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Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Last year, we had the International Ponggal Festival at KL Tower organised by Putera MIC and attended by Samy Vellu. There was also Ponggal celebrations at Bukit Bintang, attended by PM Badawi.
How would it be this year since its not an election year?
Just two more days and I don’t hear any advertisements on national Ponggal celebrations. Anyone with more details?
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email From Pakatan Rakyat to Pakatan Retak. Well, what we can expect from politicians 🙂
Since Khairy Jamaludin trapped Husam Musa (or is it something pre-planned?) over the implementation of Hudud, Pakatan is getting agitated. DAP is very unhappy at PAS and Anwar Ibrahim over their stand on Hudud.
If one remembers correctly, there was no mention of Islamic laws in the agreement made the 3 parties to work together. But now, PAS is backstabbing DAP, while PKR is playing sandiwara with words since the by-election is days away.
Let’s look at extracts from a Malaysiakini report below:
Hadi said that hudud laws were not an issue in this by-election because it had already been gazetted in Terengganu when PAS held power between 1999 to 2004.
“It only applies for Muslims while non-Muslims can decide for themselves. Misunderstanding (on this issue) between Pakatan Rakyat (parties) does not arise.
“It is only Umno that is causing problems,” he added.
Lim then replied that DAP respects the opinion of its coalition partners but Pakatan Rakyat cannot make decisions as a federal government unilaterally.
“If any problems occur, we will resolve it through musyawarah, that is through discussions. All three parties must hold discussions and if a consensus is not reached, it must be discussed again.
“This means, should PKR and PAS agree to implement hudud and DAP disagrees then it cannot be implemented. Everything must be discussed until all three parties agree,” he said.
Lim went on along the same vein for about five minutes while Hadi was noticeably uncomfortable forcing Terengganu PAS chief Mustafa Ali intervened.
Mustafa told reporters that hudud was not an issue in the Kuala Terengganu by-election as the results would not have any impact on the state or federal government.
Hmm…the seat got hot for them until squirming nervously?
I always thought that PAS will back-track/backstab/break away from the coalition. Their ideology is being compromised for the sake of winning the general elections, but it cannot be surpressed for long. PKR is depending on Anwar for comments, but no news from Tian Chua and gang. They will most likely support the stronger side, and in this case, PKR-PAS team looks a better prospect than PKR-DAP prospect.
Its very hard to have a balanced partnership in any coalition. Each party would like to think of it as being the backbone of the coalition, and PAS certainly does not want to play 3rd fiddle to Anwar and DAP.
Interestingly, according to Malaysian Insider:
Speaking to The Malaysian Insider earlier, Khairy denied he had backed the implementation of hudud during his debate with Husam.
Khairy, who has in recent weeks been campaigning on a more inclusive agenda in the race for the top job in his party’s Youth wing, was quoted by The Star as saying he supported the implementation of hudud, in what would have certainly damaged his reputation among more moderate Muslims and non-Muslims.
The Star later retracted the report.
So, did he or did he not mention that he will support Hudud law? Suara Keadilan believes he did:
… The issue over hudud – not new – stirred up a storm of reaction after Husam and Khairy both declared at an open debate they would implement the Islamic law if they came to power.
… Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak too tried to limit the damage from Khairy’s comments. The son-in-law of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had been reported as saying he would implement hudud if he won the Umno Youth chief post. He has since said he was misquoted.
Another article from CKcounterpunch blog says:
Husam’s forthrightness led Associate Prof Mohd Agus – also participating in the forum – to ask Khairy point-blankly if he would push for hudud law if he became Umno Youth chief.
Khairy, the 32-year old son-in-law of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said he would.
Many in the audience were taken aback by his answer.
“It contrasted against his earlier remarks about multi-racialism and how important it was for Malaysians to shift to a new paradigm. With Husam, well, PAS and DAP have never been hypocritical about their opposing stands,” said a spectator who declined to be identified.
So, this unclear situation is not good. We may have some negative elements in BN itself who want to implement Hudud.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Fans of mega serials would be familiar with the first two names – Chitti and Annamalai, both popular Tamil Nadu mega serials running for more that a year. The third, however, is our own real-life mega serial, made in Malaysia drama starring the MP for Kapar Manikavasagam, with a star studded cast ranging from political parties, newspapers and politicians.
