Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email No surprises when I read that the Indian assemblyman is given Human Resource as well as health and environment. This makes him the 4 assemblyman to have HR as a portfolio, after Negeri Sembilan, Johor and Penang. Malacca, Kedah, and Selangor EXCO don’t handle HR.
What we see here is that Indians are not capable of handling more important portfolios like trade, finance, etc.
Or is it all a political game and EXCOs are chosen based on some sort of quota that includes race rather than capability?
Perak names exco portfolios
By HAH FOONG LIAN
IPOH: The Perak government has announced its list of portfolios held by its state executive council (exco) members after its first meeting.
Mentri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin will take charge of economic development, land, land revenue and natural resources, security, and rural development.
In the list of portfolios handed out by the Mentri Besar’s Office, it states that Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham is also named senior exco member.
Ngeh, who is also Sitiawan assemblyman, will be in charge of finance, infrastructure and public utilities, energy and water, and non-Islamic affairs.
Pantai Remis assemblyman Nga Kor Ming will handle the portfolio of Education, Local Government, Housing and Public Transport.
Sungkai assemblyman A. Sivanesan will take care of health, environment and human resources while Pasir Bedamar assemblyman Seah Leong Peng will take charge of culture, youth and sports.
Keranji assemblyman Chen Fook Chye has been named chairman of the state Unity and National Integration, and Consumer Affairs Committee while Pasir Pinji assemblyman Thomas Su Keong Siong is chairman of Perak Higher Education, Science, Technology and Communications Committee.
PKR’s Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi will handle matters relating to entrepreneur development and cooperative, agriculture and trade while Kuala Sapetang assemblyman Tai Sing Ng will be in charge of the state’s industry development and information.
Changkat Jering assemblyman Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu is named chairman of the state Tourism, Human Development and Non-Governmental Organisations Committee while Lubok Merbau assemblyman Mohd Zainuddin Mohd Yusof is chairman of the Religion, Religious Education, Women and Welfare Committee.
Perhaps this will wake Indians up…
Of 6 seats, DAP only gave 1 for Indians…is this called fair ? Lim Kit Siang, please answer ?
BTW I am not surprised at all by this. Indians are just for PR purposes in Selangor, Penang, Kedah and Perak. That’s why the portfolios are such. It is a joke that someone as educated as Dr Xavier has been allocated Plantation workers and poverty while some uneducated morons are given key portfolios.
Well, people keep talking about how Indians showed their power to the BN govt. Well, now we are paying the price,
At the Federal level we were reduced from senior minister to paper weight position and at the state level we are merely like zoo animals for show.
Already Prof Ramasamy (the only Indian candidate to be given decent position) is so shaky that he is halfway to being sunk.I wonder how long he can survive without being driven out in humiliaition. Already DAP folks are reportedly working to undermine him.
the way you put it, it seems we’re in for racial politics again. can we all stop being so racist?
Echoed…It’s a definitely an insult on the capability of Indians ! Sure we can perform better, just that opportunity need to be given.
We should not find fault on the basis of Mr Sivanesan being given the Human Resources, Health and Environment portfolios.
What is important is that he is in the Exco and he will participate in all the matters that are tabled for discussion, even trade, finance and other matters.
These so-called important matters are not in the sole control of the assigned Exco member. They all have to get the approval of the Exco before any policies are implemented. As such Mr Sivanesan, being an educated man who is trained in Law, could always play his role in policy-making at all levels. His worth will become known to the other Exco members as time progresses.
Give the new coalition a chance to prove their worth. They are new and must be given a chance to prove their mettle.
Balan
I respect most of your opinions & comments as they are fair, balanced and smart. But I got to disagree with you here.
You might not be familiar with the Perak political situation but I do. Despite the MB from PAS, the real power is in the DAP’s hand, more specifically the State Chief Ngeh. If you had noticed this guy is a warlord and even before the GE he had created much problem for DAP (remember Fong actually pulled out before being persuaded to contest again).
The exco is controlled by Ngeh and his relatives and it is wishful thinking that that Sivanesan can do anything for the Indian community. What is going to happen is that Ngeh with his powerful political and business connection will control the state tightly, as he has done with the state DAP. Please also recall that he dared to defy the DAP national leadership in agreeing to the exco composition a few weeks ago ? Do you think he will listen to Indians or Sivanesan ? Fat chance….
What is going to happen is that this fellow going to control all the key business deals and contracts and bring in his cronies and relatives. Politically he is a tyrant and an old style Chinaman who is out for Chinese domination politically and economically.
A lot of Indians are taken by the sweet words of Lim Kit Siang without realizing that most of DAP is populated by Chinese supremacists like Ngeh. People like LKS and Karpal are dying breed. And if you think PKR is better, well, wait and see…..They are worse. They are the same people who refused to let an indian contest in Ijok and put Khalid Ibrahim instead to exploit the racial factor against MIC candidate….
