Archive for June, 2007

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Traders’ loss is RM50m due to flood

June 15th, 2007
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Floods bankrupting us, say KL businessmen

GOODS worth about RM50mil were damaged in the recent flash flood that hit Kuala Lumpur, according to Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KLSICCI) vice chairman K. Ramesh. 

Ramesh told a press conference that he was speaking on behalf of the business community in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (TAR), Jalan Masjid India, Jalan Melayu and Jalan Dang Wangi. 

“We have suffered great losses because of this flood and we have written many memorandums to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) about problems faced by the business community in this area.” 

“They have yet to take any action, especially when it comes to the hawkers, who we believe contributed to the flood because they clog up the drains. The drainage system in this area and surrounding area is the worst and no matter how many times we complain, not much has been done,” he said. 

Sad state: Traders in Masjid India with their damaged goods

Ramesh also said Masjid India and Jalan TAR's property value was one of the highest and that it was sad that the KL assets were not being safe guarded by the authorities. 

“This flood problem is a continuous issue. This is not the first time and we cannot tolerate it anymore. A total of 400 shops have suffered and tourism has suffered, something needs to be done,'' he said. 

Ramesh said the DBKL must step up its actions and ensure that businesses, safety and lives were not continuously in danger because of floods. 

“We want the authorities to not only listen and understand but to be proactive in this matter,” he said.  

A representative from the Lebuh Ampang area, Abdul Rasul Abdul Razak, also expressed his concern over the recent flood. 

“At the time of the flood, we did not see any uniformed officials around to help people and some people were injured. Every time it rains, the water level rises to about three feet and last Sunday it rose up to six feet,” he said. 

“Somewhere, something is blocked, causing the rivers to overflow and DBKL must find a solution to this problem.” 

He said that small shops in Lebuh Ampang were yet to open and that so far losses were an estimated RM10mil in the area alone.  

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Moorthy Case – Widow wants more judges

June 14th, 2007
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Widow wants more judges

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KUALA LUMPUR: A Hindu widow who is challenging the conversion of her husband to Islam has written to the Court of Appeal asking that a nine-man bench hear her case.

S. Kaliammal said her matter before the appellate court was of public interest as it touched on the constitutional rights of non-Muslims.

In a letter sent by her lawyer M. Manoharan to Court of Appeal Registrar, Hasnah Mohd Hashim, the widow also wanted the appeal date to be brought forward.

The case is scheduled to be heard on Dec 12.

On May 24, parties which met for the case management before Hasnah consented to a year-end hearing as they were waiting for the Federal Court to deliver the Lina Joy judgment.
The apex court delivered its much-awaited ruling on May 30.

Kaliammal’s case received wide media coverage as it involved the religious status of her husband, M. Moorthy, who was a member of the first Malaysian team to scale Mount Everest in 1997.

He is said to have converted to Islam prior to his death on Dec 20, 2005, without informing his family. She sought legal redress at the High Court.

On Dec 29, 2005, the then High Court judge Mohd Raus Sharif ruled that Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution stated that the civil court had no jurisdiction on matters pertaining to Islam.

Kaliammal then took her case to the Court of Appeal.

Meanwhile, Manoharan said an enlarged quorum should hear Kaliammal’s appeal as the outcome would have a bearing on two other cases brought by non-Muslim wives against their husbands who had converted to Islam.

The cases are also pending before the Court of Appeal.

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IPF veterans meet over rumours of merger with MIC

June 14th, 2007
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IPF veterans meet over rumours of merger with MIC

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Pandithan says he will answer all questions on the rumours of a merger with MIC at the IPF national conference on July 1.
Pandithan says he will answer all questions on the rumours of a merger with MIC at the IPF national conference on July 1.

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of Indian Progressive Front veterans and former members met on Sunday in what was billed as an effort to save the party.

The meeting came in the wake of rumours that its president Tan Sri M.G. Pandithan was planning a merger with the Malaysian Indian Congress.

Pandithan was sacked as the MIC vice-president by party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu about 20 years ago.

He went on to set up the IPF, but the two men appeared to have left that episode behind.

His presence at the MIC general assembly recently has exacerbated the concerns of some of his followers.
About 50 of them, including party loyalists and some of those who were sacked from the MIC together with Pandithan in 1988, passed a resolution at the Sunday meeting calling on him to leave the party.

The IPF’s former secretary-general K. Panjamurti said it would be unfair if the party was to be dissolved because of Pandithan’s personal interest and asked him to leave gracefully if he wanted to join the MIC.

