Deja Vu?

/* February 6th, 2009 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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Read this:

The principal of a secondary school here is in trouble for an alleged religious slur against his students.

More than 20 parents of the school’s students gathered outside the district education office here to demand an apology yesterday.

They claimed the principal had used the derogatory words thrice during an assembly on Sunday.

One of the parents, Y. Baskaran, said the principal should set a good example by fostering unity among students.

“The principal’s action is an insult to the community. She should have refrained from using such words. I hope no one in responsible positions like her uses the words in future,” he said.

Several parents had also lodged a police report the day after the incident.

Baskaran said narrow-minded civil servants such as the principal were obstructing the government’s efforts to promote racial harmony in the country.

Baskaran, who represented the parents, handed a memorandum to district education officer Abu Bakar Md Ali.

Social worker S. Neelamegam, who was present at the gathering, said disciplinary action should be meted out to the principal to serve as a lesson to other civil servants.

Abu Bakar said he would refer the matter to the state Education Department.

And then, this incident in Kuala Langat.

Don’t be surprised if the HM gets promoted and transfered to a Cluster school! 🙂

KLCC and KL Tower

/* February 6th, 2009 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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As viewed from Sheraton Imperial hotel:

Uthaya not provided treatment for fractured toe

/* February 6th, 2009 by poobalan | View blog reactions 1 comment »
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After getting a court order to obtain medical treatment, look at what HINDRAF leader and ISA detainee Uthaya found out:

Surendran told Malaysiakini that the doctor who examined Uthayakumar informed him that his swollen left foot was due to a fracture in his small toe.

I guess fractured toe will need a plaster or at least bandaged to minimise movement. A proper rest and it will heal within weeks.

The doctor also did not provide more treatment, says the lawyer for Uthaya:

Moreover, Surendran added that the doctor also denied Uthayakumar any medication for the pain.

“He (Uthayakumar) also asked to be admitted because of a previous heart ailment, but the doctor dismissed the request saying that the beds in hospital were all occupied,” complained Surendran. [valid reason, but they could have also referred to another hospital?]

…  According to Surendran, the doctor who treated Uthayakumar, had jotted down the medical notes in a “police book”.

“She also refused to admit him although he (Uthayakumar) has a diabetic condition,” said the lawyer, adding that Uthayakumar had insisted on seeing an orthopaedic specialist but this was denied.

Meanwhile, Surendran also complained that the police had blindfolded Uthayakumar when taking him to the hospital and since there were stairs, his injured toe kept colliding with the stairs.

He also claimed that the police officer who had accompanied him kept taunting his client.

Following this, the family of Uthaya lodged a police report against HKL and the doctor:

ISA detainee P Uthayakumar’s family has lodged a police report calling for immediate action against Kuala Lumpur Hospital and the doctor who conducted Uthayakumar’s medical check-up on Feb 3.

MCPX

Uthayakumar’s fiancĂ©e S Indradevi today filed the report at the Brickfields police station claiming that when Uthayakumar was taken to the hospital for treatment on his foot, Dr Nurul Aida who had examined him merely said he had a fractured toe and discharged him.

“(She) refused to admit him even though he was a long-time diabetic, had fever, his toe was blacken and his left leg was swollen,” stated Indradevi in her report.

“I want an immediate investigation into the conduct of the hospital and the doctor involved as well as the abuse by police officers.

No medication was given by the doctor and no treatment was given for the fractured bone,” she said.

Indradevi who visited Uthayakumar at the Kamunting detention centre yesterday said she was shocked when Uthayakumar recounted the abuses he went through.

Furthermore, she said that she feared for his safety at the detention centre as the police were “wilfully negligent and abusive”.

However, Uthayakumar who had filed a separate six-page report at the Kamunting police station also complained that the doctor was negligent when handling his case.

“I had related and the said doctor had recorded my complaint that I have been a diabetic for about 14 years, my swollen left leg and the darkening last toe as well as the discolouration of the other adjoining toes and my hypokenetic heart condition,” said Uthayakumar’s report.

“… (And I) also wanted to be treated and consulted by a cardiologist and whether I should start taking aspirin tablets,” he said.

Uthayakumar added that he wanted to be referred to the Gleneagles Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur for “an independent medical treatment and for blood and urine test to be carried out especially to rule out a diabetic gangrene and any kidney malfunction”.

“Despite the above, he said the doctor had refused to admit me at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital ward even at least until the swelling on my leg subsided.

“I now fear for my personal safety and health and in the future I will refuse to to return to police remand centre to facilitate my court appearance or to any place,” he said in the report.

Uthayakumar stressed that he would “only be prepared to stay at another prison or detention centre when escorted and controlled by the prison authorities” and not the police officers.

PR reps tell tales of money politics

/* February 6th, 2009 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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“money politics” is a term introduced to well by Malaysia (well, to be precise, by a political party in Malaysia). While the rest of the world uses more the common term – bribery, we invented a new term. Malaysia Boleh, of course!

