Was this the guy who allegedly behaved improperly against a woman sometime back? The woman lodged a police report and later made a statutory declaration to cancel the police report.
And surely this is the guy who mentioned something about Indian community in a talk with students in US two years back. Yeah, he apologized.
People can change for the better, repent and also learn from past mistakes. I guess we ought to give him the benefit of doubt and a job. Forgive and forget. Be magmanious.
How about the position of Ambassador to the USA? Our congrats to Jamaluddin Jarjis, who received the credentials from the King today.
AH1N1 gained another victim today, bringing the number to 8. When i left for holidays, there was no deaths. And in the space of exactly 30 days, we have 8 deaths. That’s a big jump and a cause for concern.
When I was in Chennai airport, there were just few people wearing masks. In KLIA, nearly everyone wore masks last week. But we weren’t scanned or anything. Just filled up the declaration form and left.
When I went to hospital last weekend, the staff at the “kaunter saringan” said that need to have temperature of above 38 degrees as one of the criteria. Since both of us had no fever, we were deemed free from the virus. However, need to monitor for next 7 to 10 days, said the guy.
So what went wrong? Lack of apathy by the public? Lack of publicity? Slowness of the authorities? Procedural flaws? Is it a sign of problem in th public health mangement services? The death rate is fast approaching National Service number, so need to do something.
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First trip was to Aalamara Iyarkai Vinayagar Temple, located in Triplicane, Chennai. Kumaravel mentioned that tours starts off with a prayer at temples such as this. Its a very small temple, more like a shrine. This temple has a Vinayagar shaped tree trunk/stone. It was established in 1968. Currently, the new state government complex is being built next to the temple. In front of the temple, there’s a building in which the late MGR’s body was kept shortly after he passed away (so said the driver). The road to the temple is quite small and narrow.
We started the journey towards our first destination, Kanchipuram, leaving Chennai at about 8.45am. Along the way, we got to see Chennai on a Sunday morning. This part of Chennai was quite a dirty place. Dusty due to the soil/land and construction work. There were road and building constructions in many places. Road detours, and really outrageous way of during. I think I won’t even last for 10 minutes on the roads in Tamil Nadu! The scenes started to change gradually, from concrete to more greenery and open areas as we travelled further from the city. We took breakfast at a Highway Motel. I ate 3 chapatis while Then took thosai and idli. Passed Sriperumbudur Toll Plaza, paying Rs30. Arrived in Kanchipuram at nearly 11am. We had a local guide, Iyengar guy named Ragu who serves in the Varada Raja Perumal Temple. He took us to Ekambeswarar Temple (one of the pancha bootha Sivan temple). There’s a mango tree in the temple compound which is an offshoot of a 3500 years old mango tree which was destroyed 8 years ago. The temple charged Rs50 for bringing camera, but we can’t take photos in the inner compound.
My first grouse started here – many places disallow cameras, and some even disallow mobile phones (which meant it was a problem finding our driver again at times). My second grouse is the priests who asks for money for various reasons, but then saying they are “not compelling”. I realised later that this is common in many temples around Tamil Nadu. I find it irritating and disrupting our concentration. But what to do. If I knew all the mantras, I’ll just take over and conduct prayers myself! 🙂
Anyway, a bit on the pancha bootha thing – Sri Ekambeswarar is a lingam made out of earth (one of the five – pancha – elements). Thus there’s no abishegam done on the main deity. Instead, abishegam is done on another lingam which has 1008 tiny lingams carved on it. The temple compound has many, many lingams all around.
Next stop – Kanchi Kamachi Amman temple. We rushed to the temple because it was nearly 12.30pm, time for temples to close (Temples in Southern India usually close between 1 and 4pm, so do plan properly). Managed to reach in time, and due to our guide’s connection, we managed to get in front of the queue. I then realised that this is also normal in many temples there. You either pay special fees to get in front faster or you have contact with the temple staff/management. Just had a glimpse of Kamachi Amman, and the golden gopuram before being ushered out. There were so many people waiting. It was a tiring start to our journey, and still got 25 more days to go!