Manikavasagam won the Kapar parliamentary seat handsomely, trashing the incumbent Komala Devi from MIC in the March elections. However, the problems in his constituency has not been solved due to various factors – lack of funds and lack of co0peration from others.
He was upset when temple demolition still happened in Selangor after the new government took over. He was under pressure from HINDRAF and the Indian community since the new government promised that no temples would be demolished. In fact, after the Kaliamman temple in Ampang was demolished by Ampang Jaya municipal council, the 3 man committee was supposed to release a report of their investigation. Nothing seen until today. Email also went unanswered.
Add to this the land issues in Kapar, high crime rate, and large population of Indians in the area, Manikavasagam has a lot on his hand. Kapar is also one of the largest parliamentary seat in the peninsular. The Indian voters make up 12% or so, above the average population.
He had threatened to resign from his PKR deputy liason post once before this – during the temple demolition in Ampang, but retracted his decision when the Deputy President of MPAJ was suspended.
Thus it did not come as a surprise when Mike (as he is popularly known) used the same tactic over the Klang Sentral fiasco. But this time he added that he will even resign from PKR over the Klang Sentral bus station which was built in Meru to relocate the existing bus station in the middle of Klang town. Mike said he will resign by the New Year:
He said he was “disappointed with the attitude of Selangor PKR leaders”, whom he said were neglecting the needs of the people.
“I have made up my mind and it’s final. I’m not joking and I’m very serious this time,” said the 43-year-old first-time MP, who is also party’s supreme council member.
“This decision is indeed a firm action and it will be my New Year ‘gift’ to the party,” he told the English daily.
His unhappiness is partly due to Selangor Assembly Speaker Teng Chang Kim, who branded him as “behaving like opposition” over the Klang Sentral problem. Teng had also hit out at Klang MP Charles Santiago over the same issue.
Selangor MB was implicated as well, when he was claimed to have said that the MP was “free to go”:
Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has taken a hard stand on S. Manikavasagam’s threat to quit PKR, saying the Kapar MP was free to do so.
Khalid, who is also from PKR, also said he was not going to meet with Manikavasagam to convince him to stay.
“PKR does not encourage him to make that decision but it is his decision,” he said.
However, the MB’s press secretariat later issued a statement denying the report:
We would like to state that:
1 At no time during the press conference did the menteri besar say that ‘he was not interested to meet Kapar MP S Manikavasagam or ask him to reconsider his decision to quit PKR as stated in the Page N1 article.2. When the menteri besar was asked if he was willing to meet the Kapar MP, he replied that as a parliamentarian, it would be a better avenue for MP to meet the party’s leader.
We would also like to stress that there was nothing mentioned on ‘Kapar MP is free to go’ as suggested in the of the page N6 article.
Even PAS president Hadi Awang had his say – asking Manikavasagam to resign his MP post if he quits PKR. He said Manikavasagam should stand as an independent candidate in the event a by-election is held if he resigns.
The public spat (which the mainstream media are accused for inflating and misusing) made PKR worried. The deputy president of PKR, Dr Syed Husin asked the relevant members (MB Khalid Ibrahim, Teng, Charles Santiago, and Manikavasagam) to not make public statements.
“They should sit down and discuss and settle their differences and conflicts internally. There are various existing channels and procedures to do so,” said Syed Husin.
At that time, Anwar Ibrahim is not in the country, so there’s nothing much he can do. But thes Star reported that Anwar agreed there’s a “difference of opinion” among the MPs.
MPs are expected to be flush with cash, and able to help the poor people immediately. According to one NST report:
Manikavasagam’s complaint of limited funds also made his job of servicing his voters all the more difficult since many still look to a wakil rakyat for financial aid.
A former MP who declined to be identified revealed how his poorer constituents had often approached him for help to pay for their electricity bills and to ask for grocery money.
He highlighted about lack of funds as early as in October in an interview with NST. But, recently, he said he was running up debt because had to spend so much to help the rakyat. So, is there a problem with the allocations? Some money issue? Could this be the real reason for his outbursts?
However, after all those dramas and tit-for-tat comments, Manikavasagam decides not to quit PKR, instead he resigned from his Deputy Liason position only.
Mike also scoffed at suggestions that he would jump ship:
Manikavasagam admitted that he had been approached to join BN but had not been offered any money.