Interestingly, “money politics” is not limited to intra-party on-goings only, if we are to believe the words of some Pakatan Rakyat leaders. RM60 million!!!! Seriously??? Like that means politician can be a career worth considering for our younger generation! Let’s face it, not everyone will be Tiger Woods or Ronaldo or Bill Gates. But everyone can try to be a politician. it does not really need any qualifications nor technical skills.

The first report sees Perak Pakatan reps saying:

IPOH: Five Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen have claimed they have been approached by agents to cross over to Barisan Nasional.

They are State Assembly Speaker and Tronoh assemblyman V. Siva­kumar, Sungkai assemblyman A. Sivanesan, Hutan Melintang assemblyman S. Kesavan, Malim Nawar assemblyman Keshvinder Singh and Buntong assemblyman A. Subra­maniam [all Indians. Interesting!].

Except for Sivakumar, the others claimed they were contacted in recent days.

Sivakumar said he was offered RM60mil to cross over last year before his appointment as Speaker.

Sivanesan said he was initially approached before he was sworn in last year, and on Tuesday he received a call to persuade him to cross over.

He said the caller said: “Tunggu apa lagi? Kerajaan dah lari sana. Kalau abang setuju, saya datang sekarang juga bawa abang duduk seminggu.” (What are you waiting for? The Government has changed. If you agree to cross over, I will take you into hiding for a week.)

Sivanesan said he was first approached last year by a man called Amir, and a meeting was arranged after he informed the party leadership.

He said he met Amir, accompanied by two others, at a fast-food outlet in Bidor, and was offered RM5mil and a seat on the state executive council.

He claimed Amir contacted him after he was sworn in and doubled the offer.

Keshwinder Singh said he was offered RM10mil plus the position of the Perak MIC chief and a place on the state executive council about a week ago. [Perak MIC post??? G. Rajoo must be seething with anger!]

“A man who said he was acting on behalf of an Umno leader came to my office in Kampar with the proposition,” he said.

All five assemblymen were present at the High Court as a show of support for Sivakumar who has filed a suit seeking to uphold the resignation of Changkat Jering, Behrang and Jelapang state assemblymen, thus getting the seats to be declared vacant.

The same paper reported another case by Kedah PR reps:

Two PKR assemblymen in Kedah claimed they were offered money to leave Pakatan Rakyat and become Independents after the March general election.

Lim Soo Nee (Kulim) and Tan Show Kang (Sidam) claimed that the offer of several millions of ringgit was made many times by the same man.

“The man last offered me money about a month ago. He offered a large sum of money to leave Pakatan Rakyat and become an Independent assemblyman. I do not know the man,” Tan told reporters at the official declaration ceremony of Pokok Sena as the state’s 12th district yesterday.

Lim said he was also offered a large sum of money but the man stopped making the offer after several months.

Lim and Tan said they reported the matter to the PKR headquarters.

These allegations are being bandied now probably to drive the point that the defectors in Perak were offered similar propositions as well.

Now only want to have second cabinet committee meeting?

/* February 6th, 2009 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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Guess what, the first meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Indian community development was held back in July last year. After that it was supposed to held in September. Strangely, there was no news about the committee meeting anywhere. And now, Star reports Samy Vellu as saying that the second meeting will be held in 23rd February. Let’s see the article:

Issues affecting the Indian community, including equity participation, are likely [LIKELY??? Then what the point of having the committee???] to be discussed at the second meeting of the Cabinet Committee for the Development of Indians on Feb 23, said MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

He said the committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, would discuss the MIC’s proposals, including the setting-up of a mechanism to increase Indians’ equity participation from the current 1.2% to 3% in 2020.

… The MIC had suggested that a mechanism be established within the government-owned Permodalan Nasional Bhd to assist poor Indians to buy shares through 50% grants and 50% loans from the Government [So, will be it finalised in the 2nd meeting or pushed to next meeting?].

Samy Vellu said several decisions were taken at the first Cabinet Committee meeting last July 1 including streamlining the procedure for bringing in Hindu, Sikh and other priests from India [which took how long implemented?], agreeing to a policy of converting all partially-aided Tamil schools to fully-aided schools [note the words – “agreeing” to a “policy”] and increasing the number of Public Service Department scholarships for Indians studying in foreign universities to 163 students [its well documented that this happened before the meeting after MIC leader went to plead with the PSD].

Other decisions include enabling those who scored 9As and above in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination to receive scholarships to study in local universities [this is for all students, not Indians only – says MCA!], recognising the MIC-run Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology University as among the institutes where scholarship students could enrol and agreeing to set up a special task force under the Home Ministry to deal with the 30,000 Indians born in Malaysia who are still without documents [hopefully the task force will present how many cases it has solved and the problems faced].

He said the Government had also approved RM80mil over the last 18 months to redevelop 50 Tamil schools which were in a dilapidated state.

And if you noticed, Samy said the RM80 millions for schools were to “REDEVELOP” Tamil schools. Can he specify how much of the funds is for “repair” works and how much is for constructing “new” buildings? There’s a big difference between the words being used. For example, in SJKT Vallambrosa, the money given was for “repairs” and not for adding new buildings. So, how to solve the problem of overcrowding in the school?