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Allocate land for temples

June 14th, 2007
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Samy: Allocate land for temples
 

LAND should be allocated for the building of Indian temples in all future development projects, said Tamil Nesan. 

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said a request to this effect had been submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. 

He said he had brought to the Prime Minister’s attention that unwanted problems would arise if Indians built temples on private land and the owners later took back possession. 

He was speaking to reporters after opening the 25th annual delegates conference of Malaysian Hindu Dharma Mamandram, which was held at Batu Caves on Sunday.

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IPF veterans meet over rumours of merger with MIC

June 14th, 2007
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IPF veterans meet over rumours of merger with MIC

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Pandithan says he will answer all questions on the rumours of a merger with MIC at the IPF national conference on July 1.
Pandithan says he will answer all questions on the rumours of a merger with MIC at the IPF national conference on July 1.

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of Indian Progressive Front veterans and former members met on Sunday in what was billed as an effort to save the party.

The meeting came in the wake of rumours that its president Tan Sri M.G. Pandithan was planning a merger with the Malaysian Indian Congress.

Pandithan was sacked as the MIC vice-president by party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu about 20 years ago.

He went on to set up the IPF, but the two men appeared to have left that episode behind.

His presence at the MIC general assembly recently has exacerbated the concerns of some of his followers.
About 50 of them, including party loyalists and some of those who were sacked from the MIC together with Pandithan in 1988, passed a resolution at the Sunday meeting calling on him to leave the party.

The IPF’s former secretary-general K. Panjamurti said it would be unfair if the party was to be dissolved because of Pandithan’s personal interest and asked him to leave gracefully if he wanted to join the MIC.

Panjamurti said he had confronted Pandithan, but the latter had denied he was planning anything.

"We are still concerned and worried," Panjamurti said.

"Many branches have been closed down. All the 57 branches in Perak have been dissolved as a result of Pandithan’s failure to submit their accounts for years. Now we don’t know how many branches are still registered."

Panjamurti was one of the 13 supporters of Pandithan who was sacked from the MIC.

M. Kanagasabai, who said he was the founding president of the party in 1990, said almost 90 per cent of the people who originally supported Pandithan had left the party over the years as they were unhappy with his leadership and administration.

"The last straw came when he became friendly with Samy Vellu. He wants to patch up and ditch us, which is okay, but to dissolve the party is terrible. We will not accept it," he said.

Sunday’s meeting also asked Panjamurti to lead the party.

"We will announce this at our annual general meeting on June 24," Panjamurti said.

Pandithan dismissed the allegations against him.

"Anyone can say anything. I cannot be responding to everything they say. Furthermore, these people are no longer in the party. They left 10 to 15 years ago," he said.

Asked about the possibility of the IPF being dissolved and a merger with MIC, Pandithan laughed and said he would announce his decision at the party’s national conference on July 1.

"I will answer all questions there."

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UPSR 7As Priya gets home

June 7th, 2007
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New home, a brighter future

Rizalman Hammim

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M. Priyaranjini and her family thanking Datuk T. Rajagopal (right) for their new home.
M. Priyaranjini and her family thanking Datuk T. Rajagopal (right) for their new home.

SEREMBAN: She had to study under the streetlights because her family’s squatter house did not have electricity.

Another kid might have used that as an excuse for doing badly in school but not M. Priyaranjini.

"There was no electricity at our squatter house and I was forced to study under the nearby streetlights but I was determined to succeed in my studies so that I can help take care of my family," she said.

Priyaranjini’s determination paid off when she scored 7As in the 2005 Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and emerged as her school’s top student.

Her success in the face of adversity did not go unnoticed.
Touched by her determination, radio station, THR Raaga, organised a fund-raising initiative to provide a better and more comfortable home for Priyaranjini and her family.

The six-month initiative, which was launched in November 2005, managed to raise RM33,800 in donations.

The money was put into a trust fund and was subsequently used to buy a low-cost apartment in Seremban 2.

Yesterday, Priyaranjini, her mother M. Sumathi and her four siblings, aged between 5 and 13, received the keys to their new home from state Unity, Consumer Affairs, Plantations and Commodity executive committee chairman Datuk T. Rajagopal.

The windfall comes as a great relief for the family as their plight had worsened considerably since Priyaranjini’s father A. Muthusamy died of heart failure last year.

"I can now concentrate on my studies. Now, I can live comfortably with my family," said the excited 14-year-old who is now a Form Two student at SMK King George V.

The single-minded girl has already set a target of scoring 8As in the Penilaian Menengah Rendah examination next year.

Rajagopal, who is also the state MIC chairman, thanked THR Raaga and the Malaysian public for helping to raise the funds.

"I would also like to thank RB Land Sdn Bhd for everything they did to make this possible, including giving a discount on the apartment. Besides the apartment, we also bought a computer for Priyaranjini with the funds raised," Rajagopal said.

