Posts Tagged ‘discrimination’

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Kg Buah Pala can unite Indians?

August 16th, 2009
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Unlike other races in the country, very few things can unite the Indian community. One such event that came close to achieving some resemblance of unity in recent years was the Hindraf rally in 2007. There’s another indicator as well – MIC’s membership which  claim to be in the region of half a million or so.

Other than the above two, I fail to see any other items/ideals that Indians agree upon. Be it religion, language, tamil schools, Thaipusam holiday, political parties, 1Malaysia, lockup deaths, temple relocation, etc. Every faction has its own opinions, often contradictory.

Could it be that for once, regardless its right or wrong, all Indians stand behind the residents of Kg Buah Pala (one of the current hot issues affecting the community)? Would it cause a ripple or change anything? Can we see political party representatives stand together in front of the bulldozers, instead of some leaders conveniently switching of their handphones (as was claimed in some articles)? We can learn from our brothers from the other community – one death related to MACC, and the community is showing anger. Or mention Islam, and the Muslims join  hands faster than a speeding bullet (being dramatic here).

Its clear the political parties are not really supporting the residents but merely playing dramatic scenes, while the media is portraying the residents as being “greedy”. PM Najib washed his hands off the problem, saying land is state issue. Ex-CM virtually dissappeared from the face of the earth, current CM talking law too much. Champion of community says got up to RM5 million to help state buy back land.

Kg Buah Pala is a straightforward issue. Any right thinking Malaysian will consider the rule of law, and also the “compassionate”  and “natural justice” part. If need to, suspend the development order until all investigations are initiated and completed. But where is MACC and other law enforcement agencies?

There are some valid questions asked by people – why no action taken to formalise or verify the land ownership for past 50 years? Why no advice to the residents? Why sell cheap? Why sell to that company? Why new government accept final payment? Can the agreement/sale be undone or halted? How can  try to demolish when there’s a review pending on 18th August?

I’m sure many smart and learned Malaysians can ask more questions, but who is actually answering these questions? Is it the stakeholders like residents, ex-CM Koh Tsu Koon, federal government, state government, cooperative, developer, the politicians who made promises, the champion of the community reps who didn’t do the job? How reliable are these answers?

If the issue of Kg Buah Pala happened to you – someone comes along and says that your ancestral house is no more yours because it was under the care of the government all this time and was sold it to a third person –  what would you do? Some may say tough luck and move on, others will fight to the end. If you feel you are on the side of justice, surely you’ll feel aggrived. If you felt that its your fault that never verify or follow up with the land matters, you will move on.

So, at the moment, its hinging on the 18th court hearing. After that, this issue will be forgotten, probably until next general elections. Well, one good lesson from this – please check the ownership of the land you occupy (make it an annual affair, just like paying tax or renewing car license). Remember that what happened to Kg Buah Pala residents can happen to you too.

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stating race in forms

August 10th, 2009
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This piece of comment from Deputy International Trade and Industries Minister, Mukhriz Mahathir caught my attention:

Malaysians should not be required to state their race in most official forms and documents, said Umno Youth executive committee member Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir.

He said while stating one’s race might be required for certain forms relating to the special privileges of bumiputras, it is not necessary for most, adding that the requirement to state one’s race in official documents was evident in the private sector.

“I would highly encourage that such columns for race be removed. This is in line with the 1Malaysia concept,” he said during a question-and-answer session here.

Mukhriz was responding to a question from Penang Junior Chamber International member Vincent Liew, who asked why Malaysians still needed to fill up a column for race in most official forms.

Liew said it would be better if people from ethnic and religious backgrounds be simply recognised as Malaysians.

Well, I guess you can’t have one set of rules for yourself, justifying it with reasons, and then say that others shouldn’t do the same as you. That’s hypocrisy.  It should be the same across the board. I think the race field should be totally removed or made optional. We can already deduce race/ethnicity to a certain level by looking at the person’s name.

