Tamil Nesan to start English pullout

/* September 3rd, 2012 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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This is indeed a bold and innovative move by Tamil Nesan. I assume there’s no price increase.

The positives:

– news on Indian community can be provided to the non-Tamil speaking section. Can’t be depending on Star/NST or other papers.

– mouthpiece for party and government initiatives.  As mentioned by Vell Paari, info like the RM180 million SME fund is still not as accessible as it should be.

– another source income from advertisement

– can possibly increase readership numbers

The negatives:

– would it be able to get the targetted section to buy the paper? This means pulling the readers from their regular English papers.

– sustainability is a concern.

– negativity surrounding Tamil Nesan as propaganda tool may not attract the intended readers.

Its a risky move, but worth giving it a try. Maybe Vell Paari should start with an online version first to see how’s the response.

Anyway, I will give it a try when the English pullout appears. Hope its not too political and end up being rejected. And definitely should have local news instead of news from India etc, unless relevant.

The Tamil Nesan daily is starting an English pullout on September 15 as its MIC-linked owners want to widen readership among non-Tamil-reading Indians ahead of the general election which must be called by next April.

There are four Tamil newspapers that cater to the 1.7 million Malaysian Indians in the country, with the oldest being Tamil Nesan which is owned by S. Vell Paari, the son of former MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

Vell Paari says the English pullout of the Tamil Nesan is to reach out to more Indian ethnic groups. — Pictures by Choo Choy May

“Our target audience has always been Tamil readers, but we want to increase it to the sub-ethnic groups; the Malayalees, Punjabis and Telegus, for example,” Vell Paari told The Malaysian Insider in an interview, saying that the local English and Bahasa Malaysia newspapers do not cater to the Indians, a key vote in a number of federal and state constituencies.

“Take, for instance, the government’s recent announcement of giving the Indian community RM180 million. None of the dailies further explained how or where the Indian community could get it from. Tamil Nesan wants to use our reach to inform the community specifically on these details,” he said.

The pullout, which will be a tabloid insert, would be published on a weekly basis with an average of 12 pages but could eventually be printed daily, said the newspaper owner.

Vell Paari, who is also MIC information chief, said the daily had received an approval letter signed on behalf of the secretary general to the Ministry of Home Affairs dated June 20.

Tamil Nesan’s English pullout comes exactly two months after a new Tamil daily, Nam Naadu, hit the streets to compete with Tamil Nesan, Malaysia Nanban and Makkal Osai. The new daily is backed by prominent businessman and Malaysian Association of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI) president Datuk Kenneth Eswaran who also runs the fledgling pay-TV venture Asian Broadcasting Network (ABN).

Despite the number of Tamil newspapers licensed by the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government, a majority of Malaysia’s ethnic Indians rejected BN in Election 2008 and threw out a number of MIC candidates including Samy Vellu from his Sungai Siput fortress. Analysts have attributed BN’s poor support from the Indian community to the snub to the Hindraf movement and falling circulation of the Tamil dailies.

Vell Paari said the 88-year-old Tamil Nesan has an average daily circulation of 44,000 copies while the Sunday edition has an average of 85,000, admitting that circulation has fallen over the years.

“Our highest so far for the daily has been 81,000 copies while the Sunday edition once registered a circulation of 178,000,” he said, expressing hope that the English pullout would increase circulation by catering to a new audience.

“Some Indians nowadays don’t read and write Tamil because they went to government schools, others just prefer to read English. We plan to cater to these readers as well,” he added…

source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/tamil-nesan-starts-english-pullout-helps-mic-woo-voters/

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Ganapathi Rao as candidate for Kota Alam Shah state seat?

/* September 3rd, 2012 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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I’m not sure how many branches there are in Klang, but I guess around 30. And 8 of them reject Ganapathi Rao. With incumbent Manoharan Malayam almost confirmed to be left out, it is interesting to see who are the potential replacements.

Ganapathi Rao is Selangor DAP’s legal bureau chief and is involved with the Malaysian Indian Voice (MIV) group as advisor. And yes, he was projected into the limelight due to Hindraf. He also holds position as a director in the state-owned Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd and is an aide to Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim.

Being voter in that constituency, hopefully I’ll get to see suitable candidates.

Meanwhile, Ganapathi replied as follows and another DAP official said the candidate list is not finalised:

Selangor DAP official V Ganabatirao today admonished those calling on the party not to field him for the Kota Alam Shah state seat, saying they were jumping the gun.

Reacting to statements by eight DAP branch leaders in Selangor, he said the objection was premature because the party had yet to announce the names of candidates for the coming election.

