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Indira Gandhi still hoping to get her children back

January 19th, 2010
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Indira Gandhi. Nope, not the deceased PM of India, but our own local famous person.

The two news below was reported way back in May 2009.

News 1: From Malaysiakini:

The kindergarden teacher who is embroiled in a legal battle to get custody of her one-year-old daughter from her converted husband, has finally reached an agreement at the High Court today which includes visiting rights to see her child.

MCPX

The agreement was reached after 150 minutes of proposing and counter proposing in the chambers of High Court 1 in Ipoh.

Indira Gandhi (left), 34, appeared relieved after the agreement was stitched with her estranged husband Mohd Ridwan Abdullah before judge Wan Afrah Wan Ibrahim in his chambers this afternoon.

However, Ridwan did not appear in court today. He was represented by a legal team of three lawyers led by Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, while Indira was represented by six lawyers led by Augustine Anthony.

Meanwhile, Perak Bar Council president T Shan held a watching brief for the legal body.

Temporary custody until court hearing

The court was to make a decision today on the contempt proceedings brought against Ridwan for the evasion of custody order dated April 24.

However, a compromise was reached between the two sides and a deal was struck whereby Indra will have temporary custody of her two older children – Tevidarsiny,12, and Karaudinish,11 – while Ridwan will have temporary custody of Prasana Diksa pending the Aug 20 court hearing on custody.

The agreement also states that the two older children will attend school without any interference from their father. Both Indra and Ridwan have visiting rights to see their respective children every fortnight at a place and time to be fixed later.

“I am so relieved that my two months of agonising wait for Prasana has come to a successful temporary agreement,” Indira told journalists outside the court.

When asked about the whereabouts of her husband who was reportedly to be in Singapore, she said, “I do not know but I received a mobile call from him during the court proceedings and he verbally abused me.”

Members of Muslim organisations as well as officials from the Perak Religious Department were seen in full force at the court today.

Their presence appeared to unnerve Indira’s family members and friends, who were clearly outnumbered by them.

News 2: The Star.

IPOH: After more than a month of separation, M. Indira Gandhi may finally see her one-year-old daughter within the next two weeks.

This came about after a High Court here Thursday agreed that the welfare of Indira’s three children should take precedence over the kindergarten teacher’s custody battle with her Muslim convert husband.

As such, although the interim custody order granted to Indira by another court on April 24 was still stayed, Justice Wan Afrah Wan Ibrahim agreed in chambers to a settlement proposed by opposing counsels to allow both parents visitation rights with their children.

According to Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdullah, counsel for Indira’s husband Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah (formerly K. Patmanathan), the settlement permitted both parties to see their children at least once every two weeks.

Currently, the two older children, Tevi Darsiny, 12, and Karan Dinish, 11, reside with their mother while the youngest, Prasana Diksa, stays with the father.

“In the interim, the parties have worked out a situation in which status quo is preserved for the time being, until the court has the chance to listen to full arguments on the main application by Indira’s for custody.

”This means that the two older children remain with their mother and the youngest with her father but both parties can meet once every two weeks until the matter is disposed of in court,” said Mohamed Haniff, when met outside the courtroom here.

He added that terms of the settlement were not strict and would be discussed by solicitors from time to time.

Mohamed Haniff also said that the settlement was proposed to give respect to the two disputing parents and to be fair to the children.

As such, he said Indira’s counsels had also withdrawn their earlier contempt proceedings initiated against Mohd Ridzuan for failure to adhere to April 24’s interim custody order.

Justice Wan Afrah set July 20 to hear submissions on Indira’s main application for custody and Mohd Ridzuan’s application to set aside the interim custody order on grounds that the civil court had no jurisdiction to decide on the matter.

Indira’s counsel Augustine Anthony said that he was pleased with the new arrangement for at the very least, it gave Indira a chance to visit her daughter.

Since the 34-year-old was granted an interim custody on all three of her children, she had embarked on a wild goose chase across the city to locate her estranged husband and youngest daughter.