He said the MIC would continue to monitor and support Priyaranjini and her siblings in their studies and would provide them with books and equipment to ensure that they succeed in their studies.

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PM view on Lina Joy case

June 1st, 2007
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Nazri: “What is the point of keeping a person a Muslim if they no longer believed in the faith and made that publicly known?”
 
PM: No pressure exerted on judges in Lina Joy case

source

By SHAHANAAZ HABIB

KUALA LUMPUR: It was not a political decision – that was what Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said about the Lina Joy decision by the Federal Court. 

The Prime Minister said the Government did not exert any pressure on the judges. 

When asked about critics who said the decision was political, he replied: “They must have a hole in their heads if they say it’s a political decision.”  

He said no one had hoped for or pressured the court into making any political decision. 

“That is emotions (talking). If people allow themselves to be influenced by emotions, they will think of all sorts of things and suspect this and that and make themselves uneasy,” he told reporters after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting yesterday. 

On Wednesday, the Federal Court rejected Lina’s appeal to compel the National Registration Department (NRD) to remove the word “Islam” from her identity card. 

Lina, 42, was born Azlina Jailani to Malay parents and brought up as a Muslim but later converted to Christianity. She managed to get her name changed but was denied a change in her religious status. 

On whether the decision gave non-Muslims the wrong perception, Abdullah said: “If they have the wrong perception, what can we do? The court made a decision and I don’t question that. There are many decisions the court had made which many of us are not happy with.” 

Abdullah said he did not think there was a widening religious divide in the country of late. 

“Discussions on religion have become more widespread but this does not represent a divide,” he said.  

On a foreign report that said the Lina Joy verdict showed that Malaysia rejected Christianity, Abdullah said that if this was the case there would be no Christians and no churches in the country. 

He said the report was probably done out of ignorance “but if they know our country and said that, then that is being naughty.” 

On non-Muslims having problems in their dealings with the Syariah Court, he said such cases would have to be dealt with. 

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who is the de facto law minister, urged everyone to respect the decision and not to speculate that Lina would not stand a chance in the Syariah Court. 

“What is the point of keeping a person a Muslim if they no longer believed in the faith and made that publicly known?” he asked. 

In Kota Baru, PAS deputy president Nasruddin Mat Isa welcomed the decision, saying that it had removed any ambiguity regarding the role of the Syariah Court on matters of Islamic faith and belief.  

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SMC’s 25 Years Celebration

June 1st, 2007
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SMC’s 25th anniversary a time to rejoice over achievements
 

By WANI MUTHIAH

wani@thestar.com.my 

THE Sri Murugan Centre’s recent 25th anniversary celebration was filled with nostalgia as well as a sense of great achievement. 

Attended by scores of parents, students, volunteers and well-wishers, the event which was held at Universiti Malaya (UM), highlighted SMC’s strength as well as its growth over the years. 

One of the highlights of the event was the acknowledgement accorded to a group of former UM undergraduates who had helped founder Datuk Dr M. Thambirajah initiate the SMC in 1982. 

The group of 42, led by Kedah deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm (II) A. Thaiveegan who was then the university’s Tamil Language Society chairman, had set out to draft the initial modules and start tuition classes for Form Six students. 

Recognition: Prakash Rao being awarded the SMC Outstanding Student Award by his mentor Thambirajah at the event.

Not all of the 42 were able to make it for the event but Thambirajah honoured the 33 who did, which included Thaiveegan and his wife Komodhi, with garlands and mementoes. 

One of the centre’s co-directors Prakash Rao also received the SMC’s outstanding student award, for his achievements since he first started attending tutorial classes as a Form Six student in Ipoh. 

Prakash, 41, not only excelled academically but also returned to the SMC and has been a pivotal figure at the centre for the last 15 years. 

Meanwhile, SMC co-director K. Suraindran said the large turnout at the event indicated SMC’s successful journey from the time of its inception. 

He added that the event also highlighted SMC’s plans for the future. 

“We indicated at the event that the SMC is looking at a different direction now in addition to being a centre for academic excellence,” Suraindran said. 

According to him, besides continuing to help Indian students excel academically, the SMC would also be concentrating in creating Indian Malaysians with values par excellence. 

“When the SMC first started, Indian families were not conscious about the importance of education but now they are. 

“So, we are looking at other areas of development as what we had initially set out to do has been achieved,” he added. 

Among the guests at the event were deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk S. Veerasingam, National Land Finance Cooperative Society executive chairman Tan Sri K.S. Somasundaram, Housing and Local Government Ministry parliamentary secretary Dr S. Subramaniam, Education Ministry parliamentary secretary Komala Krishna Moorthy and Selangor executive councillor Kamala Ganapathy. 

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