“I myself do not know whether I will be fielded to contest in Kota Alam Shah,” he told FMT. “Candidacy is decided by the central executive committee. It is too premature to speculate.”

He rejected his detractors’ claim that members of the eight Selangor branches were against his candidacy in Kota Alam Shah, saying the branch leaders were had their own agenda and were expressing their personal opinions.

“The objections are individual opinions of people with their own agenda,” he said. “The objections are not resolutions from the branches.”

Another DAP official confirmed that the party had not finalised its candidates’ list for Selangor.

source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/09/03/don%E2%80%99t-jump-the-gun-dap-man-tells-detractors/

 

Eight DAP branches here have called on the party leadership not to field V Ganapathirau (photo) as candidate in Kota Alam Shah state seat in the next general election.

The branches, all from the state constituency, warned the party leadership that the DAP would lose the seat if Ganapathirau, a former detainee of now repealed Internal Security Act, was fielded.

The DAP eight branches, with collectively some 500 members, openly opposed Ganapathirau are Taman Gembira, Klang, Teluk Pulai, Bayu Tinggi, Taman Chi Liung Indah, Southern Klang, Persiaran Raja Muda Musa and Ehsan.

The group spokesman Ivan Ho said they were all against Ganapathirau because he was not a local familiar with the party grassroots leaders and members, or constituents in the area.

Ho said Ganapathirau does not have close rapport with party grassroots in the constituency, a winning factor so crucial for a potential candidate.

He urged the party leadership to respect grassroots sentiments and not to force in parachute candidates like Ganapathirau in Kota Alam Shah.

“DAP members and constituents don’t know him much.

“The party should not push us to accept Ganapathirau.

“We don’t want him,” Ho, the Taman Gembira branch head, told FMT.

Kota Alam Shah incumbent assemblyman is M Manoharan, a protégé of DAP national chairman Karpal Singh.

It’s learnt Selangor DAP leadership under Teresa Kok planned to replace Manoharan, also a former ISA detainee, with Ganapathirau.

Ganapathirau is a staunch confidant of deputy secretary general and Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy.

Not an Indian hero

Taman Chi Liung Indah head K Yogasigamany reminded the state party leadership that time had lapsed to promote the Ganapathirau as a former ISA detainee and his so-called involvement in Hindraf Makkal Sakti.

He said DAP grassroots members and constituents know that Ganapathirau, who now leads NGO Malaysian Indian voice, was not a Hindraf leader.

“Constituents have realised that Ganapathirau was never the Hindraf leader or Indian hero.

“He is no more relevant for Indian community.

“It will be futile and fatal for party leadership to field Ganapathirau in Kota Alam Shah.

“The leadership should drop the idea altogether,” Yogasigamany told FMT.

source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/09/02/sgor-dap-branches-reject-ganapathirau/

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DBKL disallow decoration at MHS event

/* September 3rd, 2012 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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This is quite surprising. I remember reading interview with new mayor where he talked about karma and all (sounded like a well-read and understanding guy), and then this news appears on FMT. Decoration like kolam is quite common even in shopping centers!  Banana trees are usually put at the entrance – can see it at Hindu weddings especially at temples. Wonder what’s the reason for DBKL’s actions. Is it because of cleanliness factors or there are considered religious symbols?  Or perhaps MHS wasn’t aware of such rules?

Senator S Ramakrishnan of the DAP today demanded an explanation from Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak over Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) decision to disallow cultural decorations to be put up in their hall for an event by Malaysia Hindu Sangam.

“Najib must investigate why an event officiated by his representative was marred by DBKL’s stupid act which hurts the feeling of delegates,” said Ramakrishnan in a press statement today.

“It is totally unbecoming of DBKL since they are under the Federal Territories and Urban Well Being Ministry that has a Hindu deputy minister,” said Ramakrishnan.

He was commenting on DBKL’s decision to disallow MHS from decorating the venue – a DBKL hall – with kolam, a colourful rice based decoration, and banana trees in conjunction with a conference which was held yesterday.

MHS had organised a conference to launch temple worship guidelines yesterday at the DBKL training institute hall in Cheras.

The conference was attended by about 800 delegates from all over the country with PM’s representative honouring the event.

The hall was rented for RM4,600 and an additional RM300 paid for DBKL staff manning the hall for the event.

The conference was supposed to be officiated by Najib but was subsequently delegated to Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam.

Ramakrishnan also lashed out at DBKL for their lack of sensitivity.

“Why is DBKL afraid to allow such simple cultural decorations?

“DBKL is a public body that serves all Malaysians, so why did it abstain MHS from putting up biodegradable and easily disposal cultural decorations?

“If it is a rule not to allow any decorations by any user of the hall then that should have been made known at the time of hall booking and not one day before the event?