Well, let’s wait and see how long for Indians to wake and realise that only MIC is trully committed to Indians rather than using them for getting votes.
Dear Killer,
I am unaware of Perak DAP’s Ngeh and his background. I am not from Perak and have not resided there at all. I do not believe that the DAP-PKR-PAS coalition will allow Ngeh and his cronies to have full control of the state.
You must remember that Perak was won by these 3 parties jointly. Even though DAP has the largest number of seats in the assembly, it must acknowledge that its victory in the GE-12 was with the help of all 3 races, including Malay and Indian voters. DAP standing alone would never have won that many state seats. This fact must be always pointed out to Ngeh and his cronies by the other assemblymen in their assembly meetings (at least to shut him up when he tries to take control of everything).
Now that we have the Pakatan Rakyat and its policies to govern the 5 states, Ngeh may also be restrained if he tries to outgrow his position.
I will not, however, agree with you that only MIC is truly committed to Indians in Malaysia.
I am made to think (by your steadfast views of MIC) that you are one of the cronies of MIC. You have never admitted the weaknesses of MIC in this blog which indicates your unbalanced stand on the matter.
The MIC was relevant at the time of its inception. But over time it has outlived its relevance.
The MIC that existed just before GE-12 was the worst nightmare for any Indian (except for the MIC cronies) in Malaysia. One man was controlling everything in MIC and the other MIC members (forget the other non-MIC Indians) were trembling in fear. The same policy was used by Dr M for 22 years in running UMNO and Malaysia.
Another weakness (there are plenty to list out here) of MIC is permitting one President to run the party forever. MIC has to follow the best practice of permitting only 2 terms for any key position. At the end of the 2 terms, none of the incumbent’s kin (wives, children, siblings, close relatives) should be permitted to take over the positions for a certain number of years (perhaps 5 years).
While many Malaysians are ready to move away from the BN concept of race-based politics, there are others who cannot shift from status quo. Time will of course change their thinking. They should study the events that were taking place prior to the GE-12 to see what a monster the BN had become in the last few years.
I am waiting for the day when Dato Samy Vellu puts his pen to paper to write his autobiography. He WILL one day write about the frustrations he had when he dealt with the UMNO leaders of the Abdullah administration!
We shall wait!
Well, Balan I wish you good luck if you think DAP’s national leadership can control Ngeh and his cronies. Even before this he had openly defied LKS and refused to back down.
Perhaps your unfamiliarity with DAP Perak prompts you to adopt a more positive stance but unfortunately many people here do not share such view. The PAS MB is just a puppet without power, Ngeh is the one who wields the big stick here.
The situation is Perak is very messy and will be even more so in the coming days. At one hand PAS is trying to use the MB post to consolidate and gain more influence . Their supporters seems to be unrealistically having high hopes since they hold the MB post. So the MB is under a lot of pressure. On the otherhand PKR with stronger political power are determined to represent the Malay community by wanting to have a stronger say in policies. And our tyrant Ngeh is more interested in installing and win more business for his cronies. The DAP national leadership on the otherhand interested in bigger issues such as human rights, local election, corruption, etc. But the problem is the BN is the strongest single party and the PR coalition holds power by a most tenous margin. And they are determined to give hell to PR in the coming days. So do you think in this highly volative environment, things going to be rosy for Indians ? All I can say is that I have my deepest symphaties for Perakians….
Ok, I completely disagree about your views on MIC and obviously you have blinkered view of the party. I am certainly not a MIC member, nor I do wish to be one. I don’t think I ever said that MIC is without weaknesses.
I am certainly not SV’s greatest fan but that doesnt mean he didnt contribute anything to the society. That he was lording the party for so long doesnt necessarily a bad thing as long as he does it well. Perhaps you had been influenced by the silly concepts like limited term for leaders. I think this works only in party which matured and stable.
I think you are viewing the situation as “half-empty” rather than “half-full”. You are disregarding the contribution of MIC while looking at only its weaknesses. The problems facing the community is not due to MIC alone but all Indians. But while Indians quick to claim credit for success themselves, failures always been blamed on MIC.
The contributions of MIC and SV are so many that if you cared to even open your yes a bit, it would be apparent. Just go to YSS websites and check out what they have been doing all these years. I wish I could them here but it will be too long.
If MIC had failed in certain aspects, it is not due to lack of trying or asking. I don’t think Indians are doing badly either though we still have some work to do. You must view the situation in a correct light . Remember we are the 2nd most developed society after the Chinese. it is stupid to say that the Indians didnt progress in the last 50 years like claimed by HINDRAF.
racial politics nothing new . How many Indians are there in Pahang exco ? Why MIC is keeping quite but harping on Perak exco ?