Since it was already 1pm, all the temples will be closed, so we took a trip to a silk saree weaving place. Kanchipuram is famous for two things – temple and sarees. We saw how the sarees are made. It takes up to 20 days to make a set of three sarees using the traditional hand-powered tools. Then then took some time to purchase a saree. We were famished, and headed for lunch at Saravana Bhavan. The chapati there was thin and not so filling. After that, we headed to Varada Raja Perumal Temple, the place where our guide works. According to him, the main deity took form about 3000 years ago, and the temple was built 2000 years ago. As like other old temples, this temple was expanded by different rulers in different eras. The deity in this temple is submerged in the water tank (teppakulam). The Perumal is 32ft tall while the pool is 46ft deep. Every 40 years, the water in the pool is drained and the prayers are conducted. Next session is expected to be on 2nd July 2019. A replica of the deity is kept in the main sanctum, measuring 11ft tall. The reason the deity is submerged is because it was partially damaged long time ago. In order to preserve its power, a deity must be kept in water or rice. Another unique thing about this temple is that the sanctum is accessed by climbing stairs, meaning its on higher ground. There’s also a pair of lizards that visitors can touch in order to get blessings and good fortune. One is made of gold and the other silver. The pair are embedded on a ceiling. We took leave from Kanchipuram and Ragu around 4.30pm, and made our way to Vellore.
Along the way to the famous Golden Temple in Vellore, we spotted a temple on a hill, near a town called Ratnagiri. Made an unscheduled stop here. The temple is Ratnagiri Hill Murugan temple, build in the 1960s. Its on a hill with about 60 stairs to climb. The view from top allows us to view the town. Left around one hour later.
Reach the newly built Narayani Golden Temple in Sripuram, Vellore around 7pm. It was getting dark already. In India, daylight starts early around 6am and nightfall is around 7pm. The Narayani temple was packed due to being a Sunday. We had to leave our handphones and camera with the driver. If you do bring it in, you’ll be asked to deposit it with the temple counter and given a token nmber to collect your things later. There are 3 or 4 checkpoints, so you can forget about bringing in cameras or handphone. They even took my spare camera battery which I was carrying in pocket without realising it. Trying arguing with the temple people but to no avail.
Anyway, we took normal entry and walked the entire star shaped pathway around the main sanctum for about 25 minutes. The place was well lighted at night and feels just like a garden. The crowd was concentrated at the main sanctum. We couldn’t really see much due to the crowd. Anyway, this temple is famous for….its GOLD sanctum. Yes, PURE GOLD! I think 1500 kilo of gold was used. No photos from me, but have a look at the image search results from Google. Its definitely something worth visiting. The official website of the temple is here, while some other sites on this temple are here,here, and here. While the Peedam who owns the temples justify the use of such large amount of gold and its expense, I personally feel the money could have been put to better use. The Peedam runs some charity and social projects, so expect counters all over the compound promoting their products and services.
Left Vellore around 9.00pm, after calling our driver from a phone booth (STD as its known there). Remember, no handphone, so make sure you keep some coins. Our halt for the night was Tiruvannamalai, about 70km away. Night driving in India is not advisable unless you have a good driver and high tolerance against dangerous moments. The roads are narrow, sharp bends, obstacles like cows may appear suddenly, and the overtaking by oncoming vehicles may make your stomach churn.
Reached Tiruvannamalai around 11.10pm and went straight to the hotel for a much needed sleep. Day 3 next.
Oh yeah, another thing which we noticed while on the road was that the rivers were dried up in many places. Driver told us that Kavery river is dry due to heat and the closing of dam by Karnataka state government. Things will be better once the rain comes.
This is the first part of a 29-part series on the recent trip to India. One part for each day, plus a summary at the end (when i finally get to that point! 🙂 ). Anyways, some of the postings will have photos and/or videos while others just text. I need to clarify some things as well:
1. The comments/observations/views are based on Then’s and my own understanding, plus from talking to people like the tourist guides, tour driver, and few people on the streets. Its not meant to represent any particular groups/thinking either in Malaysia or India.
2. The bulk of tour related information stated in the series of postings will most likely change due to infrastructure development, currency exchange rates, new rules and regulations in India, and many other foreseeable and unforeseeable factors.
3. The photos and videos are taken with permission (most of the temples require payment to bring camera/video – all receipts are being kept for record purposes) unless stated otherwise.
Ok…here we go:
The following are events that took place on 4th July 2009.
After nearly three months of planning, we finally arrived at the day where we leave for Chennai on our pilgrimage-cum-vacation trip. Its been few years since we left for overseas trip, so the excitement and trepidation was obvious. Since April, we were busy surfing the Internet on temples and interesting places, charting routes on Google Earth, estimating the budget, flight ticket comparison, surveying tour companies and packing stuff. Even though the planning could have been better, it did help a lot in making the trip a reality.
We took MAS from KLIA to Chennai. on Saturday night,4th July. Met Samy Vellu at the waiting area just before boarding the plane. Plane took off about 9.30pm local time and arrived in Chennai 3 hours and 10 minutes later. Rajini’s Kuselan movie was shown on board. It was quiet trip, but marred by the less than ordinary service by the flight attendants. They forgot to serve our dinner! We had to wait a good 10 minutes after everyone else on the flight got their meals. There was a bit of turbulence towards the end, but nothing worrying.
