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K Kabilan | Mar 7, 08 11:59am
A former MIC man and once close associate of party president S Samy Vellu said that the Indian community must realise that the party has failed to elevate their socio-economic status.
AP Muguntha told Malaysiakini today that MIC does not have any blueprint or vision to uplift the community. “What is the party’s results after more than 60 years of existence? What has it done with such a success that everyone is so proud of?” asked the former division leader from Kepong.
He said the main problem with the party is Samy Vellu, who has been at the helm since 1979. He wants to do everything on his own. He alone can’t solve the problems of the Indians in this country,” said the 47-year-old architect who used to be employed in Samy Vellu’s management consultancy firm in 1989.
“And the other thing is that there is no vision and proper implementation in whatever he wants to achieve for the community. “He has not trained his team of leaders to do anything, thus it’s only all that he says and it ends there,” he added.
Where’s the blueprint?
As an example, Muguntha pointed out several programmes which the party said it will roll out as a result of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) wave which sparked an outburst of anger against MIC and the government among the Indian community. “Firstly Hindraf is not the reason for the the anger in the community. It merely triggered what was already simmering.
“And Samy Vellu immediately tried to pacify the community by listing out seven areas where the Indians were suffering,” he said. “What took him and the party so long to identify these issues?” asked Muguntha who is also the president of the Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Did they have to wait for Hindraf to act?” And even when they outlined the issues, they have not come out with a proper blueprint in achieving anything positive,” he added.
He said MIC has a long history of not getting involved in problems affecting the community, instead it only concentrates on issues such as the setting up of education institutions and investment companies.
“I have personal knowledge of the party not being interested in solving the financial problems of the small traders in Selangor in early 2000. It did not come to their aid when they were suffering from the clutches of the illegal money lenders, neither did it do anything to get them micro-credit loans,” he added.
Capable leaders sidelined
He also said Samy Vellu had the tendency to surround himself with people who do not question him. As a result, he said it was these ‘yes men’ who were promoted into party positions and many capable educated persons being sidelined. Muguntha said he himself was one such victim when “the party tried to sideline my influence in the Kepong division by promoting outsiders and thugs during the 1997 divisional elections”. He then quit the party after that incident.
He said he party was relying too much on Samy Vellu and had failed to pave the path for capable young leaders to take over. “Without any vision for the community, how is the party going to help the community?” he asked.
He added that Indian voters should vote wisely this time around to ensure that they are not continued to be left behind, even if it means voting for the opposition. “Who said the country would collapse if we vote in the opposition? Don’t believe in all that spin. Look at India. See how often the ruling party changes but the country has not gone backwards. In fact it is seeing rapid development,” he added. Likewise, he said Malaysia too would be able to continue with its growth if it was ruled by the opposition. “Think wisely and vote for people with vision,” he added.
This is what Raja Petra says of Samy Vellu:
“I remember 20 years ago when the Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry met Samy Vellu at the height of the mid-1980s recession. I was then a central committee member and we lamented about the lack of contracts and how many Malay businessmen were facing bankruptcy. Samy Vellu replied that he is already doing as much as he could by dishing out contracts to Malay companies.”
“I am not a Minister for the Indian community,” replied Samy Vellu. “I am a minister for the Malays. I look after the Malays more than I look after the Indians. It is the Malays who vote me into office. Without the Malay votes I would not be in power. So I care more for the Malays than the Indians. What more do you want me to do?”
Samy Vellu uttered this most surprising declaration 20 years ago in front of more than 1,000 Malay businessmen. Ahmad Sebi Abu Bakar, then the CEO of TV3, agreed with what Samy Vellu said.
“We put him in JKR so that he can privatise all the projects to Umno. If we put a Malay as a Minister it would be very sensitive. With an Indian as a Minister the non-Malays cannot say anything.”
Yes, Samy Vellu is there for only one purpose, to make Umno and those who walk in the corridors of power filthy rich. And he has done his job well. He has loyally served his Umno master to the hilt. In Samy Vellu’s own words, he serves Umno, not the Indians. And 90% of the Indians gave his MIC and Barisan Nasional their votes every election for 11 general elections.
DO WE NEED MIC? DO WE NEED SAMY VELLU TO REPRESENT US IN PARLIAMENT? SHOULD WE VOTE FOR MIC? Samy Vellu does not need our votes. So, VOTE FOR THE OPPOSITION.
I would say, don’t worry too much about heaven or hell. We will know when we get there. Don’t worry about whether we will have Indians in parliament. We will know when we put the opposition there. It was DAP that spoke for us, not MIC. Lets vote out MIC. What we know is an election this Saturday, 8th March 2008. We can change all this on 8th March. Make 8th March a fateful day in the history of our country. Do not worry about Indians in parliament. We had them there before under MIC. What did they do for us? Lets VOTE OPPOSITION this time
What we have is a Malay civil service, not a Malaysian civil service that discriminates against Indians.
What we have is a Malay police force, not a Malaysian police force that exercises police brutality against Indians.
The judiciary is also a Malay judiciary. Hence, their bending over backwards to accommodate syariah law at the expense of the non-Malays,
non-Muslims and the secular federal constitution.
The Malays in power deprive us of our rights to speak out. They pour chemical water on us, shoot tear gas at us, beat us up if we ask for our rights. Do we need this? VOTE THE OPPOSITION.
. DO NOT FEAR. LETS CHANGE THINGS. Unless we change it with a vote, nothing will change. Do not miss this opportunity for a change.