Since we still  use race as one of the parameters for various statistics and indicators, I don’t see the removal of this field in forms any time soon. Probably never. Even though such data can be used to further certain socio-economic agenda, most likely its used for political purposes in reality. That’s life.

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Kg Buah Pala reject the offer

August 7th, 2009
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The residents are rejecting the offer of the double storey house by the developer. I think looking at the failure rate of fulfilling promises by developers and authorities, especially on property and land related issues, the residents have valid reason to be suspicious. Land swindling and corruption is so rampant that one wonders if one’s own house is safe or not.

Now the residents stand to lose everything as the developer and cooperative won’t be relenting on the pursue of the land. I think what the residents can do is to sue the previous goverment, but that may be thrown out as they don’t have locus standi anymore.

The saga shall continue…

Kampung Buah Pala residents did not meet a noon deadline to accept the ‘double-storey terrace house’ offer made by developer Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd

Kampung Buah Residents Association chairperson M Sugumaran said they are rejecting the offer as it is riddled with unacceptable conditions.

One of them, he pointed out, was the villagers were asked to withdraw all their court cases against the land deals pertaining to their village.

Another demanded virtually all 24 house owners in the village to vacate the land and handover possession to the land owner, Koperasi Pegawai Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan Pulau Pinang.

“One must understand that we are not fighting against Nusmetro, the state government or the cooperative society.

“We are challenging the land alienation marred by fraudulent land deals,” said Sugumaran (above, left) at a press conference in the village this afternoon.

He said the offer letter was issued to all house owners during last Tuesday’s meeting between the villagers and state government leaders in Komtar.

The villagers were given until noon today to accept the offer.

Sugumaran, however, said perhaps two residents may have accepted the offer, without naming them.

Villagers face demolition of homes

Kampung Buah Pala is also commonly known as Tamil High Chaparral due to its population of cowherds, cattle, goats, other live stocks and lively Tamil cultural features and festivities.

Despite the land being sold by the state government to the cooperative society last year, the villagers have refused to shift from their homes.

They, instead, demanded the authorities gazette their village as an Indian heritage living human village in Georgetown city.

They also submitted a memorandum to the Unesco heritage unit in Paris last week to add more steel to their struggle.

Georgetown and Malacca were given a combined world heritage city status by Unesco in July last year.

Armed with a court order, the developer warned residents that the village would be demolished and flattened if the residents failed to meet its Friday noon dateline by accepting its offer.

The developer plans to build a luxury condominium project called Oasis in the area.

Sugumaran said the state government should not have allowed Nusmetro to make the offer given that Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had said that the land alienation exercise carried out by the previous Barisan Nasional administration was tainted with fraud.

“When the chief minister himself has raised such allegations, it’s only logical for the state government to right the wrong.

“If the state government continues to facilitate Nusmetro’s offer, then the current government was clearly colluding with the previous administration to endorse the fraud.

“This is unbecoming of a responsible government,” he told newsmen.

Ramasamy asked to explain RM500,000 claim

Meanwhile, the villagers adviser A Thiruvenggadam demanded the state government to explain its claim that villagers would be made owners of RM500,000 worth of properties through the Nusmetro offer.

He questioned how the state government can possibly assess the property value when the proposed double-storey terrace houses were yet to be built and given to the villagers.

The former councillor of Petaling Jaya municipality said the state government was wrong in evaluating a land that is yet to be developed.

“This is blatant act by the state government with a malicious intention to portray the villagers as greedy people.

Truth is the villagers are the legitimate land owners and their village had been stolen from them by the state authorities,” said Thiruvenggadam.

He was commenting on a statement by Deputy Chief Minister 2 P Ramasamy (left) in Tamil daily Makkal Osai yesterday.

Ramasamy was quoted as saying that “due to the relentless efforts by the Penang government, the villagers have been upgraded to owners of a half-million ringgit worth of property.”

Malaysiakini could not reach Ramasamy for comment despite several attempts.