Panjamurti said he had confronted Pandithan, but the latter had denied he was planning anything.

"We are still concerned and worried," Panjamurti said.

"Many branches have been closed down. All the 57 branches in Perak have been dissolved as a result of Pandithan’s failure to submit their accounts for years. Now we don’t know how many branches are still registered."

Panjamurti was one of the 13 supporters of Pandithan who was sacked from the MIC.

M. Kanagasabai, who said he was the founding president of the party in 1990, said almost 90 per cent of the people who originally supported Pandithan had left the party over the years as they were unhappy with his leadership and administration.

"The last straw came when he became friendly with Samy Vellu. He wants to patch up and ditch us, which is okay, but to dissolve the party is terrible. We will not accept it," he said.

Sunday’s meeting also asked Panjamurti to lead the party.

"We will announce this at our annual general meeting on June 24," Panjamurti said.

Pandithan dismissed the allegations against him.

"Anyone can say anything. I cannot be responding to everything they say. Furthermore, these people are no longer in the party. They left 10 to 15 years ago," he said.

Asked about the possibility of the IPF being dissolved and a merger with MIC, Pandithan laughed and said he would announce his decision at the party’s national conference on July 1.

"I will answer all questions there."

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Allocate land for temples

June 14th, 2007
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Samy: Allocate land for temples
 

LAND should be allocated for the building of Indian temples in all future development projects, said Tamil Nesan. 

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said a request to this effect had been submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. 

He said he had brought to the Prime Minister’s attention that unwanted problems would arise if Indians built temples on private land and the owners later took back possession. 

He was speaking to reporters after opening the 25th annual delegates conference of Malaysian Hindu Dharma Mamandram, which was held at Batu Caves on Sunday.

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Alleycats – The immense staying power of sheer talent

June 11th, 2007
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The immense staying power of sheer talent

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The Alleycats line-up during the 1980s.
The Alleycats line-up during the 1980s.

THEY gave us evergreen hits like Sampaikan Salam, Sekuntum Mawar Merah, Hingga Akhir Nanti and a host of other chart-busters.

But they were also loved for their mean covers of favourite pop numbers and rock ballads, ranging from songs by The Beatles and Deep Purple to more recent Robbie Williams and Maroon 5 hits.

This versatility and ability to keep up with the times earned the Alleycats a huge fan base keeping them timeless. Afro-haired brothers David and Loganathan Arumugam were instrumental in the band’s popularity.

David’s first band was called the Super Jets. The six-piece band was a hit with the American soldiers on leave in Penang from the war in Vietnam. About this time, David and Super Jets drummer Albert Choo were also trying to form a new band.

David quit school mid-way through Form 5 and formed the Alleycats with Loga and another brother Shanmugam, who played lead guitar, Khoo Eng An aka Johnson Khoo (rhythm guitar), Silly Hock (bass) and Choo on drums.
But David felt the new band was still not ready to perform in public, and formed another group called The Beads which entered the inaugural 1969 Radio Malaysia Talentime contest.

The Beads won the Talentime for the Penang Zone and went on to compete in the North Zone championship. It clinched that too and went to Kuala Lumpur for the finals.

The Super Jets had disbanded by then and The Beads and Alleycats decided to merge.

The group clicked well, and moved to Kuala Lumpur in 1970 to try their luck there. They managed to secure a three-year contract at the Tin Mine Discotheque at the KL Hilton, which is now the Mutiara Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

In 1973, they started playing in Singapore and for the next three years, the Alleycats shuttled between Penang, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Then they hit Hong Kong, first playing at The Memory Disco and later at The Club Capital. It turned into a nine-year stint.

Their first English album, called Alleycats, released in 1978, did not do so well.

But their first Malay album, Penyanyi, recorded almost the same time, did.

The following year, they recorded another Malay album, called Terima Kasih, and on it was Senandung Semalam, which propelled them to stardom.

They were still in Hong Kong, unaware of their huge popularity back home in Malaysia.

Their watershed year was 1980. Hingga Akhir Nanti from the band’s fifth album became a huge hit.

But it was not until two years later that they performed at their first major concert at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur to thousands of fans.

The rest, as they say, is history. The band went on to record 29 albums. The latest one, Rasa, is yet to be released.

The group had several changes in its line-up. Nevertheless, the two core members of David and Loga stayed on.

With Loga’s death, David is the sole remaining original member of the Alleycats.

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