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independence day parade experience

September 13th, 2007
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It’s finally here! my first ever experience taking part in the independence day parade, at Dataran Merdeka. After many days of practising, we woke up around 5.45am on the 31st, still tired from last night’s trip to thefirework competition.

We reached kl sentral at about 6.15am and took the KTM Komuter to KL railway station. From there we walked to the Dataran. It was all fine, until Then said that she left her handphone at home! Hmm…happened a few times already, but this is really bad timing. That put a spanner into our plans. How are we going to meet up after the parade? So we decided that if we can’t find each other, then just return back to KL Sentral and wait at the our car.

Anyhow, I left her at the Dataran for her to find a good location, while I made my way to my contigent. We waited and waited till about 8.15am and the helicopters flew by. That was the sign that the program has started. At about 8.40am, we started our march. I was lucky to be positioned at the side and was given one of the placards as well. We marched through the tunnel and the sight that greeted us near the Dataran was awesome. The noise was tremendous and the whole are was brimming with people. There was an air of excitement and energy all around. This was nothing like the rehearsal we had for the last 3 days. This is the real thing.

Due to the noise, we had problem listening to the music and synchronise our march. So, the contigent had to shout “kiri” “kanan” (“left right”) all the time. As we marched past the VIP podium, I could see Tun Mahathir, Tun Siti Hasmah, PM Badawi, Prince Andrew, and President Gloria Arroyo among others waving or acknowledging us. I also thought I saw Ms Jeanne yawning as well. It was a short walk past the podium, but meaningful indeed!

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The heat was quite strong. We continued marching. Cheered by the crowd who lined up along the roads all the way till Jln Sultan Ismail junction. It was blistering hot, and many came with umbrellas and caps. We made our way past Medan Mara, Quality hotel etc., and dispersed at about 9.15am.

I rushed back to the Dataran to search for Then, but obviously it is a futile attempt. There were easily 20,000 people at the dataran. I found a spot near the TV3 crew station and saw the last 20 minutes or so of the parade. Among the interesting ones was parade by the K-9 unit which was well received by the crowd.

K-9 Unit K-9 Unit

Towards the end, jet fighters made their entrance and gave a thunderous performance. The latest Suhkoi jets were also on show.

Fighter Jet Fighter Jet Fighter Jet Fighter Jet

At the end, I witnessed the VIP leaving, starting with the Agong and his consort. And I’m pretty sure that while one of the ministers were leaving, a lady (who looked mentally unstable) ran across the road. None of the papers mentioned this. The secutity was quite lax and the guards were slow to react. Anyway, I couldn’t see what happened to her. By the way, Tun Mahathir received the loudest cheer when he took leave. Others must be envious of the support he has 🙂 Samy Vellu was alone as usual. Talking about Samy Vellu, MIC’s contigent were the only one who carried a banner claiming that they were the “pembela masyarakat India” (defenders of the India community” for the last 6 decades. Looks a bit out of place right?

MIC Banner

Anyway, the ladies looked wonderful in the green sarees.

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Well, the whole thing came to an end at about 10.30am, and I was walking towards the Bank Negara’s Komuter station when Then called from a telephone booth and said that she was at the Masjid Jamek LRT station. We decided to just meet back at Brickfields. I was thanking my lucky stars that nothing went wrong.

That’s when my nightmare started. I entered the Komuter station and waited for the train to KL Sentral. After 10 minutes the announcement came that there were some problems and delays are expected for trains towards Seremban. The crowd started to grow. After 20 minutes, the delays were extended to all trains. No idea when it will be resolved. Damn! KTM sure knows how to spoil a great event! The people there were cursing and many started to leave the station. There were about 150 people at that time. So, after waiting nearly 45 minutes, I decided to walk to Masjid Jamek LRT station, which took another 15 minutes. Finally reached KL Sentral at 12.30pm. A trip that was to end by 11am, took extra 90 minutes due to the stupid KTM service!

Met up with a tired and angry Then :), and left for a good lunch before hitting the sack. It was indeed a tiring a day, but a meaningful one as I took part in the 50th Independence Day parade. Oh ya..did I mention that Then’s handphone was in her backpack all the while? That was like rubbing salt on the wound!

