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HRP, MIC and MCA on scholarship problems

June 4th, 2010
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MCA have met the DPM  and PSD people, and come out with some interesting analysis and report (so they say). Refer MCA website for the article below:

MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek today announced that a delegation comprising of himself and MCA Youth National Chairman cum Deputy Minister of Education Datuk Dr Ir Wee Ka Siong as well as other officers, had a discussion with the Director General of the Public Service Department (Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam [JPA]) this morning about the appeals for JPA scholarship that have been received by MCA.

Explaining that according the its Youth wing, there had been 1,304 appeals.  After a thorough check it has been discovered that all the 214 students who had managed to achieve A+ in all subjects have already received offers of scholarship from JPA, except for 2 cases which are under consideration.

The President then went on to stress that there was a difference in between the different grades of A, which are A+, A, and A-. “The problem arises when the media reports the mark as A. There is a difference between A+, A, and A-. For all those that have achieved A+ for all subjects, all have gotten JPA offers, except for 2 cases which are currently under consideration. After re-marking, we have found that these 2 qualify for JPA scholarships,” he said.

Soi Lek then said that out of the 1,304 cases that they have analyzed, 232 of them have gotten full A’s, meaning A+ and A’s, whereas another 857 have managed to achieve A+, A and A- for the 9 core subjects. He added that after discussion, MCA stated that the people who had gotten A and A+ should be considered for scholarships as well with priority given to them. Stressing that the analysis done does not follow any racial composition, he said that “We have received complaints form all races-Malays, Chinese, and Indians.”

Declaring that MCA is not a postman that merely receives complaints before forwarding them to the JPA, Soi Lek then proceeded to reveal a complicated chart, explaining that MCA Youth has had to analyze the names and the subjects of the complainants as well as to compare the results to the subjects taken to ensure that the appellants have attained the necessary results to enroll in their chosen courses as per the guidelines which have been set out.

Earlier, they mentioned they wanted to meet PSD and looks like they did.

MIC, in the mean time, has this to say:

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will resolve the controversy over the awarding of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships, namely involving the overseas programme, and entry into matriculation programmes in local universities.

MIC vice-president Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, who is also the Human Resource Minister, said he had raised the two issues at the weekly Cabinet meeting here yesterday, and the Prime Minister had agreed to look into them personally.

“The PM has given an undertaking to resolve the matter,” he said in a statement here.

It was reported that many SPM leavers with excellent grades complained that their applications to do the matriculation programme and to secure the PSD scholarship were rejected.

Many of them have since appealed against the decision.

Many parents of the affected students also took up the matter to the relevant government departments and to the various political parties, including the MIC.

Dr Subramaniam said he also spoke to Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on the matriculation issue where many Indian students with good grades had their applications rejected.

He said a series of discussions were also held with the Education secretary-general on the intake of students to do matriculation courses.

“On the PSD scholarship, I have already held several meetings with the PSD and several more rounds of discussions will be held over the next few days,” Dr Subramaniam said.

He expressed confidence that the issues could be resolved through negotiations with the Govern ment.

“While I agree that there appears to be unhappiness and a sense of mistreatment amongst the affected students and their parents, it has to be understood that the entire process is not over yet,” said Dr Subra-maniam.

“The Government is still in the process of considering appeals from the students. Besides, the results for the PSD scholarship for local universities have also yet to be announced.” — Bernama

Pity the PM. He has bigger things to worry about, and yet also have to handle these problems. Makes us wonder what’s the point of have so many ministries and agencies if everything also need PM to solve. Whatever it is, looks like MIC also doing something, and everyone will live happily ever after soon. And wait for next year to repeat the drama 🙂

Oh, PSD also issued a statement after meeting MCA:

The Public Service Department (PSD) has delayed announcing the names of its scholarship recipients by a week after meeting the MCA over applications sent by top SPM scorers.

A PSD source confirmed that the announcement, orginally set for June 4, will now be made on June 11.

During the meeting, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, who is the party’s Youth chief, brought up the case of 1,304 students to PSD director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam.

The MCA Youth Education Bureau had put together the appeals over a week and those involved were students of all races.

