Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email April is ending in two weeks. What happened to MIC’s hotline and call center?It is to be “consolidated” with the Service Center says Samy Vellu. Now we have the new ICC to “review and analyse community needs through divisional leaders’ submission”. As usual, Samy admits to all the problems plaguing the Indian community, problems that are similar to those highlighted by HINDRAF.
New political reality
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/80601
The MIC president also revealed that an Implementation Coordination Committee (ICC), chaired by him, will be set up to strengthen the party’s delivery mechanism. “The main objective of the ICC is to review and analyse community needs and requests through divisional leaders’ submissions,” he said.
Samy Vellu also said that MIC is committed to enlarging its educational, social, economic and religious role in addressing the concerns of the Indian community, especially the disadvantaged and marginalised sections.
“MIC recognises that there are many unresolved community concerns. It is in addressing these concerns that MIC has launched an agenda for action to address the socio-economic disadvantages of Malaysian Indians. “This is a well-thought-out agenda, which is comprehensive and will be implemented with the direct assistance of the federal government,” he said.
Samy Vellu conceded that MIC is now facing a new political reality and challenge. “We must work smart and develop intellectual responses to address the oncoming political attacks. In addition to service, we must develop critical political thinking and enter into public debates on Indian rights and concerns alongside other communities in Malaysia.
“I am confident that MIC can reinvent itself. We have the party machinery and the people. We have to reorient and fully dedicate ourselves to recapture the lost ground. “May God give us the vision, the strength and the endurance to overcome contemporary political challenges,” he said.
MIC forms implementation coordination committee
BERNAMA
source
KUALA LUMPUR, Sun.:
The MIC, in an effort to strengthen its delivery system, will establish an Implementation Coordination Committee (ICC) aimed at reviewing and analysing the community’s needs and requests made through divisional leaders, party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu announced today.
The MIC chief said the ICC, chaired by him, would also consist of MIC secretary-general Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, who is also Human Resource Minister, information chief Datuk M. Saravanan, who is Federal Territories Deputy Minister, S.K. Devamany, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, three state executive councillors and four state assemblymen.
“The ICC secretariat would be at the party headquarters and it would meet on a bi-monthly basis,” he said at a workshop dubbed “Rebranding the MIC” for the party’s 130 divisional leaders here today.
In the recent general election, the party suffered a humiliating defeat where it won only three of the nine parliamentary seats it contested while 13 of the 19 state assembly seats alloted to the party under the Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket were swept off by the March 8 political Tsunami.
“In the good old days, the MIC used to have a meet-the-people session headed by me personally. On a Tuesday, about 700 people would come with their needs and concerns. This was a forum open to the poor and needy in our community. I am happy to announce that the MIC will continue with the Tuesday meet-the-people session starting early next month.
“I have the support of Dr Subramaniam, Saravanan, (Wanita chief Datin Paduka) Komala Krishnamoorthy, (MIC central working committee member) S.Murugesan, Mrs Chitrakala Vasu of Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED) and Mrs Vanita Ramany of Yayasan Strategik Sosial in undertaking this programme. They will continue to assist me when we resume this service. This service will be further strengthened by the consolidation of the MIC Service Centre, which will also house the Call Centre,” he added.
He said all political parties in the country were facing a new political reality and challenge after the general election, which saw the BN’s two-third majority vapourise and the fall of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor to the opposition.
He said in the wake of this new political reality, the MIC must work “smart and develop intellectual responses” to address the on-coming “political attacks”.
“In addition to service, we must develop critical political thinking and enter into public debates on Indian rights and concerns alongside other communities in Malaysia,” the MIC chief and former Works Minister said.
Sammy Vellu said while the MIC was moving towards a new direction, it must also think of strengthening the party machinery by taking into account the position or size of the MIC representation in the government.
“Previously, the MIC had one minister, three deputy ministers, three parliamentary secretaries and two backbenchers. At the state level, there were 19 assemblymen and seven State Executive Councillors. “But time has changed, so too the size of our representation in the government which has shrunk. But this does not mean we will reduce our activities, programmes and work operations,” Samy Vellu said.
He said although the MIC today has only one minister (Dr Subramaniam) and two deputy ministers (Saravanan and Devamany), it will be able to function well based on the three positions in the federal administration and one executive councillor each in the Johor, Malacca and Negri Sembilan state governments.
“Through the Human Resource Ministry, I feel there are many issues concerning the work force that can be resolved, partly through the Socso, while the youths could be given skills training besides giving a new lease of life to the Estate Workers Housing Scheme mooted by the late Tun Abdul Razak (Hussain),” he said.
He said the fundamental problem that had been irritating the MIC all this while was the way workers were treated and their living conditions.
Samy Vellu suggested reviving the Estate Workers Housing Scheme that will settle many outstanding housing issues and at the same time enabling estate workers to enjoy “housing democracy”.
Similarly, he said Saravanan, being the Federal Territory deputy minister, would be able to solve many of the license issues involving micro Indian businessmen, housing for displaced workers presently living in squatters and longhouses. “The problem of longhouses in Kuala Lumpur has outlived its purpose and needs speedy action in resolving this issue in order to improve the quality of life,” he added.
Devamany, on the other hand, had a heavy responsibility, being in the Prime Ministers Department, where he had to work out with Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria, the head of Yayasan Strategik Sosial – the social arm of the MIC – especially during this Mid-Term Review period of the Ninth Malaysia Plan in order to extract new benefits for the Indian community.
“When I submitted a special request for the upliftment of Malaysian Indians to the Prime Minister, he advised us to work with the Economic Planning Unit and extract benefits from them. Therefore, in the field of economic upliftment and equity enlargement, the federal government must assist the Indian community. This matter was greatly exploited by the opposition.
“Although the MIC has been working on this matter for a number of years, nonetheless the MIC was blamed for not delivering the expected equity and economic growth. It is time that the Prime Ministers Department established a special fund and mechanism for the economic growth and equity ownership of Malaysian Indians similar to what was established through the Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB),” Samy Vellu said.
He also reminded party leaders appointed as state executive councillors that “gone are the days that you just attended exco meetings and discussed subjects presented”.
“Now you have to visit every district of the state and find out the problems. You must produce papers for the Menteri Besar’s consideration, including working papers firstly on unsettled land alienation. Secondly, providing land for Tamil schools and thirdly, request state governments to open up new land schemes for displaced estate workers to become land owners and farmers.
“In addition, MIC state Excos should also explore employment opportunities in local authorities, especially for many Indians residing in urban slums. I want to remind all my colleagues when you really want to work, there are many things to do. If you neglect the community and the party, then you will have a reduced role in the community and nation,” the MIC chief warned.
