Archive for April, 2007

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NEWS:Selangor to help estate workersÂ’ children

April 23rd, 2007
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Selangor to help estate workers’ children
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/4/23/nation/17519884&sec=nation
THE Selangor government will set up a foundation to help the children of estate workers in their studies so that they will not be dependent on estate jobs, said Tamil Nesan.
Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo said the state government realised that estates had to make way for development in future and there would be less estate jobs.
He said the state spent about RM1mil last year on the education of estate workers’ children and RM2mil had been set aside for the purpose this year.
Last year, he added, the state government worked with MIC’s Social Strategic Foundation to train children of estate workers acquire vocational skills at the Inpens International College in Klang.
The daily also reported that all MIC branch chairmen in Johor had been asked to register Indian youths who attained the age of 21 as voters.
Johor MIC chief Datuk K.S. Balakrishnan said the chairmen must identify the youths and get them registered without delay

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SV and Pandithan – NST

April 23rd, 2007
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They are friends again
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/National/20070423081237/Article/index_html
BATANG BERJUNTAI: After 20 years of enmity, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and Datuk M.G. Pandithan finally made their peace here yesterday.
The leaders of MIC and Indian Progressive Front (IPF) appeared together on stage as friends to campaign for the Barisan Nasional in the Ijok by-election.
The frail-looking Pandithan said he wanted to bury the hatchet, admitting that despite their differences, both parties had a common goal to help the Indian community.
“Enough is enough. No more animosity with MIC. We want to work together, not only for this by-election but also beyond this,” he said at a gathering of BN component leaders.
Pandithan, 67, was diagnosed with cancer last year. His party is not a member of BN although IPF has been campaigning to be admitted into the coalition for many years.
Pandithan and Samy Vellu last met on stage in 1999 during the Teluk Kemang by-election in Negri Sembilan.
Although both were campaigning for the BN, they were political adversaries.
Samy Vellu said he was touched by Pandithan’s efforts to campaign in Ijok although he was sick.
“It’s an emotional time for me. I’m welcoming back a friend. Two hearts have become one,” he said.
The bad blood between Samy Vellu and Pandithan began in 1988 when the former MIC vice-president was issued a show-cause letter for allegedly practising caste-oriented politics.
On June 4 the same year, Pandithan started a hunger strike in front of the MIC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, bringing along a coffin to signify that democracy was dead in the party.
This led to Pandithan’s expulsion from the party on July 16, 1988, together with 13 of his supporters. In August 1990, Pandithan formed IPF.
IPF’s application to join the BN has been rejected a few times, opposed by MIC.

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Samy and Pandithan – same stage!

April 23rd, 2007
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Old foes put aside differences
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/4/23/nation/17521120&sec=nation
IJOK: Their rivalry kept them apart for eight years.
But for the sake of the Indian community, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and Indian Progressive Front (IPF) president Datuk M.G. Pandithan put aside their differences to campaign.
They shared the same stage during a ceramah at Taman Seri Cahaya here yesterday.
A frail-looking Pandithan said past enmity was forgotten and he urged the IPF members to work hard for the success of Barisan Nasional candidate K. Parthiban.
He said he could not describe his feelings when sitting with Samy Vellu on a same stage.
“I am very touched and happy that it is for the good of the community,” he later told reporters.
The relationship between the two leaders became strained in 1989 after Pandithan, then vice-president, was sacked for indiscipline.
Samy Vellu thanked Pandithan for taking the effort to come here to campaign although he was not in the best of health.
“In fact, I had forgotten my differences with him long ago.
“When the hearts have united, two bodies would not be a problem,” Samy Vellu said, adding that the relationship between the two parties would still continue after the by-election.

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NEWS:Parthiban isn’t picky – just busy with work and family commitments

April 22nd, 2007
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Meet the latest eligible bachelor under the limelight – would-be MP and graduate. A person who cares for his family, supported his siblings and now they are better off.
Parthiban isn’t picky – just busy with work and family commitments
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/4/21/nation/17509033&sec=nation
KUALA SELANGOR: When will Barisan Nasional’s K. Parthiban get hitched?
Parthiban, 38, the coalition’s candidate in the Ijok by-election, laughed when asked about this.
“I haven’t found my match yet. Can you help me? If there is someone special, I will get married but I don’t have a girlfriend yet,” he said.
Parthiban, who is Tanjung Karang MIC secretary, said he “forgot” about looking for his Miss Right due to work commitment and family obligations – he became the breadwinner after his parents died.
Mingling with the locals: Parthiban (centre) talking with Kg Ijok resident Atom Arfis, 19, as he stops by a fruit stall during his visit to a night market in Ijok yesterday. “It’s not that I’m choosy but I just don’t have the time,” he said.
Parthiban said life was difficult when his father, an estate worker, died when he was in Form Six. His mother died seven years later.
“It was only after I completed my studies at the Seri Kota Teachers College in 1994 and accepted an offer to teach at the Ghandiji Tamil Primary School in Tanjung Karang that life became slightly better for me and my four siblings.
“Life was not easy though because, at times, we still had to go on empty stomachs. I gave tuition classes to earn extra income,” he said.
His sacrifices have been worthwhile.
One sister is now an accountant while two other sisters are pursuing medical studies. The youngest, a brother, is a contractor.
Parthiban will face Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, 61, in a straight fight in the by-election, which is being held following the death of Barisan’s Datuk K. Sivalingam, 59, on April 4. Polling is on April 28. – Bernama

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Man files writ to get back wife, kids held by dept

April 22nd, 2007
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Man files writ to get back wife, kids held by dept
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/20070421082835/Article/index_html
SHAH ALAM: A rubber tapper has turned to the courts to affirm the religious status of his wife and six underage children.
P. Marimuthu has accused officials of the Selangor Religious department (Jais) of taking away his family members and detaining them against their will. The officers had allegedly raided his house at Kampung Baru Tambahan in Ulu Yam Lama early this month.
He lodged a police report and followed that with a habeas corpus application at the Shah Alam High Court on Thursday. He has named the Selangor Religious Department as the respondent.
Marimuthu, 42, has alleged that his wife, Raimah Bibi Noordin, 29, and their children are being held unlawfully by the department. The children are Yoogenaswary, 12, Paramila, 11, Hariharan, 8, Ravindran, 6, Shamala, 5, and Kaberan, 4.
He said the department officials did not serve a detention order on his wife and children before they were taken away from their home on April 2. Marimuthu said he and his wife are Hindus. “We have brought up our children in the Hindu faith,” he said.
“I believe my wife and children are being held by officers from the department at a house in Kampung Melayu Liga Emas in Batang Kali, Selangor.”
He said he had been advised by his lawyer that the detention was illegal as the department did not have the authority to hold his family.
“I am worried there are efforts by the department to convert my wife and children to Islam without my consent.”
Marimuthu said such action could only be prevented immediately if they were produced in the High Court.
Counsel Karpal Singh said he had also filed a certificate of urgency as the freedom and religious rights of the family were at stake.

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