Despite police intervention and the distribution of over 5,000 posters bearing the faces of her husband and child, Indira still failed to find the two and has not seen them since last month.

And in August last year, this news appeared:

A woman challenging the conversion of her three children to Islam by their Muslim-convert father is seeking leave for a judicial review by the High Court here to quash two decisions handed down by the Syariah Court.

M. Indira Gandhi filed separate applications in the civil court earlier this month to quash her children’s conversion, her lawyer M. Kulase-garan said.

She is also seeking a judicial review to quash the Syariah Court’s decision to grant custody of her children to their father, Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah (formerly K. Patmanathan).

“The court has ordered the husband’s lawyer to file submissions on whether the High Court of Malaya has jurisdiction over the matter.

“If the High Court decides that it has no power, then it will not decide on all other issues,” Kulasegaran told reporters outside the High Court here yesterday.

He added that the High Court had set Sept 4 and Oct 20 to hear the submissions on each of the respective applications.

Meanwhile, Indira Gandhi’s application for custody of her children has been fixed for hearing on Nov 2.

Kulasegaran said that Justice Wan Afrah Wan Ibrahim, who heard the matter in chambers, expressed concern that the children had not seen their mother for months.

Today, this happened:

The Ipoh High Court has ordered both parents embroiled in a custody battle over three children to produce them in court when the hearing continues on Jan 22.

Kindergarten teacher M Indira Gandhi, 35, has filed three applications seeking custody of sons Tevidarsiny, 13 and Karan Dinish,12, and daughter Prasana Diksa, 2, following the conversion of her husband to Islam.

In April 2009, she claimed that her estranged husband Mohd Ridwan Abdullah, 41, previously known as K Patmanathan, had converted himself and the children without her knowledge.

Indira Gandhi also wants the conversion certificates of her children quashed, alongside the Syariah Court’s order awarding custody of the children to Mohd Ridwan.

Today, Justice Wan Afrah Wan Ibrahim heard arguments in chambers for about 90 minutes from lawyers representing Indira Gandhi before issuing the order for the children to be produced in court.

Indira Gandhi is represented by four lawyers – K Shanmuga, M Kulasegaran, D Laithaa and Sahri Azzat – while Mohd Ridwan is represented by three lawyers.

Both parents should have a say

Shanmuga submitted that both parents should have a say in the conversion of children below the age of 18, as stated in Section 5 of the Guardinship of Infants Act 1961.

Mohd Ridwan has been in hiding with the youngest child since Indira Gandhi sought police help to get the girl back. The elder children are with the mother.

Judicial Commissioner Ridwan Ibrahim had, on April 24 last year, granted Mohd Ridwan temporary custody of all three children.

Malaysia has a dual-track legal system, with the civil and the Syariah courts operating side by side on matters of family law.

Non-Muslims have previously claimed that they do not get a fair hearing when such cases are disposed of through the Syariah court system, as they have no locus standi to plead their cause.

Both Indira Gandhi and Mohd Ridwan were present at the court today.

So, its going to be one year, and still no solution in sight for the poor mother. ONE YEAR!

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If it was not a church but…

January 5th, 2010
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I couldn’t help but wonder, if this was not a church/tokong/temple/gurdwara but you-know-what, would the outcome be different? Maybe the land would have been gazetted, allocations provided, and grand officiating ceremony performed. Hmm…

Temerloh High Court Tuesday dismissed the application by two orang asli who sought a judicial review of the decision by a local district and land office which had cut off water and electricity supply to a multi-purpose building that was also used as a place of worship by 70 Jahut Christians in Kampung Pasu.

Judicial Commissioner Justice Akhtar Tahir said that the decision to cut the water and electricity supply was proper because the building was illegally erected.

He added that under Section 6 and 7 of the Aborigines Act, the state authority was empowered to gazette an area as orang asli reserve land.

“However, in this case, the land or area is not gazetted for the orang asli and as such, the application is dismissed.