“All cases should be treated equally and we should not have a fixation on the number of Malay, Chinese or Indian appeals,” said Dr Chua in a press conference at Wisma MCA yesterday. [oh oh..PERKASA alert!]

“The MCA treats all cases based on merit and I’m sure that the Government – under the concept of 1Malaysia – wants to take care of deserving students with good results.”

And finally, the story won’t be complete without some radical action. Well, trust HRP to help out in this area. They have sent a petition to PM Najib to ask for royal commission and threatened to torch 1Malaysia logo if the students are not helped. There’s also an online petition to demand equal rights for students. You can download petition form here.

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Good news from Samy Vellu

May 18th, 2010
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This may be music for the ears for many Malaysians, including the members of ruling coalition 🙂

While a definite date was not given, the range is either August or September 2011. That’s about 14 months more before Samy Vellu quits as MIC president. This would probably intensify the competition for position within the party. Can expect teams to be formed and alliances made.

It could still be a red herring since nothing is cast in stone in politics.

S Samy Vellu, who has been MIC president for more than three decades, has announced that he would quit his post eight months before the next party polls, scheduled for May 2012.

However, Samy Vellu did not say who he would hand over the party leadership to.

“I will leave eight or nine months before my term expires in May 2012. I will hand over the leadership to the next generation of leaders then.

“This is what I had told the prime minister (Najib Razak) when I met him prior to the Hulu Selangor by-election,” he told journalists after opening the MIC Wilayah Persekutuan convention today.

“Before that, I want to revamp the party completely, starting with the branch and state leaders. People have asked me when I would leave the post and this is the time frame I have set.

“I want all party members to know that the transformation of the MIC will continue. The transition of power in the MIC will be smooth,” he added.

Samy, 74, was re-elected for the ninth time last year.

“By the time I retire, I would have trained the deputy president to run the party,” he said without naming his deputy, G Palanivel.

Since the March 2008 general election, the MIC chief had been under intense pressure to relinquish his post to give way to a new leader.

Samy Vellu has previously said that he would step down at the next party election in two years’ time.

The MIC took a beating in the 12th general election, when it lost six of the nine parliamentary seats it contested under the BN banner. Among those who failed to retain their seats in the 2008 elections were Samy Vellu himself and Palanivel.

The party, however, managed to recapture the Hulu Selangor seat, previously held by Palanivel, when party information chief P Kamalanathan won the seat in the recent by-election.

Question over Palanivel’s fate

Samy Vellu’s decision not to name his successor today would also raise questions as to who would take over the helm of the party since Palanivel was not given the opportunity to contest the seat by the top BN leadership.

However, Palanivel (far left) was appointed senator earlier this month, indicating he had yet to reach political oblivion.

Samy Vellu said he would like to quit earlier, but had refrained from doing so for fear the party would face problems.

“I would have to set the party on its right foundation and place the right people first, then only I would say, ‘OK young men, you all can take over’.”

Samy Vellu said in the mean time, he was not just wasting his time in the office, as he had an important job to do prior to his retirement.

“I am using my time to strengthen the party and change the machinery to become a working machinery, and then to remove the leaders who don’t do their work and put in new leaders.

“So, when they take over they don’t see a big bunch of non-working leaders there,” he said.

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What next, Dato Palanivel?

May 3rd, 2010
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So, as expected, Dato’ G Palanivel, the MIC deputy president and president-in-waiting became a senator today. I wonder what post he will be given: minister or deputy minister. I think deputy ministership since he had served a short while as deputy minister before this. If there’s a cabinet reshuffle, it should be after June when ministerial KPIs are evaluated by PM Najib and Idris Jala. Wonder if MIC can get two minister position, maybe give one to Devamany?

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We need money to maintain cemeteries

May 3rd, 2010
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While its common to hear about Indians, especially Hindus cremating their dead, some still opt for burial.  We don’t only have problem with maintenance, but even with proper crematorium and areas to perform last rites. This is a suggestion which I think will again fall on deaf ears.

Also, this is a good effort by MIC Youth. Hopefully the cemetery cleaning event would be an annual event as their plan.

