Previously, it was rebranding and already two years of that. Have anyone seen or felt the outcome of the rebranding?  There was also mention of privilege cards. Anyone seen them?

The website is still not up to mark in terms of content and presentation (I’m trying to be polite and nice here). No info on the new info center which will incorporate some sort of helpdesk so that makkal can reach them easily. You can forget about Putera or Puteri ’s websites because one runs on blogspot and the other can’t be found. Wanita site was last updated in January (luckily this year) while Pemuda’s one is suspended (I even checked it today). You’d think that with 630,000 members, they can afford to get about 10-15 volunteers to man each wing’s website or even pay some company to run the sites properly.

Now there’s “overhaul” pulak.

Datuk Seri S. said changes are expected to take place in the next six months, including changing the mindset and attitude of members.

The party president said: “There must be a complete overhaul of our party machinery, right from the branch chairmen, division and state leadership in dealing with the problems of the Indian community.”

Speaking at ’s annual convention yesterday, said branch leaders who were performing badly and not up to the expectations of the community would be replaced.

said the country’s political landscape had changed after the 2008 general election.

“The people have become bold and will not accept anything but results.

“The days of trying to win the people’s hearts and minds through sweet-talk, promises and political slogans are over. ” he said.

He said Indians who deserted Barisan Nasional were returning to the , adding: “We should accommodate them as it will help us to reach out to the Indian community.”

I can hear the cynics laughing already. I wish all the best in the overhaul campaign. Would the overhaul take a long time? Some members won’t want to burden the president to stay longer to oversee the overhaul.

1 comment »

Posted in Indian

Tags:

Good news from Samy Vellu

May 18th, 2010
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


This may be music for the ears for many Malaysians, including the members of ruling coalition :-)

While a definite date was not given, the range is either August or September 2011. That’s about 14 months more before quits as president. This would probably intensify the competition for position within the party. Can expect teams to be formed and alliances made.

It could still be a red herring since nothing is cast in stone in politics.

S , who has been president for more than three decades, has announced that he would quit his post eight months before the next party polls, scheduled for May 2012.

However, did not say who he would hand over the party leadership to.

“I will leave eight or nine months before my term expires in May 2012. I will hand over the leadership to the next generation of leaders then.

“This is what I had told the prime minister (Najib Razak) when I met him prior to the Hulu by-election,” he told journalists after opening the Wilayah Persekutuan convention today.

“Before that, I want to revamp the party completely, starting with the branch and state leaders. People have asked me when I would leave the post and this is the time frame I have set.

“I want all party members to know that the transformation of the will continue. The transition of power in the will be smooth,” he added.

Samy, 74, was re-elected for the ninth time last year.

“By the time I retire, I would have trained the deputy president to run the party,” he said without naming his deputy, G .

Since the March 2008 general election, the chief had been under intense pressure to relinquish his post to give way to a new leader.

has previously said that he would step down at the next party election in two years’ time.

The took a beating in the 12th general election, when it lost six of the nine parliamentary seats it contested under the BN banner. Among those who failed to retain their seats in the 2008 elections were himself and .

The party, however, managed to recapture the Hulu seat, previously held by , when party information chief P Kamalanathan won the seat in the recent by-election.

Question over ’s fate

’s decision not to name his successor today would also raise questions as to who would take over the helm of the party since was not given the opportunity to contest the seat by the top BN leadership.

However, (far left) was appointed senator earlier this month, indicating he had yet to reach political oblivion.

said he would like to quit earlier, but had refrained from doing so for fear the party would face problems.

“I would have to set the party on its right foundation and place the right people first, then only I would say, ‘OK young men, you all can take over’.”

said in the mean time, he was not just wasting his time in the office, as he had an important job to do prior to his retirement.

“I am using my time to strengthen the party and change the machinery to become a working machinery, and then to remove the leaders who don’t do their work and put in new leaders.

“So, when they take over they don’t see a big bunch of non-working leaders there,” he said.