The Star reported as below:

Kampung Buah Pala residents have rejected the double-storey house offered by developer Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd to vacate their homes.

Kampung Buah Pala residents association chairman M. Sugumaran said there were too many loopholes in the offer.

“The offer letter says that if the developer is unable to get planning and building approval from the relevant authorities, the (ex gratia) deal is immediately null and void and the residents will be unable to make any claim on it.

“That means even if we agree, it may not be approved and we end up with nothing and cannot take any action against the developer.

“Would you sign a deal like this?” he asked at a press conference at the village Friday.

Sugumaran added that the deal had not promised a date for the new houses to be ready and no details of monetary compensation for rental during the construction period.

The noon deadline for them to pack up and move out of their houses passed without any untoward incident on Friday.

Unlike on Monday, there was no crowd or protesters standing by at the village and even the developer was absent.

Just a handful of residents were seen around the makeshift assembly area when reporters starting arriving from 9am onwards but the crowd grew to a moderate size around 11.45am as the deadline loomed.

On Aug 4, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng handed out offer letters on an ex gratia deal, which included a 1,200 sq ft double-storey terrace house for each of the 24 houses demolished, to residents during a meeting at his office in Komtar.

Lim who spoke to reporters at a separate function earlier, said there was nothing much the state government could do if the residents refused to consider the landed property offer.

“If they do not want to take up the offer and want to continue to be used by irresponsible elements including one or two villagers, then there is nothing much the state government can do.

“I urge them (the residents) to exercise rational thinking and to work together with this state government which is trying to help them by giving them a legally binding title for 99 years,” he said after opening the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia, better known as Pikom Northern Chapter’s regional seminar at Traders Hotel here Friday.

Lim said the demands made by the residents were getting to be a bit excessive.

“I think they should be reasonable and I fear they will be losing public support…in fact, they have lost a lot of public support,” he said.

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KTMB approves land for school after 10 years!

August 4th, 2009
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 This news came out on Malaysiakini (July 28). The community which slogged for KTM in the yesteryears have to wait 10 years for an approval (and that too with the struggle of a political party). Syabas to KTM!  We should be thankful that at least they gave the approval.  Let’s give them full marks for the CSR.

The 10-year struggle by MIC to get railway land approval for the reconstruction of termite-infested SJK (T) Perak Sangeetha Sabah has finally seen the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel when Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) approved the application recently.

The wooden-double storey wooden building situated on a 0.3ha land along Jalan Tun Abdul Razak is in the heartland of the Indian community in Ipoh city and has an enrolment of 178 pupils.

Malaysiakini had recently highlighted this long-standing problem when the dilapidated primary school (right) could not accommodate the growing number of Indian schoolchildren in this area.

Today, Perak MIC chief G Rajoo told the media that all the pupils and staff of the school will be temporarily relocated at SK Buntong at the end of the month.

“The construction work on the new four-storey building costing RM2.3 million will commence on Aug 17 and is expected to be completed in a year’s time,” Rajoo stated.

Old school replaced

The old school, built in 1934 consisted of six-classrooms, will now make way for a 12-classroom new school.

On July 10, MIC president S Samy Vellu had expressed his frustration at KTMB’s refusal to approve the railway land for construction of the new school.

He is said to have wanted to take up the matter with Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat.

Rajoo (left) further stated that a total of RM 6 million has been allocated for the construction and expansion of three Tamil primary schools which includes SJK (T) Sangeetha.

The other two schools which will have a new extension wing each are SJK (T) Ghanthi Kalasalai in Sungai Siput with 10 additional classrooms and SJK (T) Tan Sri Datuk Manickavasagam situated in Tanjong Malim with six additional classrooms.

“Another eight Tamil schools will either undergo reconstruction or extension of the buildings,” said Rajoo.