MIC Youth has asked the Government for financial grants to help maintain Indian cemeteries.

Malaysia Nanban quoted Youth chief T. Mohan as saying that temple committees and non-governmental organisations were facing a shortage of funds for the upkeep of the cemeteries.

Mohan, who took part in a clean-up campaign at the Puchong Indian cemetery on Labour Day, said all the state Youth sub-committees had also organised a similar exercise in 24 Indian cemeteries.

The MIC Youth would undertake the cleaning up of the cemeteries in all states on every Labour Day, he added.

The Government, he claimed, had previously announced that it would allocate RM300,000 for the maintenance of the cemeteries but no funds had been disbursed to date.

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Kamalanathan says NO to Perkasa

April 28th, 2010
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Looks like campaign buddy no more buddy 🙂 Earlier, I wondered what would be the reaction of new MP Kamalanathan on Perkasa’s nonsense. He follows PM Najib’s views which is disagreement.

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who was instrumental in helping newly-minted Hulu Selangor MP P. Kamalanathan(picture) clinch Sunday’s poll, seems to have lost a friend in the MIC leader.

Kamalanathan, who had earlier stood by Perkasa’s struggles, did an about-turn today and took pains to stress to The Malaysian Insider that Ibrahim calling on the government to punish Chinese voters for failing to support them, was his own personal view.

“I do not share that view. It is his personal opinion. I do not condone anything that is extreme like this,” he firmly said when met at the Prime Minister’s office here today.

Kamalanathan also came to the defence of Barisan Nasional component parties MCA and Gerakan, which Ibrahim had taken to task for failing to garner Chinese support.

“It is not true what he said (about MCA and Gerakan). They worked very, very hard in the by-election. Very hard. I saw it with my own two eyes the amount of work and effort they put in.

“I have spoken with (MCA president Datuk Seri) Dr Chua (Soi Lek) and (MCA deputy president Datuk Seri) Liow (Tiong Lai) and they are extremely committed to the cause,” he said.

He pointed out that the prime minister himself had clearly said that the government would not ignore the needs of the Chinese community in Hulu Selangor just because they had not supported BN in the by-election.

“Today is proof of this. We will not deprive our citizens the right to have a good life in this country,” he said.

Kamalanathan was referring to the function at the Prime Minister’s office earlier this afternoon when Datuk Seri Najib Razak made good on his promise to help rebuild the SRJKC Rasa schoo by handing over RM3 million to the school board of representatives.

“We lost the Chinese votes because of something else… something was just not quite right and MCA and Gerakan should not be taken down for this.

“My responsibility now is to identify what happened and see what the real crux of the problem is,” said Kamalanathan.

He added that Najib was very sincere in his commitment to develop Hulu Selangor, and to deliver on all the pledges made by BN leaders during the campaign period for the by-election.

BN has made over RM70 million worth of pledges for allocations and development in the large constituency.

“Najib has also requested that (deputy election director) Datuk Nor Omar to list down all the promises made by our leaders so that we can deliver on them,” said Kamalanathan.

He assured the people of Hulu Selangor that the development process would be an ongoing one and that even those who had not voted for the BN would benefit from it.

“Yes, it is true that Ibrahim’s statement was irresponsible but Najib today proved that we will not be listening to those demands,” he said. Kamalanathan had secured a 1,725-vote majority victory over PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim during Sunday’s poll but had failed to recapture support from the Chinese community.

The poll results showed that less than 30 per cent of the community had chosen BN in the poll, down from the 35 per cent who voted for them in Election 2008.

Ibrahim had called the Chinese voters ungrateful and had urged the government not to fulfil its pledges for allocation and development in the Chinese areas of Hulu Selangor.

He had also asked the BN government to ignore the demands made by the MCA and Gerakan, claiming the two parties had failed to help BN wrest back Chinese support.

His statement has resulted in a mad scramble by BN leaders to explain to the people that Perkasa’s demands would not be met and that the Chinese voters would not be punished.

During the function earlier, Najib had also issued a clear warning to all parties never to dispute the promises made by BN.

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