“This act of DBKL shows how they look down on cultural practices of Indian Malaysians,” said Ramakrishnan.

source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/09/02/dbkl-lacking-cultural-sensitivities/

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Waytha requests to meet PM Najib Razak and PR leader Anwar Ibrahim

/* August 30th, 2012 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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This is interesting. I wonder which of the requests will be successful. None, both or one of them? PM Najib may say he has the MIC and other NGOs, so why bother with Waytha and Hindraf. Or he may think that this is good opportunity to bring Hindraf into his side as its still has strong support in some areas.  Not sure about Anwar as he may agree to meet and nothing concrete may turn up.

Anyhow, I agree that much more could have been done all this while by both sides. They’ve been pussyfooting and doing small stuff and make its sound so grand.

 

Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairperson P Waythamoorthy, who returned to Malaysia earlier this month, has requested to meet Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim separately to discuss approaches to permanently addressing the socio-economic problems of marginalised Indians.

In a statement issued today, he said, “Hindraf believes all past and current approaches fall way below the power curve needed to resolve the problem permanently.

“It is also Hindraf’s belief that a permanent solution and the mechanics to arriving at the solution lies first in a proper definition of the problem, something we believe has eluded the policy-makers and problem-solvers up to now.

“To achieve this there need to be prerequisite political will. This is also another key element that has been missing in all past and current efforts”.

Yesterday,the movement delivered two letters to both leaders respectively requesting for the meetings.

Waythamoorthy said the meetings are to confirm first, the demonstration of that political will and then to work out the details and modalities for the solution.

“We are approaching this initiative with an open mind and are willing to talk to both the leaders as they both share the leadership of the governments in the country.”

‘We will let the people decide’

Waythamoorthy urged Najib and Anwar, who he calls “prime-minister-in-waiting”, to view this as an opportunity to demonstrate their seriousness and commitment to resolving the socio-economic problems of the marginalised Indian community.

“We have requested that both the leaders respond back within two weeks or by Sept 11 to our request for this meeting. It is also our intention to get the meetings going before the end of September 2012. We look forward to having these meetings.

“We will let the people decide on the respective attitudes shown by the leaders in their responses to our request. But we will go on, nevertheless, as we have ‘miles to go before we sleep’,” he added.

Waythamoorthy left the country soon after the Hindraf rally in November 2007 to take the movement’s campaign global. His passport was revoked on April 2008.

After nearly five years of self exile, he returned to the country on Aug 1 without a hitch.

source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/207373

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Lucky Draw for Himpunan Merdeka at Stadium Bukit Jalil

/* August 30th, 2012 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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Don’t miss this chance, can get a car or even flight ticket to London if you are lucky!

[click the image for larger view]

Sejumlah RM1 juta hadiah cabutan bertuah ditawarkan kepada pengunjung yang hadir ke Himpunan 55 Tahun Merdeka: Janji Ditepati di Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil, Jumaat ini.

Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan, Datuk Seri Kamarudin Siaraf (gambar) berkata, hadiah tersebut disediakan bagi menyemarakkan lagi suasana sambutan ulang tahun kemerdekaan tahun ini, selain menarik lebih ramai pengunjung.

“Sebanyak satu juta kad cabutan bertuah telah disediakan dan diedarkan kepada orang ramai di sekitar Kuala Lumpur dan Selangor.

“Para pengunjung yang belum mendapatkan kad tersebut boleh memperolehnya di pintu-pintu masuk stadium pada hari berkenaan,” katanya pada sidang akhbar Cabutan Bertuah 55 Tahun Merdeka: Janji Ditepati di Kompleks Sultan Abdul Samad, di sini hari ini.

Menurut Kamarudin, hadiah-hadiah tersebut adalah sumbangan beberapa syarikat korporat di negara ini yang berbesar hati untuk berbuat demikian sempena bulan kemerdekaan.

“Antara hadiah menarik yang ditawarkan termasuklah sebuah kereta Proton Preve dan Chevrolet Cruze, tiket penerbangan, empat buah motosikal, 10 basikal Fixie serta puluhan gajet seperti iPhone, iPad, Macbook, dan BlackBerry.

“Orang ramai hanya perlu mengisi nama dan nombor telefon pada kad cabutan tersebut dan memasukkan keratan ke dalam kotak-kotak yang disediakan di semua pintu masuk stadium berkenaan,” katanya.

Menurutnya, kad cabutan tersebut adalah serampang dua mata kerana ia bukan sekadar untuk cabutan bertuah tetapi turut mengandungi ucapan hari raya daripada Perdana Menteri dan Timbalannya untuk semua pengunjung.

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