Even in Putrajaya we know the family administration from 4th floor .
I do agree it is a long term , continuous , struggle for minority here in Malaysia but i dont agree reverting to MIC is the solution . Never will .
I came across a chinese blog that somewhat refuses racial politics and in agreement to set aside Gerakan/MCA .
Keep pushing away MIC/MCA/Gerakan/PPP…etc till they realize this or till they detach themselves from BN .
i kind of agree with that. DAP/PKR says equal opportunity. but analyzing the portfolio allocation will show that the indian EXCO get the traditional portfolios usually given to MIC exco’s earlier. so how are the portfolios allocated? Age? Seniority? Experience? Language? Academic qualification? Personality? RACE? Gender?
DAP and PKR must be transparent and tell the people who VOTED for them how they allocated the portfolio. let the people decide if this is indeed “best man for the job” policy or got some other “factors” involved.
I am tired of DAP Perak. What Killer said is true. Thats why YB Siva protested. Even before the elections for Tronoh seat, Ngeh made a fuss to give the seat to Indian. Only after YB Kula pressured through CEC it got through. DAP Perak is full of abeng type Chinese and not LKS and Guan Eng. It’s going to be tough.
I am surprised to hear about Prof Ramasamy, what’s happening. He is the only hope we have. Killer, Please update on Penang issues.
New Indian , you were asking the wrong person ….
Killer is a rotten soldier sent by mic to undermine lay Indians so that mic head and his cronies could further cheat the community . That is , they can make mistakes and hide them and pretend nothing happened . But when others make simple mistake they will appear to be saviers ! crap!
Can we ask SV or VP to update maika issues ?? Of course they will say they are the Gods of Indians and maika making tons of profit !
Dun make the mistake Indians made for past 50years !
Killi
Keep your head buried in the sand and let the Indian community get sold off and raped by this Penyagak Rakyat (PR) folks.
By endorsing such blatant actions and injustice against Indians, you are being an Ettapan to the community. Remember, very soon HINDRAF and their supporters will be answerable to the indians for NOT delivering what they promised and losing what they had before.
As I had explained before MIC might have been inefficient and ineffectual I agree, but you cannot accuse them of being not trying hard or insincere. But their contribution caanot be denied.
Mark my words, you soon going to regret for voting PR.
New Indian :
Ok, let me update you on Prof Ramasamy. As you know he is far more qualified to lead Penang than any of these Chinese or Malays MPs in the state. So now that DAP says we should be race blind, that Chinese or Malays can represent Indians, why CAN”T Indians represent Chinese and Malays ??? DAP / PKR fought for meritocracy but why there is no merit in the selection of exco or CM ?
DAP/PKR/PAS talks about non racial politics but then why racial superiority of Malays and Chinsese have been maintained in terms of numbers in exco and state admin ?
Ok, coming back to Prof Ramasamy as you know he is one of the most capable and highly regarded Indians. But it is open secret that DAP penang folks are unhappy that Lim Guan Eng and Prof Rama both outsiders have been given these posts. There is a lot of unhappiness among DAP chinese members on why an outsider and Indian now rule the “Chinese Penang”. Apparently DAP had promised people to have more Chinese representation in the state admin if they win. So now there is a lot of political games being played out. Since they cannot challenge Lim Guan Eng, these people are targeting Prof Rama by refusing to respect him or support him. In fact some of them trying to sabotage him by going direct to Guan eng and other Chinese leaders. I think Guan Eng is a nice guy and non-racial but again the rest of the penang DAP are different.
People who had lived in Penang would know that the Chinese there are different. They are far more communal and inward looking than their counterpart in other states. That Indians and Malays are almost completely shut out of the private sector employment is well known. In fact I know so many senior Indian and Malay managers/directors had to move out of Penang to progress career wise (including me). If you don’t believe me, pls ask others who live there as well. You might get along if you are a lower ranking employee like an exec or engineer. But once you reach a certain level, you can never progress. I am not being racial here, just merely stating a fact of life.
I know so many of my relatives and Indian subordinates can’t even get an interview appointment. Even in my former company, there was a std requirement that you must speak Mandarin even though we were an MNC and that we never actually had to use. I was lucky as my hiring manager was an American, that’s why I was able to get in. I had tough time even to hire a single Indian as I was questioned by the HR department and they always try to find ways to reject my choice even though all my staffs were Chinese. Sometimes they told me that a non-Chinese can’t be hired because they will face problems adapting in all Chinese environment. Sometimes they had the guts to insist that position needed Mandarin speaker even though I was the department head and I didnt think so !!
I can go on and on about my experience in penang for about 10 years until I finally gave up and headed elsewhere. Only when I left Penang my career took off.