”The decision made by the Temerloh District Land Administrator is proper,” Justice Akhtar said.

The judicial review was initiatied by father and son, Wet Ket, 59, and Yaman Wet, 33, who named Temerloh district and land office and Pahang government as respondents.

They filed the application in December 2007.

Senior federal counsel Kamal Azira Hassan represented the respondents while counsel Annou Xavier and Kenny Ng appeared on behalf of Wet and Yaman.

The applicants were accompanied by 10 people in the court here Tuesday.

In July 2003, the applicants erected the building, which was also used as a church by the Jahut Christians.

They, however, received a notice by the district office at the end of July stating that the building was illegally built on government land.

In Dec 2006, Wet and Yaman lodged a police report and complained to the Government and following some negotiations, they were given a compensation of RM35,000 to rebuild the place.

Their application for water and electricity was, however, rejected by the Temerloh district and land office on the grounds that it was erected on an ungazetted land while the building was constructed without the approval from the authorities.

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DAP blasts Samy over civil service intake

December 31st, 2009
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DAP’s doing what it always does – prodding the ruling coalition. This time, the target is MIC/MCA and the issue is civil service population.  DAP’s Sivanesan says this:

He took to task MIC president S Samy Vellu for harping on the 5.5 percent of civil service job opportunities allocated to the Indian community by the BN government.

Sivanesan claimed that of this figure, five percent is in the Tamil education system in the country which comprises 523 Tamil school headmasters, about 1,000 senior assistants and around 6,000 Indian teachers.

“This leaves about 0.5 percent of Indians working in the lower ranks of the civil service and this is not something to be proud of as the community is not represented in the top levels of the civil administration,” he said.

Sivanesan, who is Sungkai state assemblyperson, said now Samy Vellu is talking about increasing the percentage of 5.5 to 7.5 for the Indian community as promised under the 1Malaysia concept of Premier Najib Abdul Razak.

He alleges the move is only lip service for the Indian community by the BN government rather than real job opportunities.

He said BN must show to the public how they plan to restructure the civil service.

Sivanesan questioned what Samy Vellu had done for Indian civil service opportunities during his long tenure in the cabinet.

“Now he is out of office and he has come up with a new BN figure of 7.5 percent for the Indian community which has yet to be realised,” Sivanesan said.

“Does this mean more Indians will be allocated top civil jobs in the judiciary as magistrates and judges, as chancellors and deputy chancellors of government universities, heads of government departments, state-linked companies and other public subsidiaries like Felcra, Felda and Mardi?” he asked.

Sivanesan also claimed that there are no non-Malay district officers or local council presidents in all the state governments in Peninsular Malaysia.

Well, I don’t have actual figures on number of Tamil school teachers or the number of Indians in public service. I would say that logically, most Indians would be in education, nursing, medicine and police force. There are some prominent Indians in foreign ministry and one ministry chief secretary, plus another two or three directors of federal government departments. That’s about it. Never heard of any Indians as DO, head of local councils, etc.

But its logical that the number of Indians are less because the intake has been much less and not able to substitute the retiring staff nor compete with the imbalanced intake from the majority race. Since no concerted effort was taken in last 4 decades, we have the imbalance in our hands now. It can’t be removed overnight, unless government issues order than 90% of all intakes for next 5 years should comprise of non-Malays (which is like asking the sun to rise from the west). Even if such order is issued, the non-Malays will hesitate because the reality is that the civil service is overwhelmingly one-sided, and even in that side, competition is very tough. The non-Malays would think that the career development and progress path won’t be fair. Its not necessarily true, but the perception exists because the nearly the whole civil service is made of single race.

