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Nasir Safar a reflection?

February 2nd, 2010
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Update 8.30pm:

The Star carried this news few minutes ago:

Datuk Nasir Safar, special officer to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, will resign over allegedly racist statements he made, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Tuesday.

“The remarks allegedly made by Nasir in Malacca today do not in any way reflect the views of the Prime Minister,” the statement said.

“Nasir never intended to make any derogatory remarks. He spoke at length on the contributions made by all races in developing the country.

“Nevertheless, Nasir apologises for any offence caused … and in light of this, will tender his resignation.”

Online portals earlier reported that Nasir’s remarks at a 1Malaysia seminar at the Malacca International Trade Centre were so offensive that MIC and MCA members in attendance walked out in protest.

He was reported to have said that Chinese and Indian Malaysians were mere “pendatangs” (immigrants) and that Chinese women came to Malaysia to indulge in the “flesh trade.”

Nasir first denied the reports, saying he was just talking about the country’s history.

“I did not say the word ‘pendatang.’ I only said the country has been successful as the Chinese and the Indians from those days until today have been coming here to work,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

He also dismissed claims that he had threatened to revoke the citizenships of non-Malays who demanded that their rights be respected, the portal reported. (hmmm..trying to evade or implying the participants don’t understand Bahasa Malaysia?)

MIC and MCA leaders had threatened to lodge police reports over the incident.

Latest news via Novinthen’s FB is that the guy has tendered his resignation. However, I hope to see the police, AG office, and judiciary play their roles correctly. Hopefully this guy ends up in prison for a duration suitable for his actions.

This is a virtually stinging slap on PM Najib’s face. His own aide saying like this is like a reflection of the whole cohort. Goes to show nothing much have changed, and there’s plenty more people like him.

Since this was a government department project (the mysterious JASA) and attended by BN coalition members, can’t say its miscommunication or misunderstanding or false news.

BTW, there’s a Facebook group to protest against Nasir.

Hmm..shall we award him Public Enemy No 1 for the month of February?

The stinging remarks made by a special officer to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak during a seminar titled ‘Rapat 1Malaysia’ in Malacca this morning prompted scores of MIC and MCA members as well as representatives from non-governmental organisations to stage a walkout.

NONEAccording to a source who attended the meeting, Nasir Safar had ruffled feathers when he labelled the Indians and Chinese in this country as ‘pendatang’ or immigrants.

“He was saying that the Indians and Chinese came here as immigrants and are now enjoying life in this country.

“He also remarked that the Chinese, especially the women, come here to ‘jual tubuh’ (flesh trade),” added the source who requested anonymity.

He claimed that Nasir also credited Umno for being solely responsible in drafting the constitution, “sidelining the contribution of the other parties in the Alliance back then.”

‘Revoke their citizenship’

Apart from this, the source said the officer also threatened to ‘revoke’ the citizenship of those who were vocal about the subject cap for the SPM examination.

“He was telling us of how he visited several MIC branches to explain the government’s stand on this issue and expressed regret that the branches remained steadfast in their call for the cap to be scrapped. He accused them of making an ‘extreme’ demand.”

NONE“He said, ‘How can they talk so much about the Tamil language when Bahasa Melayu is the official language. If they continue to make such demands, we could revoke their citizenship’.”

“Who is he to revoke their citizenship?” asked the irate source.

Following this, he said “some 60 to 70” MIC and MCA members as well as the NGO reps present decided to leave the room.

“The organisers tried to coax us to stay but we were too upset,” he said, adding that the seminar was organised by Jasa, the Information Ministry’s special affairs division.

Meanwhile, the source said MIC Youth is expected to file a police report on the incident.

Furthermore, a memorandum would also be submitted to Najib when he visits Malacca on Feb 4.

Samy: Punish him under Sedition Act

In an immediate reaction, MIC president S Samy Vellu, who was briefed on the issue by the party leaders who attended the seminar, expressed outrage and demanded that Nasir be punished under the Sedition Act.

Describing the remarks as being “racist of the highest order”, he urged the premier to take the appropriate action against his aide.

Confirming that a police report would be lodged, he said: “MIC condemns the colonial attitude of this person for degrading the Indian Malaysians.”

“His views are entirely the opposite of the goodwill shown by the government and the prime minister under the ‘1Malaysia’ concept,” he added.

Samy Vellu said Nasir must realise that the present generation of Indian Malaysians in this country were born in Malaysia and are also the sons of the soil.

“As such, who is he to suggest that their citizenship should be revoked merely because they have been fighting for their rights.

“In my 29 years of service as a cabinet minister, I have not come across such a person who felt fit to question the loyalty of Indian Malaysians. Shame on you!” he said, expressing confidence that the prime minister would do the right thing.

‘Feelings of all M’sians have been hurt’

MIC deputy president G Palanivel was saddened that such “uncalled for” remarks were made following Najib’s historic visit to Batu Caves during Thaipusam.

“All the Indians who listened to the prime minister (during Thaipusam) would have noted the goodness coming from his heart.

“Soon after the whole tempo has been disturbed. The feelings of all Malaysians have been hurt.

“Such remarks would definitely put back efforts to build national unity,” he told Malaysiakini.

MIC information chief P Kamalanathan lambasted Nasir as an “enemy within.”

“While the prime minister is going through the country and all over the world propagating ‘1Malaysia’ and talking about the importance of Indians and Chinese, we have an officer who works in his department and says racist remarks.

“The person should not be sitting anywhere near the building (the Prime Minister’s Department).

“To ensure that ‘1Malaysia’ is successful, we have to eradicate characters like these from the system,” he added.

‘What’s the point of visiting Batu Caves?’

Also expressing regret over the “insensitive” remarks was MIC Youth advisor S Vell Paari.

“Whatever hard work done by the prime minister in fostering closer ties among the people has been destroyed by this act,” he toldMalaysiakini.

“What is the point in Najib visiting Batu Caves for Thaipusam and visiting Tamil Nadu to talk about the close ties with the Tamils here when his own officer failed to understand the concept of ‘1Malaysia’,” he asked.

He added that the police should investigate the officer for sedition and hoped the government would act soon to alleviate any fresh fears among the Indians and the Chinese.

In a related development, Malaysia Indian Youth Council (MIYC) president A Rajaretinam demanded that Nasir be suspended.

He warned that if no action is taken by next Monday, MIYC, which had five representatives present at the seminar, would mount a massive protest.

Nasir could not be reached for comment.

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Another death in custody

February 1st, 2010
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More action for Human Rights Party coming soon as a remanded person died in police lock-up. However, in this case, MIC and PKR are already in action.

A sawmill worker was found dead in the Jempol police lock-up in Negeri Sembilan, prompting politicians from both sides of the divide to again cry foul over frequent deaths of police detainees.

P Babu, 28, was found dead in the Jempol police lock-up at about 4am. His body was brought to the Seri Jempol hospital two hours later. Family members are waiting for an autopsy report.

Babu, an orphan who was raised by his uncle, has been under remand since Jan 24 after he surrendered himself to the police over a robbery case.

Negeri Sembilan executive council member VS Mogan said initial police reports suggests Babu hanged himself to death and expressed the state government’s concern.

Mogan, who visited family members at the hospital earlier, said police are still in the dark over how this could have happened.

“I believe there will be a public outcry following the mysterious circumstances of Babu’s death and this is certainly not good for the police.

“Senior police officers in the state should also explain how this could happen,” he said.

The mysterious circumstances of Babu’s death has also prompted MIC Jempol Youth chief M Palani to lodge a police report.

“It is rather unfortunate that another death has happened in the lock-up and I think the public wants answers,” he said.

‘Why always Indians?’

On the opposition front, PKR Negeri Sembilan deputy chief M Ravi has condemned the police over the incident and questioned why most victims of custodial deaths were of Indian descent.

“I hope the police Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan would investigate how custodial deaths happen and why it is more prevalent among the Indian suspects. He has to explain,” he said.

Should the family members be dissatisfied with the autopsy report, Ravi said he would assist them in seeking an independent autopsy to determine the cause of death.

“We are closely monitoring the situation. I am puzzled with Babu’s death, as he had surrendered himself to the police, and yet this happens,” he said, adding PKR may hold a demonstration over the matter.

He added family members had indicated that Babu showed no signs of depression prior to his surrender.

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Selangor MIC Youth to help identify the needy

January 18th, 2010
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This is an useful information. Those in Selangor can get the MIC Youth help to register, or contact the Welfare Department or the ADUN service center.

THE Selangor MIC Youth is offering to help the state Welfare Department to identify the destitute and disabled so that aid could be given.

Its chief, R. Shanker, said many poor families and the disabled, especially the Indian community, were not getting aid from the government as they had yet to register with the department.

He said scores of people in Kota Raja division thronged the MIC service centre recently when they heard about the party’s programme to identify those in need of welfare assistance.

“It was shocking to see some 800 people, mostly Indians, ask for help. We believe there are many more out there in need of help,” he said after meeting state Welfare Department director Adnan Abu Bakar recently.

Shanker said its members in all divisions were ready to collect data in their respective divisions.

He said families with a household income of RM750 and below should be given help.

Shanker also said the MIC Youth had proposed to the Welfare Department to increase the allowance for the disabled from RM300 to RM500.

“For those living in Selangor and the Federal Territory, RM300 is too little as the living standard in the cities is higher,” he said.

Shanker said the MIC was also helping Indian youths by enrolling them at vocational training schools under the Human Resources Ministry.

For details, call Shanker at 012-3836905 or MIC national social bureau head S. Subramaniam at 019-3517474. Alternatively, call Selangor social bureau head A. Sivaraju at 012-3186631 or Selangor Youth secretary D. Kagendran at 019-3521129.

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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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