For her version of the events on that day, visit her blog la…

By the way, photos were taken by Then. She managed to get a location at the front of the crowd, facing the parade near the VIP area. Bigger images at Picasa.

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MP says corporate sector must help tamil schools

September 9th, 2007
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This is what MP Devamany said  as quoted by The Star:
 
S.K. Devamany MP (BN-Cameron Highlands): "All the shouting (over more incentives for Tamil schools) has finally paid off. Now, the corporate sector must help the schools."
Q: Who did the shouting?
Q: Why must corporate sector help the schools? Isn't this pushing the buck? And are we talking about Indian-based corporate sectors only?

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UMIC’s Merdeka Treasure Hunt 2007

September 3rd, 2007
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25th August was a memorable day indeed since it was the first time I took part in a motorized treasure hunt. The hunt was organized by UMIC (or try http://www.umic.com.my) as part of its recreational activity. The event had a noble cause of channeling the proceeds to its community projects to help single mothers.

Well, back to the event. Our team consisted of myself, Then, Ananthi, and Guru. Only Ananthi had experience as a hunter before, so you can pretty much estimate our expectation and confidence level. Anyway, we took part more as support for the event rather than gunning for glory. I missed the briefing by the organizers, so had no idea what a tulip had to do with a treasure hunt, until it was duly clarified. Good thing I did not bring a bunch of tulips on that morning 🙂

Guru took on the driver role (it was his car anyway), myself the navigator, and the two ladies as the crew.

We flagged off from Safety Driving School, near Armada Hotel/Asiajaya, PJ at 8am, wearing our “bright” yellow competition t-shirts. It was a sight ripped off from Batu Caves during Thaipusam 🙂 By the way, we also got a bagful of goodies courtesy of various sponsors.

The hunt was confusing since it had many segments – solving the clues (riddles more likely!), collecting treasures, road safety questions, challenges (like shopping in a hypermarket for the items or acting out weird characters), and they even had apair of 3-piece jigsaw puzzle pictorials! It was a steep learning curve for the 3 of us and Ananthi tried her best to expose us to the complicated world of treasure hunters.

The first clue led us to Cyberjaya, where we had to use our acting skills to obtain the tulips and questions. From Cyberjaya it was a hectic 8 hour (YES, 8 hour) trip along Dengkil, Bandar Salak Tinggi, Bandar Baru Nilai, PLUS highway, Tampin, and then towards Alor Gajah and finally ending at Straits Meridian Hotel, Malacca.

We practically had to keep our eyes peeled open and try to process the information we saw along the roads all the time. We tried to answer as much as questions as possible, but ended up completing about 26 out of 40 questions only. Probably got half of that correct 🙁

We did not manage the time properly and had to rush to reach in time. Managed to reach the hotel about 5.05pm and handed in our answers and the treasures. After that, we checked in and relaxed until dinner time. The organizers then presented the answers. From what I saw and heard, I believe this was quite a tough hunt for beginners like me. Anyway, I was glad we got some of the answers correct. The winners were announced (top 10 places) as below:

1st place: Awesome Foursome (Capt Sundar, Rajes, Deepa, Rajiv) – 119 pts

2nd place: Riddle Raiders (Chew Seng Cheong, Lim Gin Lee, Chin Siow Chin, Loh Chee Kwan) – 114 pts

3rd place: Little Ferrari (Manivannan Velayuthan, Prabaharan Sukumaran, Liana Jacinta Gaganathan, Shobna Nair Kunjoo Nair) – 89 pts

4th place: Sivaji – The Boss (Kannan Ramasamy, Krishna Moorthy Ayadurai, Murali Puncharatnam, Tharmen) – 87 pts

5th place: Lanun Merdeka (Perumal Naidu Ramiah, Siva Kumar Ramayah, Malar Supramaniam, Lim Chuan Leng) – 85 pts

6th place: WD Hunters (Edward Raj Selvarajoo, Sanmugam Subramaniam, Theva Kumar Kailasapathy, Selveratinam Manickam) – 82 pts

7th place: Charlie’s Angels (Saravanan Arumugam, Kavita Branavasoruban, Subanandini Thuraisingam, Vanaja Pamela Arumugam) – 81 pts