No comments »

Posted in Indian

Tags:

new newspaper Uthaya Surian hits the streets

May 4th, 2010
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Well, I try look on the bright side and have this to say: at least we have more pages to read, if we want to.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 – A new Tamil daily, started purportedly with the blessing of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, hit the streets yesterday, making the small Tamil readership field crowded with four dailies, each having its own distinctive political interest, with the exception of the middle-of-the-road Malaysian Nanban daily.

The Uthaya Surian (Rising Sun), despite its name, is an afternoon paper and available in the central region on the same day of publication and nationally on the next day.

The publishing licence is believed to be held by Indian Muslim businessman A. Tajuddin and was obtained during the time of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Its editor is Tamilmani @ P. Veerasamy, a controversial editor who went to jail in his decade-long crusade against president Datuk S. and the alleged hijacking of the nine million Telekom Malaysia shares.

After gaining notoriety as an anti- editor, Tamilmani worked with various weeklies, none of which succeeded.

He also flirted with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), publishing various anti-Barisan Nasional (BN) monthlies, none of which took off in a big way.

More recently Tamilmani joined forces with his former nemesis who continues to cling on to power although the fared disastrously under his stewardship in the 2008 general elections.

Tamilmani is also executive editor of ’s Tamil Nesan daily, the oldest in the country and first published in 1924.

He is wearing two hats as editor of Uthaya Surian and his provocative writing style and argumentative politics is reflected in both dailies, readers and observers said.

“In fact Uthaya Surian is really Tamil Nesan 2,” said a hardcore support of Datuk S Subramaniam, whose inner circle controls the Makkal Osai daily which is rabidly anti-.

The circulation of the Tamil Nesan plunged to about 5,000 from a high of 9,000 in the 1980s, insiders said, suggesting that the drop was due to it being used as a unvarnished mouth piece of the family and his interests.

“A great newspaper that was helmed by giants of Tamil journalism has gone down the drain because of cheap politics,” said a Tamil lawyer who follows local Indian politics keenly.

“Tamil Nesan had great editors like Murugu Subramaniam,” he said, referring to the member of the famed Chettiar family which owned and managed the daily before bought it over on becoming president in 1979.

Uthaya Surian is closely linked to and his faction in the . Not only does it have the same editors but also the same staff and premises.

The Tamil Nesan (M) Sdn Bhd prints the Uthaya Surian daily and both operate from the same premises. They even have the same telephone and fax numbers.

Tamilmani introduced himself in the inaugural May 1 edition as the Uthaya Surian editor with a page two editorial under the title “Uthaya Surian will shine new light in people’s hearts”.

It had a front page story with a photo montage of and deputy president Datuk G. face to face and nearly embracing under the headline “ leadership transition only in 2012”.

Tamil Nesan and other mainstream national dailies and Internet news websites might have written off but in the , the new mantra is 2012.

and his coterie, included, are pushing the idea that “newspapers have no business” to tell to quit.

“Samy should complete his term right up to 2012. I will surely support it,” is quoted as saying in the inaugural edition.

The was roiled after the Utusan Malaysia quoted as saying, in the aftermath of the Hulu by-election victory, that he was ready to take over but that had to make way.

The story sparked speculation that was about to unseat by mobilising grassroots support, something that Subramaniam’s supporters are hoping for so that they can wade in and pick up the pieces after the battle.

In fact the Makkal Osai daily under their control has been publishing provocative stories which, allegedly, attempt to pit and against each other.

quickly moved to dampen the strategy and assure ’s supporters by giving nearly identical exclusive interviews to both Tamil Nesan and the new Uthaya Surian dailies pledging “undying” loyalty to .

“We are together… we cannot be separated. Our relationship will continue,” the dailies quoted as saying.

The talk among the reading public is that the new paper seeks to exploit the journalistic skills of Tamilmani to win a readership and then gradually eclipse, and possibly replace, the Tamil Nesan daily.

In a front page foreword Najib wrote that he was confident the new daily would reflect the aspirations of the Indian community with skill and responsibility and give voice to the desire of all citizens to come under his 1 Malaysia umbrella.

No comments »

Posted in Indian

Tags: