Posts Tagged ‘MIC’

murder charge againts 31 detainees dropped

December 17th, 2007
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The drama is about to end soon. After nearly 3 weeks of high-octane action of creating mountains out of molehills, the story now spirals towards an anti-climax, with a predictable ending. Everyone will go back happy (except those 5 blokes) and pretend nothing ever happened. Status quo is maintained. Malaysians value peace, money, and things that does not need much thinking over street protests.

I remember that there’s a quote saying “melayu mudah lupa”. how about the indians? So far, about 80% of the people i talked to in the last two weeks clearly know who they are going to vote (or not) in the next election (hmmm…the may say one thing and do another!). the longer BN waits to call for election the better. time heals, as the saying goes.

Hindraf 31: Attempted murder charge dropped
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/76127
Soon Li Tsin | Dec 17, 07 12:41pm

Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail today dropped the attempted murder charge against 26 Hindraf supporters who were alleged to have gathered illegally at the Batu Caves temple in the early hours of Nov 25.

However two counts of causing mischief and illegal assembly against the 26 remain.

Also dropped are all charges against four students.

In all 31 Hindraf supporters were charged with attempted murder of a policeman and they have been in remand since Dec 4 after being denied bail.

Representations were made by several Indian-based political parties, including MIC and MIC and some Indian-based non-government organisations for the attempted muder charge to be dropped against the 31.

Back To School 2008

December 17th, 2007
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Dear friends,

“Back to School” project is back again for the year 2008. This is our 3rd year and we thank the members for the support and understanding. Early this year we successfully concluded the project, whereby we sponsored 59 students from SJKT Bkt Darah and SJKT Ldg Sg Buloh who had difficulties in meeting the school expenses due to their unfortunate poor conditions. Photos of previous Back To School event can be found at http://umic.shutterfly.com. Previously, in the year 2006, we helped 35 students from SJKT Bkt Darah. Beyond just providing uniforms and school bags, we also helped to cover expenses for extra classes and school activities at both these schools.

Due to the support by the public via UMIC, the teachers, and also the effort by students and parents, we are able to announce that for the FIRST time in 17 years, SJKT Ldg Sg Buloh has produced a 7A student! The school’s overall passing rate improved slightly from 9.1% to 11.7%. In the district of Kuala Selangor, SJKT Ldg Sg Buloh lies in third position, behind two other schools located in urban areas. As for SJKT Bukit Darah, the school maintained the single 7A student achievement from last year, while the passing rate improved vastly from 30.8% to 44.1%. In the near future, our target is to achieve 100% passing rate. Again, all this is only possible due to the overwhelming, continuous support and commitment shown by people from all walks of life, who contribute through us. The funds were used to cover the lunch expenses during weekend classes, purchase of study materials, payment of fees for student participation in events, etc.

Over the last 2 years, we have increasingly helped more students, and the trend continues this year. This year, we have identified about 76 poor students from SJKT Bukit Darah in Sg Buloh, SJKT Ladang Sg Buloh in Bkt Rotan, and SJKT Ldg Bradwall, Siliau, Seremban. These students are facing difficulties to step foot into school again due to their unfortunate family backgrounds of single mothers, labourers, phyisically/mentally disabled parents, medically affected parents, etc. The parents can’t afford to provide these young souls the education and the study materials which will provide them a better future and to contribute to the community growth. This project is in line with our focus and objective to assist poor students to continue to excel their education and to kill off the young age school dropout rates.

The breakdown and total cost are as below:
1. SJKT Bkt. Darah, Sg Buloh – 29 (3 students are going to Form 1)
2. SJKT Ladang Sg Buloh, Bkt Rotan – 35 (Expected)
3. SJKT Ldg Bradwall, Siliau – 12
Total – 76 students (Expected)
Estimated total expenses – RM 11,400

The students list will be update by early next week on our website at www.umic.org.my. Those without access to website may request the list from the contact persons below. Similar to last year, interested donors can adopt one or more students from the student list which has been published by UMIC Charity Wing . The approximate cost per student based on age will be as below:
1. Std 1 – RM130
2. Std 2 – RM130
3. Std 3 – RM150
4. Std 4 – RM150
5. Std 5 – RM180
6. Std 6 – RM180
7. Secondary – RM200

The cost per student above includes the basic needs (2 pairs of uniform, school bag, 2 pairs of shoes, 3 pairs of socks, shoe polish, water bottle, exercise books, & stationeries) AND also to cover for motivation seminar, education seminar, extra classes, and purchase of workbooks. We invite interested donors to contact the following committee members below for more info and pledge:

Koppal 01*-27***** / koppalai@epsontoyocom.com
Poobalan 01*-26***** / mpoobalan@gmail.com
Muru 01*-30***** / murudevi@yahoo.com
Rajj 01*-22***** / l0rd_huntsman@yahoo.com

Account details are as below:
Name: Ananthi Ramakrishnan (Treasurer)
Maybank account no: 114833039081

Upon bank in, kindly SMS your name and amount to any of the above numbers.

Pls visit http:///www.umic.org.my and http://www.umic.com.my for more details of the club and the projects/events (we are still updating the website, so do bear with us). Again, we look forward for your support. More info will be posted as it is made available. Please forward this to your friends and family members.

Thank you.

Datin Paduka Mother Mangalam and Datuk Komala

December 11th, 2007
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Today being Sultan of Selangor's birthday, the list of award recipients includes Mother Mangalam, Sister Enda, and also Komala Devi. The latter is given Datukship while the others are award Datin Paduka titles. Excerpts from the news article below.

Selangor Sultan's Birthday: Mangalam and Sister Enda on honours list
Neville Spykerman
source

KLANG: Social worker Mother Mangalam Iyaswamy Iyer and former principal Sister Enda Ryan will be conferred the Dato' Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (DSIS) today.

The title, which carries the title of Datin Paduka for women, will be awarded by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah in conjunction with his 62nd birthday.

Mangalam, 81, is the president of the Pure Life Society and Enda, 79, is the founder and first principal of the Assunta Secondary School.

The sultan will be awarding only 34 Datukships.

Mangalam was born on May 17, 1926 in Singapore and educated at the Raffles Girls School and the Saradhamani Girls School.

She was conferred the honorary title of "Mother" by the Pure Life Society board in 1986, because she has been a mother to numerous orphans and underprivileged children who came to the society.

Sister Enda was born Eileen Philomena Ryan, in a village called Galbally in Limerick County, Ireland.

She entered the convent after finishing school at 18 and joined the Order of the Franciscan Missionary of Mary. She arrived in Malaya in 1954.

She was conferred Tokoh Guru Selangor in 1990 and was awarded an Honorary Master of Arts degree by the National University of Ireland, Galway, for her contribution to education in Malaysia in 2005.
….

Fifteen people will receive the Dato' Paduka Mahkota Selangor (DPMS) which carries the title Datuk for men and Datin Paduka for women.

Also receiving the award are state legal adviser Datuk Zauyah Be Loth Khan, Education Ministry parliamentary secretary P. Komala Devi and International Islamic University law faculty dean Professor Datuk Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin.

khir toyo meets padang jawa folks

December 9th, 2007
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"Let’s put the Hindraf episode behind us and move forward to find a better life for all."

– and don't forget to vote for me or my friends in next election!

" Later last night, during a 60 minute live interview over RTM1, Dr Khir clarified that the Kampung Rimba Jaya Hindu temple was demolished after the Deepavali festival. “There is a misunderstanding. A lot of people thought the temple was demolished before Deepavali. But, it was demolished on Nov 15,” he said adding that the temple was built on private land."

Read what Thanish says on the events that took place on 30th October 2007. 15 November comes after 30 October, doesn't it? An article in my blog quotes Selangor State Govt's official website that says the date of demolition is 30th October 2007. There's another statement here too. Samy Vellu also nearly cancelled Deepavali open house. Did he get the dates wrong as well?

Move forward, Dr Khir tells Kampung Rimba folk

source

Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo greeting the residents of Kampung Rimba Jaya in Shah Alam yesterday.

SHAH ALAM: Let’s put the Hindraf episode behind us and move forward to find a better life for all.

This was the message Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo had for the people, especially those in Kampung Rimba Jaya here, yesterday. Meeting the people here for the first time since the controversial demolition of a temple in the squatter settlement last month, the Selangor menteri besar said the people should not be taken in by the claims of the movement. He said the people of Rimba Jaya were now staying in council homes provided by the state in Shah Alam and they could continue to do so until their low-cost homes were built. The council homes are flats owned by the state in Section 26 and the tenants could stay there rent-free, he added.

“Do not worry. I will not let anyone sleep under the bridge. It’ll be a shame for me if that happens. The government will never neglect the Indians.”

On the demolished temple, Dr Khir said the developer had given RM40,000 to the temple committee to build a new one at the site given by the developer.

He said the people should not fret about having to move into low-cost homes, saying it was a first step towards better things. For those who were not eligible for bank loans, he said there were other avenues such as the Housing and Local Government Ministry, state Islamic Religious Council and other state agencies.

Speaking on the impact of the recent illegal rallies in the city, Dr Khir said two Taiwanese investors had put on hold their plans to come to Selangor.

Later last night, during a 60 minute live interview over RTM1, Dr Khir clarified that the Kampung Rimba Jaya Hindu temple was demolished after the Deepavali festival. “There is a misunderstanding. A lot of people thought the temple was demolished before Deepavali. But, it was demolished on Nov 15,” he said adding that the temple was built on private land. He said the temple committee had agreed with the relocation and added that: “The temple issue had been settled.” “The problem is Hindraf followers instigated others to take the law into their own hands and did not allow the priest to go into the temple.”