Anyway, it would be good if the civil service intake is made part of MIC’s KPI. 7.5% of Indians at ALL level of civil service, local councils, state governments, GLCs, etc. Looking at the difficulty, I doubt Samy Vellu would take this as KPI. Mesti MIC bungkus  🙂

By the way, Sivanesan should also open his report card and show what his coalition has done in Penang, Selangor, Kedah AND Kelantan. Talk is easy, action is hard. Let’s see some proof of how his coalition have managed (or is trying to manage) the population imbalance in civil service, local councils, state-linked companies etc. Don’t think just because you talk loud, people forget to question you as well! 🙂

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Deputy FT Minister clarifies on Sentul issue

December 30th, 2009
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If yesterday we read about YTL’s explanation, today we have a look at Deputy FT Minister Saravanan’s views:

THE Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry has asked the developer, YTL Land & Development Berhad, to honour their promise to build low- and medium- cost homes for the poor in Sentul.

Its deputy minister, Datuk M. Saravanan, said when the negotiations was done years ago between Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) for the development of Kampung Railway, Sentul Raya had committed to build the low-cost houses for the residents.

“This agreement was done during the then Deputy National Unity and Social Development Minister Datuk Alex Lee’s time. We have a written confirmation on this (agreement),’’ Saravanan said.

“When YTL took over Sentul Raya, they confirmed that it would be their top priority to build these homes. Now they are refusing to honour their agreement,’’ he said.

Saravanan said he was disappointed with the developer’s reasoning that they were not responsible because the agreement was made with another company (Sentul Raya) and that YTL only took over in 1997.

“When you take over assets, you also take over the liabilities. As a developer you also have a corporate social responsibility to the community and not just be profit-driven,’’ Saravanan said.

Some 50 people, comprising Batu MIC division members and squatters from Kampung Railway in Sentul, staged a protest at the YTL building in Jalan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday over claims that low- and medium-cost flats were not being built as promised.

The group demanded for the promise based on an agreement in 1994 be fulfilled.

They held placards and marched for a short stretch along the street before crowding in front of the YTL building entrance waiting to hand over the memorandum to a management representative.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall Advisory Board member C. Ramanathan said DBKL had even issued a letter confirming the 1994 agreement and re-affirming the proposal to build the low-cost units.

“The letter basically says that they (DBKL) are still waiting for the developer to put in the development proposal,’’ Ramanathan said.

Ramanathan, who holds the housing and squatter relocation portfolio in the DBKL board, said the area was now developed with many high-end apartments.

“What about the poor people who have been living here since the beginning. What about their plight?’’ he asked.

Kampung Railway resident S. Siva said he was appalled by the manner how the residents were being side-lined by the developer.

“We are not squatters. We have been paying quit rent since the 1940s up until 1991. Till today we are paying the assessment fees and bills like Indah Water,’’ he said.

The residents are being asked to relocate to Puchong — which will cripple them financially since most of them are very poor.

According to the 1994 agreement, Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd (under YTL) was to build 3,000 low- and medium-cost flats and two multi-purpose halls and a football field.

But so far, nothing has materialised.

See how is it to be labelled as squatters?  Last time, the community was driven out from estates to urban resettlement or left on their own. Now the vicious cycle continues in urban areas. Where else to run to?

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YTL clarifies

December 29th, 2009
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Following the protests by the residents in Sentul over the missing low-cost houses, YTL provides some clarification:

According to a representative of YTL Land & Development Berhad, the only agreement made was with Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) for the development of Kampung Railway.

The representative said the company had been wrongly vindicated in this matter as Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd in 1994 was under another parent company and that YTL only took over later in 1997.

“It has nothing to do with YTL as our joint venture agreement is only with KTMB, whereby Kampung Railway will comprise a series of medium-cost apartments to be constructed on Sentul Lot PT16 for the purpose of housing KTMB employees and their immediate families.

“The identified site for this project, unfortunately, has been occupied by squatters and their reluctance to move has delayed the commencement of construction for a considerable time,” said the representative, adding that this meant the memorandum handing-over was also directed to a wrong party.

In a press statement issued, it is said some 41 families have already moved out of their squatter homes; with 22 of the 41 relocated to PPR Kg Muhibbah Puchong while the other 19 found homes of their own.