8th place: Flying Dutchman (Thavaselvam Tesanggu, Premala Naidu Haridas, Sumitera Sena, Sheiila Rajj) – 78 pts

9th place: Info (Ong Jen Jen, Andy Yap Woei Wen, Irma Malyana, Lee Choon Ping) – 76 pts

10th place: Die Hard 5.0 (Nilamegam Maniam, Omantaram Kangarajoo, Sadishwara Rau Narayanasamy, Paramasivam Perumal) – 74 pts

The winners received RM5000 worth of Star Cruises voucher plus other goodies! Not bad for a days’ effort. Even though we did not win anything, I really enjoyed the hunt and we are thinking of participating in upcoming hunts in the future. It’s a good way to explore places and improve on your knowledge.

**update – Then has written on the hunt as well on her blog

As usual, the pictures can be found at Picasa, or just click on the slideshow below.

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MCA outlines four principles for continuous cooperation in Barisan Nasional

August 19th, 2007
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BERNAMA
source
KUALA LUMPUR, Sun.:
 

MCA, the second-largest component party in Barisan Nasional (BN), today outlined four key principles for the party’s continuous cooperation in the BN and to retain the concept of power-sharing.

At the 54th MCA general assembly opened by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at Wisma MCA here, MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said the four principles need to be practised if the present BN model is to remain for another 50 years.

He said the first principle is for all component parties to hold strongly to the virtues of sincerity, honesty, mutual respect and fairness in protecting the rights of all races at all times. This means that BN component parties need to reject racial and religious extremism.

Ong said that under the second principle, MCA wants all BN component parties to uphold the spirit of the social contract and the Federal Constitution to guarantee the rights of the various races in the country.

The third principle calls for the component parties to earnestly practise a healthy political philosophy and culture by promoting the culture of integrity so that the people will have more confidence in supporting the BN.
He said a healthy political culture with integrity has to be practised at all levels in the government and only then, the BN will remain strong for another 50 years.

And under the fourth principle, Ong said, the leadership of all component parties have to have the wisdom and vision, and be progressive, innovative and competitive, and able to work as a team to develop the country by overcoming the challenges of globalisation in the era of high technology.

He said that 50 years ago, the first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Alhaj laid the foundation for cooperation among parties to gain independence and today, MCA reaffirmed its full support to stand on a similar platform for cooperation to lead the country face the challenges in the next 50 years.

Ong said Abdullah’s moderation, fairness and leadership qualities have given MCA the trust to work with him in the interest of future generations.

MCA will also continue to fully support efforts by the prime minister in fighting corruption and enhancing integrity of the public sector and general public, he said.

He said that MCA itself is striving to promote the culture of integrity within the party, so that its leaders carry out their tasks honestly and efficiently and are clean and trustworthy and directly prevent the practise of unhealthy political cultures.

Ong also said that MCA views seriously the rise in crime cases which has become a hot topic of conversation among the people.

The MCA president said criminal cases like murder, rape, robbery and snatch-theft have constantly made headlines in the local media and this has made the people to be concerned and affected the country’s image in the eyes of investors and foreign tourists.

“Most of the criminals are drug addicts, unemployed, illegal immigrants, secret society members, those who are desperate because of debts and so on,” he said.

Ong said the government should address the problem by taking firmer action including imposing heavier penalties on offenders and tightening the controls on illegal immigrants and drug addicts.

He also stressed the need for Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) to play a role of giving a portion of contracts to non-Bumiputera companies which can generate various economic activities to benefit the Bumiputeras.

“Any effort by the government to restructure the society should be based on a principle of not affecting the existing equity rights or forcing any quarters to give up part of the equity which they obtain over a long period of hard work,” he said.

He said the authorities, when imposing guidelines on investments and businesses, should be sensitive and careful so as not to adversely affect the confidence of investors, both foreign and domestic.

“Circulars which can restrict business opportunities of any quarters are not appropriate because they are against the concept of the Barisan Nasional government which always safeguards the interests of all races,” he said.

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Samy ready to meet HINDRAF to iron out community problems

August 19th, 2007
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Hindraf, said to be aligned to an opposition party?

 
I thought HINDRAF supports BN? At least that's what a few of their banners/posters mentioned.
 

He said of the 523 Tamil schools in the country, 180 are fully-aided schools, while the remaining were partially-aided, of which 66 schools have been rebuilt through government and private funding.

