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MIC recommendations for 10th Malaysia Plan

February 8th, 2010
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While MIC diligently does its usual act – delivering memorandums, proposals, requests, and invitation, among others, I hope the results of recommendation for 9th Malaysian plan is published for public viewing later.  It will be interesting to know how the recommendation was implemented and the results of those implementation. Anyway, the current recommendation has been developed based on input by NGOs and UM, so hopefully its given due attention.

Anyway, who else sends recommendations to federal government on behalf of Indian community? HINDRAF’s documents ends up in you-know-where. Perhaps MAICCI and MHS are the only others who have some resemblance of rapport with government.

MMSP and IPF? I think they are preoccupied with something more down to earth.

So, its not like the community has much choice.

The MIC will submit its 12 recommendations on the Indian community’s “Agenda for Development” to the Government before the end of this month for inclusion in the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP), party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said.

He said the recommendations would be discussed at a special MIC Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Thursday.

Samy Vellu said the recommendations were drafted by the MIC with the cooperation of 75 Indian-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and University Malaya’s Ethnic Studies Department.

“We have prepared a comprehensive report that took us more than three months,” he told reporters before handing out cheques to 825 Tamil school students who obtained 7As in last year’s Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination here on Sunday.

He said the recommendations, among others, included special initiatives for Indians in the education, economic, training, housing, employment and women’s affairs fields.

Samy Vellu said it was the first time that the MIC had sought the views and proposals of many NGOs and an institution of higher learning to prepare its recommendations.

“Before this, the recommendations (for the Malaysia plans) were drafted by experts and academicians roped in by the MIC but this time we wanted the ordinary people to give their input and feedback through the NGOs,” he said.

Samy Vellu said he hoped that the Government would study the party’s recommendations and make the necessary adjustments to the 10MP, which was expected to be tabled in Parliament in June.

On the MIC’s rejuvenation exercise, Samy Vellu said the results had been “very positive”, with more Indians seeking the assistance of the party for various problems.[I think the concept of access to public service via political party channel is a factor for the assistance seeking.]

“We now get between 100 and 200 people coming to the MIC headquarters daily to seek our help, and if this is to be used as a yardstick to gauge the support of the Indians for the MIC, then we are on the right track,” he said. [This is expected as  MIC is the bridge to access federal government and departments- in terms of financial help, TEKUN loan, education, welfare, contracts, etc.]

Samy Vellu said with more Indians seeking the party’s assistance, he had decided to reintroduce his weekly meet-the-people session every Tuesday at the MIC headquarters beginning next month.

He also said that the party had launched the “People First Programme” in all its 3,600 branches nationwide where at least one major programme involving the community had to be carried out by the branches every month.

“We have started to monitor the branches and soon we will be evaluating them through a high-level score card, key performance indicators and star ratings,” he added. – BERNAMA

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I didn’t realise allocation finishing???

February 2nd, 2010
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What kind of representative is this la? Need to go for financial management course before standing for re-election. Not knowing the status and details of allocations is a pathetic excuse. Leaving this to aides to run the office is fine, but that doesn’t absolve you of anything. Its your responsibility and your head on the block.

Selangor state executive councillor Ronnie Liu admitted he did not realise he had used almost all of his RM600,000 annual allocation for 2009 in the first six months.

He was in fact surprised when informed by the Special Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) of the Selangor State Assembly that 99% of his allocation had been used between January and June.

Liu, the state Local Government Committee chairman, said he only knew that a large portion of the allocation had been spent when his personal assistant told him “wang cepat habis” (the money was running out fast).

Liu was hauled before a Selcat inquiry yesterday at the state secretariat building here to explain excessive expenditures of annual allocations.

“The situation in and around my constituency is unique. There are many active associations, temples and churches.

“They request for my financial help. There is a lot of pressure on my part,” said the Pandamaran state assemblyman.

When Selcat panel member Saari Sungib asked Liu what did he do to source for money after June when his allocation dried up, the exco member replied he pledged funds to organisations by using loans and next year’s allocation.

He had pledged about RM120,000 until the end of last year.

Saari then asked him: “Aren’t you a politician who promises too much?” Liu replied: “These are promises I can keep. The money will not be given out immediately. The recipients understand this.”

Another Selcat panel member Mohamed Azmin Ali asked why the allocation disbursed via cheques to 43 organisations had named individuals as recipients, and Liu said: “That is a good question.

“I do not know why such a mechanism was used. I will direct my three personal assistants to change the names of the recipients to the associations.” [this is recipe for disaster. MACC will be gleefully investigate this!]

Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Sri Muda assemblyman Shuhaimi Shafiei were the other two leaders who have used more than 70% of their allocations from January to June 2009.

Nik Nazmi had used up 88% of his funds while Shuhaimi had spent 72%.

Later at a press conference, Selcat chairman Teng Chang Khim commended Nik Nazmi and Shuhaimi, describing them as “superb” in answering questions posed by the panel members.

“Nik Nazmi adhered to the guidelines by using 30% of his allocation for small projects and is very familiar with his account.

“Shuhaimi explained that his area encountered three floods in December 2008 and January the following year,” he said.

NST has more juicy details:

Pandamaran assemblyman Ronnie Liu pleaded ignorance and blamed his personal assistant for his financial predicament on the last day of the Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) hearing yesterday.Liu, who was the first Pakatan Rakyat representative called as a witness before Selcat, spent 99.01 per cent of his RM618,042.34 constituency allocation last year in six months (from January to June). [who is elected rep, Ronnie or his assistant?]

He said he did not realise that he had spent almost all his constituency allocation by June as he was not in charge of the accounts and was never informed by his personal assistant Tee Boon Hock that it had almost run out of money.

“My personal assistant was in charge of the accounts and because he is also a local councillor, he did not have the time to tell me.

“He just said, ‘YB, the money is finishing fast’. I was surprised when I was told by Selcat that 99 per cent of my constituency allocation had been spent.”

He was one of the first Pakatan representatives who disclosed to the public that most Barisan Nasional assemblymen in Selangor had spent their annual constituency allocations within the first three months in 2008.

Liu, who is state executive councillor in charge of local government and research, claimed most of his allocation went to schools, non-governmental and religious associations, adding that he was under pressure to contribute.

Selcat chairman Teng Chang Khim said Liu could not make such a claim as only 40 of the 168 applications for contributions were from schools and organisations.

Liu, however, disagreed. Teng then ordered him to read out loud each of the organisation which received funds from him.

It turned out that 43 of 168 contributions were made to associations and religious bodies and this amounted to 25 per cent of the allocations.

Moreover, none of the allocations was spent on small projects and of the 168 che-ques issued, 167 were to Tee. [this is not a good news!]

Liu was also grilled by the panel on his “pledges” to give money to associations after his allocations ran out and his decision to borrow money to hold functions. [borrowing money is also not good sign]

By the end of last year, Liu had pledged an additional RM120,000, which was to be paid with this year’s allocation.

Teng said: “What circular or guideline did you use to make such a decision?

“If the state assembly was to be dissolved tomorrow, how would you pay for it?”

I think Ronnie Liu is in deep, deep trouble.

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Crackdown on illegals must go on immediately

February 2nd, 2010
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Come on, we are not dealing with school kids. Businessmen are adults who are fully aware of right and wrong. They are not mentally incapacitated or threatened to hire illegal workers. Be it high class nasi kandar shops or the stall in chinese food court, from office to homes, you can find foreigners from maid to cashier in quite a number of them. We are the ones hiring foreign workers (legal or illegal), and then cry foul when a robbery or murder happens. We are the one who blame everyone else when social problems increase.

We should make this a quarterly exercise so that can reduce number of illegals in the country. Government must proceed with the crackdown as soon as possible. This will force businesses to hire locals or legal foreign workers, most likely at a much higher cost. This in turn, will contribute towards higher food cost for the consumers. And that, will reflect more correctly on our cost of living. Then we will know the price of security and employment for locals.

The Government will meet representatives from the Chinese chambers of commerce and guilds this week before deciding whether to proceed with a planned crackdown on illegals.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said he had already met with nasi kandar operators on the issue last week.

“I will be meeting the Chinese chambers and guilds next and will decide after that,” he told The Star yesterday.

However, asked if thousands of employers “guilty of hiring illegals” would be given a reprieve from action against them under the crackdown scheduled for Feb 15, the minister was tight-lipped. “Wait for my announcement.”

Sources said the meeting was scheduled to be held on Friday at the minister’s office here.

Last month, the Immigration Department announced that it would commence a nationwide crackdown on thousands of employers, believed to be harbouring or employing illegal workers.

The operation will be carried out with the help of police and Rela.

Currently, there are about 1.8 million legal foreign workers in the country and the department believes there are at least an equal number of illegals.

There have been requests for the crackdown to be postponed as it was scheduled to start on the second day of Chinese New Year, where businesses would be brisk with huge profits to be made.

Last week, Hishammuddin promised to be lenient on employers who hired illegals if they could assure authorities that they were “getting their act together.”

He said, since the deadline for the crackdown was announced, many employers had come forward and admitted to hiring illegal workers.

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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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