Chennai Airport was a bit old, unlike KL. Then said she there’s was a kind of smell at certain places in the airport. There were checks for the AH1N1 flu as we exited.. It was a bit strange seeing Tamil language everywhere, plus whole lot of Indians, Tamils especially. The immigration guy asked if I’m coming for business, whether have friends here or not etc., before allowing me to pass. We waited few minutes to collect the luggage and made our way to the exit.
There was a big crowd waiting, numbering more than 150 people, eagerly looking out for their family members, friends, or customers. Managed to find our agent, Kumaravel easily, as he was holding out my name in BOLD! The was a slight drizzle in Chennai despite the summer heat during the day, and we just walked to the car. It was an Ambassador, 2003 or 2005 version.
It took a 20 minutes drive to our accommodation for the night. It was a house converted into a guest house called Padmaja Nilayam, located in Arumbakkam. Checked in, arranged things and then took a nap. As advised by our guide-cum-driver, we decided to start the tour at 7.30am the next day.
No photos today as it was near midnight and quite tiring. Next posting will be on Day 2.
MIC Youth wants the Pakatan Government in Penang to reveal the minutes of the state executive council meetings on the Kampung Buah Pala issue after it took over the power in March last year.
We want the state government to be transparent and give a full disclosure of what transpired in the state exco meetings on the issue.
This would reveal whether the Pakatan government under Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had the interests of the Indians, especially the residents of Kg Buah Pala at heart or not.
The Pakatan government’s intention to declassify the minutes of the previous government was to hoodwink the people and also shift their inefficiency against them.
Based on the reports, we MIC Youth feels that the residents have a legitimate right over the land and the hisotircal facts support their existence and their right over the land.
According to National Land Code Seksyen 78(3) , “The land remains a state land untill issuance of Registered Title”. state could secure the village by acquiring the land on grounds of public purpose and interests, under Section 76 of the National Land Code 1965 read together with the Land Acquisition Act.
The Pakatan government had accepted payment of RM2.2 mil as the balance of the premium on March 14, 2008, six days after taking office and the land title was issued to the Cooperative and the developer on March 27, 2008.
Under Section 81 (2) of the National Land Code, the premium has to be paid within three months of the approval and failure to do so, renders the approval null and void.
It is a known fact that the former Chief Minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon had approved the project on April 24, 2007 and the premium of RM2.24 mil was only paid on March 14, 2008, 11 months later. This is already a strong reason for the state government to rescind the approval.So we believe there is hidden agenda
MIC Youth is bewildered as to why the Pakatan government is reluctant to take action when it is very clear that the provisions of the National Land Code has not been adhered to.
Instead of blaming other for their own mistakes, Lim Guan Eng should do the honourable task of putting the interests of the residents of Kg Buah Pala first and cancelling the approval of the land to the Cooperative.
MIC Youth is willing to pay RM3.2 mil if the Pakatan government can cancel their approval and regain back the land which will be handed over to the people of Kg Buah Pala without any charge.
Hopefully Chief Minister Lim Guang Eng will stand by his promises made to residents of Kg Buah Pala and not to beat around the bush and continue more political drama of his. MIC Youth will stand by our decision and settle the said amount as soon as we get the letter of offer from state government to purchase the land.
The Pakatan government has to cancel the approval for the land to the cooperative first and not try to deflect their responsibility by asking the MIC to discuss with the cooperative.
No right thinking person who had acquired the land through deception, would want to sell back the land at the same premium price when he knows that he would make a tidy profit. This is a Pakatan government mistake which they have to undo first.
The Pakatan leaders had also promised that they would not allow the Kg Buah Pala to be demolished but what has happened to their promises.
As responsible people, they should immediately tender their resignations if they were unable to fulfil their promises made during the campaign for the march 2008 general election.
MIC Youth would stand with the villagers to ensure that they were not evicted from the land. We call other right minded political parties and Indian non-governmental organizations to come and support these poor villagers on Aug 3.
MIC Youth calls on the Indians in Penang not to be hoodwinked by the claims that Pakatan government is fair to all races in the country. They had failed to ensure that the Indians in Kg Buah Pala were not cheated of the land.
—
Your’s Sincerely,
T.Mohan
National Coordinator
M.I.C YOUTH
I guess if the current government can declassify previous government’s minutes, it should have problem doing the same for those under its own administration. Just to clear the air. Anyhow, MIC says money is ready for state government to buy back the land at nominal price. The Koperasi is adamant it won’t sell the land, even if it doesn’t get approval to develop the land. Means sit on idle land…
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