 
523 schools in 2007. How many have been closed down? How many in process of relocation? How many have been rejected when approached for relocation? One school rebuilt via private funding is SJKT North Hammock in Setia Alam, due to estate being redeveloped as housing area. Out of 180 schools, how many were turned to fully-aided schools in the last 10 years? in the last 20 years? When will the rest (343 schools) will be converted to fully-aided? Is there a timeline or plan? Rather than looking at schools as physical infrastructure, they should also look at overall education improvement in the last 50 years in Tamil schools – number of students, dropouts, passing rates, facilities (library,science lab, computers, internet, tables/chairs) available at all 523 schools, student-teacher ratio, promotion and career prospects for teachers etc.
 

“We are going to rebuild another 160 Tamil schools with the help of the government,” he said.

 
What is the time frame for these 160 schools to be rebuilt? 20 years? 50 years?
 

On temples, Samy Vellu said only temples that were built or extended on private land without government approvals were demolished and not hundreds of temples as claimed by Hindraf.

If temple already existed before indepedence, can application be made after building constructed? How many application has been made and rejected so far? What happened to the committee to monitor temple issues under DBKL and Perak govt?

On allegations of mistreatment of estate workers, Samy Vellu said the number of Indian estate workers had dwindled drastically, with only about 20 per cent still engaged in the plantation sector, while the rest have migrated to urban areas. “The MIC has been helping these people to get jobs and houses in towns,” he said, adding that in Kuala Lumpur alone, out of 5,000 squatters, the MIC, with the help of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, has secured 2,000 units of houses.

 
according to latest statistics, 63% of malaysians are in urban areas – meaning more migration and also transformation of rural areas into urban areas through redevelopment. That's why we have more urban poors now. Did they focus on reskilling these migrating or displaced groups so that can adopt to new environment? Anyway, HINDRAF made comparisons on what other community gets as compensation and what the Indians get as compensation. Everyone get house, but what house and where? And how about the issues where some estate folks don't have IC, marriage certs, and are illiterate?
 
Perhaps the comparisons and facts should be linked with similar statistics of all communities so that we can get a fairer picture?
 
 
 
Samy Vellu ready to meet Hindu NGO to iron out community problems

BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Sun.:

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu is willing to meet the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), a non-governmental organisation, to iron out Indian community issues and unresolved matters.

He said he was ever ready to meet any individual or organisations who were unhappy with the alleged shoddy treatment accorded to the Indians or wanted to resolve the community’s problems.

“I am always ready to listen to their views and explain to them the efforts taken by the government in resolving the woes of the Indian community,” the Works Minister said when asked by reporters if he was willing to meet Hindraf officials.

Hindraf, said to be aligned to an opposition party, submitted an 18-page memorandum to the Prime Minister’s office last Sunday on what it alleged as the marginalisation of the Indians by the government.

It also called for an end to the special privileges given to the Malay community.
While stressing that Hindraf had not approached him for a meeting, Samy Vellu said he was willing to meet them to discuss only matters concerning the Indian community.

Samy Vellu also rebutted some of the allegations made by Hindraf that the government had neglected Tamil schools and demolished hundereds of Hindu temples.

“There is no truth to such thing and I have the figures to substantiate them. Please do not make wild allegations,” he said.

He said of the 523 Tamil schools in the country, 180 are fully-aided schools, while the remaining were partially-aided, of which 66 schools have been rebuilt through government and private funding.

“We are going to rebuild another 160 Tamil schools with the help of the government,” he said.

On temples, Samy Vellu said only temples that were built or extended on private land without government approvals were demolished and not hundreds of temples as claimed by Hindraf.

“There is a limit to accusations. We must have an open mind and see things clearly,” he said, adding that the MIC has sought fresh applications for government grants to build and rebuild more temples.

On allegations of mistreatment of estate workers, Samy Vellu said the number of Indian estate workers had dwindled drastically, with only about 20 per cent still engaged in the plantation sector, while the rest have migrated to urban areas.

“The MIC has been helping these people to get jobs and houses in towns,” he said, adding that in Kuala Lumpur alone, out of 5,000 squatters, the MIC, with the help of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, has secured 2,000 units of houses.

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