The schools are: SJK(T) Ladang Beruang River in Tanjung Malim, SJK(T) Methodist (Malim Nawar), SJK(T) Ladang Kota Bharu(Gopeng), SJK(T) Ladang Batuk Rabit (Teluk Intan),SJK(T) Ladang Flemington(Sungai Sumun), SJK(T) Noba Scotia 2 (Teluk Intan), SJK(T) Jebong Lama(Matang) and SJK(T) Ladang Gabis( Padang Rengas).

Earlier, Samy voiced out his frustation (and he should do more of this so that the community can know who the culprits are):

“They have forgotten the sacrifices made by Indians who played a major role in the construction of the railway track from Ipoh to Padang Besar,” said Samy.

… “KTMB must remember that the railway track could not have been completed without the manpower of Indians. Many sacrificed their lives when the Padang Rengas railway tunnel was being built,” said Samy

“KTMB has conveniently forgotten the history of the Indian community’s contributions to the construction of the railway network,” he added.

He said there is a big Indian community concentrated in this area and more Indian children want to enrol in SJK (T) Perak Sangeetha Sabah.

“But there is not enough space to accommodate them unless KTMB gives permission to rebuild the school.”

Samy pointed out that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak (right) had given RM100 million, and former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had allocated another RM30 million for the construction of 60 new Tamil schools.

The money is also for repairs and extension of buildings for Tamil schools in the country.

“SJK (T) Perak Sangeetha Sabah is on the list schools which is to benefit from the allocations, but KTMB is denying the Indian community the right to study in a newly-built school.

‘I’m going to speak Tee Keat’

“When we have the funds (to build new schools)… we do not have the land and, when we have the land… we do not have the funds,” said a frustrated Samy (below).

“I’m going to speak to transport minister Ong Tee Keat about this matter (KTMB’s decision not to allow MIC to build a new school),” he said.

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Caring for school with single student

June 24th, 2009
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I first heard this via the 8am news on Minnal FM. Then saw the article in NST:

A school with only one pupil is no reason for the government to shut it down.

This was the undertaking given by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when asked on the case of SRJK (T) Ladang Sungai Timah in Teluk Intan, which has only one student.

However, Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said the government had advised schools with low enrolments to register students in larger schools nearby.

This, he said, would provide students with a better learning environment and better interaction with their peers.

“These cases are prevalent, especially among Tamil schools. Whatever it is, we leave it to the discretion of the school’s management.

“This is a considerate government and we will not shut schools like this. The student wants to study, so let her.”

K. Humah, 12, is a Year Six student and had been the sole student at the school, which has three academic staff and a gardener, since her first year.

Muhyiddin agreed that any attempt to close the school would be politicised.

“If that happens, some within the community would accuse the government of not caring for their education.”

Only thing missing was the announcement of some immediate allocation to improve something in the school.

Now, if I was  really caring and had the power, I would advise the student to shift to another Tamil school nearby, or make arrangements to provide transport. Then, I’ll proceed to authorise the transfer of the school to another location where there is high probability of more students registering.

The girl is in Standard Six. 4 more months and she will be ex-student. Nor is it practical to ask her to move in the midst of UPSR year. What will be the status of the school in 6 months time? No students enrolled in any other year. Unless the school manage to get some students enrolled for Year One next year, the school will be closed down, no? So, another Tamil school closed down due to “considerate” attitude? If not closed down, then what? Empty of students, the staff do what everyday?

As we all are well aware, there’s no new vernacular school license being issued. Thus the only way to survive is to relocate schools with very small enrolment to different locations. The authority to provide permission to transfer school license lies with…hmmm…..

Is there an attempt to pull our legs here?

Earlier in April (if I’m not mistaken), there was similar act in being “considerate” to the plight of SJKT Ladang Bukit Jalil, by asking to increase the number of classrooms in the original plan. But the actual problem is the small land allocation in the MIDST of a cemetary and temple. This was being protested by the  parents and PIBG of  SJKT Ladang Bukit Jalil as its an unconducive environment. The land allocated also did not consider future expansion and increased enrolment.

I smell a rat here.

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