As for this current group of 18 families, a court case was ongoing and no date has been fixed for the next mention.

“We have taken numerous measures to look into the welfare and interest of the affected families, like dialogues and briefings, extending moving-out deadline, assisting the families with new low-cost homes via liaising with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

“We will still offer relocation compensation and assist with the new accommodation, although it is in the hands of the DBKL to decide on the location,” said the representative.

Some residents say they did not know what they signed, while others saying moving to Puchong is too far and incur very high costs.

Meanwhile, this is the predicament of the Kampung Railway residents:

RESIDENTS of Kampung Railway in Sentul suspect that the low-cost flats promised them were scrapped due to the possibility of a hypermarket taking shape in the area.

The residents recently won a year-long legal battle against the developers and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB).

The original residents of the village were former employees of KTMB and many of the current residents are their descendants. According to them, they had been promised low-cost flats but, till today, had heard nothing further.

Last year, they were served with eviction notices, citing plans for a railway village for KTMB employees.

They began their legal battle in December, 2008, when Batu MP Tian Chua helped them file the suit. On April 29, this year the court had ruled in their favour.

“The court acknowledged that the 20 residents should receive low-cost units as promised because they had documentation proving their cause,” Chua said.

KTMB filed an appeal a month after the decision was handed down.

Since then, three more residents have opted to join in the lawsuit.

Chua said they would have to provide the proper documentation, including family history and assessment bills paid during their stay at Kampung Railway.

However, the two families highlighted in StarMetro’s article on Dec 16, M. Thanaletchumy and her son-in-law, R. Parthiban, cannot be included in the list as they have already signed agreements to move out.

K. Letchumi, 39, whose house was demolished together with Thanaletchumy’s is also seeking help to fight her case. She has not signed any agreement to move out but her house was still demolished.

Chua said they had only relocated residents who had lived in the area for less than 10 years to Kampung Muhibbah, Puchong.

According to him, brochures sent out by the developers showed that a hypermarket would be built on the land.

“Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) cannot issue a development order for the construction as it was initially planned for low-cost flats,” he said.

Chua said he would bring up the issue with KL mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail and Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.

So, YTL is saying those people staying in Kampung Railways are squatters whereas they are descendents of the KTMB employees, and some of them have won their court case against KTM and developer?

Yesterday, residents together with MIC  held a protest:

OVER 50 people, comprising Batu MIC division members and squatters residents from Kampung Railway in Sentul, staged a protest yesterday over claims that low- and medium-cost flats are not being built as promised.

The protest was held at the YTL building in Jalan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur where the group demanded for the promise based on an agreement in 1994 be fulfilled.

They held placards and marched for a short stretch along the street before crowding in front of the YTL building entrance waiting to hand over the memorandum to a management representative.

In the memorandum, it is claimed that Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd (under YTL) was to build 3,000 units of low- and medium-cost flats and two multi-purpose halls and a football field.

However, the group said not a single low-cost unit has been built 15 yearson.

Batu MIC division chairman C. Ramanathan, who is the group’s spokesperson, said the area was now developed with many high-end apartments.

“What we want is for the developer to honour its promise made 15 years back, that is to build the low and medium-cost units,” said Ramanathan.

“They have been asked to relocate to Puchong but it’s so far away. These are poor people earning like RM400 a month and many are uneducated folks who would not know what is happening once they move there.”

Resident Yogalingam Muthukrishnan, 41, said his father first made the home there 50 years back, and is unhappy now that he is asked to move to Puchong.

“I have children who are still schooling so it’s not convenient for me. Also, they have taken away our football field there,” he said.

YTL Land & Development Berhad customer relations manager Karen Tan later came out to receive the memorandum.

Police officers had gathered around to supervise and man the crowd.

So, is this another case of badly management development with scant regards for the residents? Some of the villages in Sentul exists for more than 100 years, so what happened in last 10 years? Where did all the folks go to?

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