He said the squatters in the area would also be moving to their new homes by end of this year or beginning of next year. They will move to low-cost units with proper kindergartens, Hindu temple, surau, community hall and other facilities, he added. “So there is no issue of the temple or not helping the community. The state government helps all races,” he said. He also said the politics of hate should be rejected by all.

Samy Vellu provides statistics on community

December 9th, 2007
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1. indians form 6% of university intake for 2007. does it show a downtrend or an uptrend? Can a graph showing the intake for last 30 years be provided? The same should be for all races so that we can nip any reduction of intakes as soon as possible.

2. "Many schools have been built for the community". Tamil school or national school? i thought the number of tamil schools is still at 523.

3. there was a slow increase in the present 1.2% ownership of share capital of limited companies because many Indians believed in investing in property and not in the share market. “Investing in property is also a good move as the price of property will appreciate,” – How true is this? does this mean that an abnormal number of indians are investing in properties as compared to others?

4. "46,054 Indians were employed in the public sector with another 3,642 in the police force". – That is about 4.18% (if govt staff is 1.1million). these 46,054 indians are at what levels and ranks? how about intake rate per year? increasing or reducing?

if the household income and unemployment rate is as stated, then it is a good thing indeed. in face of the adversity and imbalance in many areas, the community has struggled and improved their living conditions to a certain extent. By the way, what is the source of all these numbers? 🙂

NST: Samy Vellu: Indian community doing well

source

KUALA LUMPUR: The MIC president quoted hard figures yesterday to show that contrary to what Hindraf says, the Indian community is doing well. 

Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said that close to 12 per cent of the working Indian population are professionals or are in managerial positions. And many more could join them, as 2,447 Indians have enrolled in public universities this year.

Samy Vellu was responding to questions on the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), and its allegations that Indians in the country were facing ethnic cleansing, after the opening of the International Convention of Nagarathars. Some 650 Chettiars are attending the three-day conference.

Pressed to comment on whether he had made any effort towards a dialogue with the Hindraf leaders, Samy Vellu said: “I attempted on a few occasions to ask them to sit down and talk with us, but they do not want to. They have an agenda that is only known to them.” 
 

Samy Vellu said that Malaysian Indians could gauge for themselves how far they have come with the support of the government. He added that the Indian students who got placements in local universities this year represent six per cent of the 40,116 students who were enrolled this year.  Currently, Indians make up about eight per cent of the population.

And of the 847,900 Indians in the workforce, 46,054, or 5.12 per cent, are in the civil service. The unemployment rate among Indians is at 3.1 per cent. The national average is about 3.4 per cent. “We are also getting some help from the government for the AIMST Medical College in Sungai Petani. Many schools have been built for the community and funds are continuously allocated to upgrade the older schools,” he said.

He added that the government’s commitment to the Indian community is clear from the fact that under the microcredit scheme RM40 million has been budgeted for loans to Indians. “The aim is to create at least 5,000 Indian small businessmen under the Ninth Malaysia Plan,” he said, adding that many squatter families are now housed in government flats. He explained that the decision was made to rent out the units for five to six years, rather than sell them immediately to the occupants, to prevent those eligible for the homes selling for a quick gain. After that, a decision will be made as to whether the occupants can buy the unit.

Commenting on the convention, he said Malaysians could learn a lot about entrepreneurship from the Chettiar community, as they are known to be business savvy. The chairman of the Law Commission of India Dr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan and Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia Ashok Kantha also attended the opening of the convention.

THE STAR: Malaysian Indians have achieved much, more needed

source

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Indians have achieved progress in various fields over the last 50 years, although more needs to be done to make them competitive in the face of globalised realities, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said here. 

He said more than 80% of them were concentrated in urban areas compared to 60% that previously lived and worked in the estates. “This migration has provided better incomes for the Indian families,” he said in a statement Sunday. 

He said 847,900 Indians were in the workforce currently, 11.5% of them professionals and managers, 19.4% associated professors, lecturers and nurses, 22.9% in sales, 4.9% in agriculture, 9.4% in craft and trade, 20.1% of them machine operators and 16.3% elementary workers. 

Samy Vellu said about 2.9% of Indian households were below the poverty line but the mean monthly household income of Indian families was RM3,456, compared to the national figure of RM3,022. 

He said 46,054 Indians were employed in the public sector with another 3,642 in the police force. 

On the participation of Indians in the economy, Samy Vellu said there was a slow increase in the present 1.2% ownership of share capital of limited companies because many Indians believed in investing in property and not in the share market. “Investing in property is also a good move as the price of property will appreciate,” he said. 

He said MIC obtained micro-credit business loans for 4,000 Indian businessmen over the past few years through Bank Negara and financial institutions. “We have also assisted in getting business licences for Indian businessmen,” he said. Samy Vellu said the Government provided business-training programs to Indian youths through the National Entrepreneur Skills institute while RM3mil has been allocated for business loans for Indians through the Tekun foundation. 

On education, he said 2,447 Indians were offered places in public universities in the 2007 intake.