“I immediately rejected it as I will live or die with Parti Keadilan Rakyat,” he told the New Straits Times after meeting about 100 party members and the public at his service centre here yesterday.
The mega serial is set to run for quite some time as the battle front changes location to Chennai. However, The three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, better known as the Indian Diaspora Conference ended on last Saturday without much news on Mike. By the way, he was supposed to meet Waythamoorthy over certain issues, so something may have transpired there.
In the meantime, MB Khalid organised a summit on the Klang Sentral problem, while Manikavasagam was away in India. Mike was unhappy and claimed it was purposed held at that time so that he couldn’t participate. This was denied by Khalid who stressed on the urgency of the problem as the reason for organising the summit ASAP, at the same time acknowledging that YB Mike has done a lot to highlight the issue. All parties, including the public were invited to the meeting. Charles Santiago went as well. The problems were discussed and its expected that by end of February all teething problems will be settled. But the terminal remains in Meru. And the public can view the Klang Sentral contract during office hours.
YB Mike should be back by now, so let’s see what he has to say. The public may not be happy that he threatens to resign since they voted him on PKR ticket. He is expected to solve problems, not create more problems for the people. I think he should stick with the party and show people he is doing the work. They will appreciate him more in that way. For example, he even helped some residents near my housing area to obtain water meters from Syabas after the housing developer neglected their project. If you do the work on the ground, then the people will know your contribution. That’s the best way to ensure your longevity in politics.
Now, Mike is expected to meet Anwar and clear the air. Since everyone is busy with the by election in Terengganu, I suspect this matter will be postponed to a much later date.
BUT, I think this mega serial will be having a long run. Just sit back and enjoy the show, as they say 🙂
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Wow…wonder how many people are up to the challenge Mahathir has thrown. I kind of agree with him on this one. Berani buat, berani tanggung (Dare to do, Dare to face consequence). No pointing boycotting this and that – symbolic acts that only serves to cause negative impact to local economy. So what if you don’t drink Coca Cola? Well, 60% of its staff are Malays and there’s 1700 Malaysians employed in Malaysia. Its the same for many other “american” brands – Starbucks (I wonder why no one talks about Coffeebean), KFC, McDonalds, Citibank, IBM, Intel, Nike, etc. The local establishments employ tens of thousands of Malaysians and our boycott will only serve to impact the local revenue. So what? Its like meludah ke muka sendiri (spitting on one’s own face). Who’s going to support all those folks who were getting good salary and bonuses before this?
Now, if Mahathir can guarantee another employment (of equal status) for those who quit these American companies, then its another story. Let’s go for it!
If our politicians ARE really serious, then pass a law in parliament to chase all these “American” firms. Who wants their money and infractructure? Who wants their technologies? Who wants their sponsorships and taxes? Chase all of them out of our country. IF the politician are really serious 🙂
The “American” brands have all diversified. There are factories and plants in many countries thus these are global brands in the real sense.
Its far more logical and practical to hold protest and signature campaigns to voice our unhappiness over the Gaza situation.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Most Tamil schools except several in the estates showed an increase in student enrolment possibly due to the migration of estate workers to town areas, the daily quoted Malaysian Tamil schools chief organiser S. Baskaran as saying.
Tamil dailies splashed the increase in Tamil school intakes on Monday. Sounds like good news. But when I viewed the statistics in MOE website, updated on 30th June 2008, there are a total of 334 schools with enrolment less than 150 students. That’s 63.9% of total Tamil schools in Malaysia. So, it will interesting to know what’s the status now. How many schools have improved its enrollment?
In 30th June 2007, there were 4209 classes and 4022 classroom, 7263 teachers (930 graduates, 5715 non-graduates, and 618 untrained) according to one report. However, another said there were 7341 teachers, and report Jadual 3 said there were 108279 students in 4525 classes. 42 classes run dual session for one reason or another.
I have soft copies of the reports, in case the links are down.
More importantly, this recent trend of increasing enrollment means more resources have to be allocated to Tamil schools. More buildings, more allocation, more Indian teachers, more education materials, and more attention.Now itself we practically have to beg for money everytime there’s an election or event. We don’t want piecemeal action, we want long term planning and road map. So, who is in charge?
Who is in charge of planning for the future? What is MIC and/or YSS doing about this? How about Tamil Foundation? What is their role? Who do we turn to to find out more details on the future of Tamil schools?
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