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The word that divides when it should unite

January 9th, 2010
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Well the Word has gained popularity overnight. I can’t say much because its not my area and secondly, the rules seems to be different for the others.

As of 12.15am, three (or four) churches had some sort of explosives thrown, with one damaged quite bad, and another two escaped because the materials didn’t explode. A pastor was “mandhandled” by four guys and some items vandalised in Kg Pandan. One pastor in Kuala Selangor was given advice by a (hopefully) wellwisher to be careful. Ibrahim Ali, as expected, says it may be acts to sabotage his religion. Well, that’s his opinion and we respect that.

The King has issued statement while PM, DPM, and host of politicians condemned the attacks. MIC guys are still in India (150 over people attending the Parvasi I  think) so local media may not be able to access their response.

But note what Singapore Straits Times quoted from Minister Ahmad Zahidi:

‘This is Malaysia. Do not equate us with another country. We are an Islamic country as stated in the Constitution,’ he said, adding that there was a hidden agenda to use the word ‘Allah’ in the Herald, the Catholic publication.

In raising this issue, Mr Ahmad Zahid said a small group of non-Muslim leaders was trying to question the position of Islam in Malaysia.

Islam is the official religion under the Federal Constitution while the right of non-Muslims to worship is also protected.

‘Don’t play with fire and challenge the Muslims. We are willing to do anything to protect our religion,’ he warned.

If we have people who don’t understand constitution as Ministers, what else to expect? Or is it the paper misquoted the minister?

The former president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) , Datuk A. Vaithilingam, said the inter-religious committee should be reconvened immediately. The committee has not met for more than one year, he claimed. I doubt this idea will be welcomed by the protesters.

Small protests (Utusan said 3000 strong, but others put it at few hundreds) at mosques (within compounds) happened in about 10 locations in KL, Selangor, Johor, Terengganu among others. While Home Minister said nothing seditious was said at the protests, MK mentioned that one of the protesters (from the cow head case) mentioned about “burning”. Not sure if there’s any recording of that which can be provided to the police and Home Minister.

What about the situation on East Malaysia, the source of the cause of this problem? Why the protests are largely in KL and Selangor, plus unaffected area like Terengganu? Where are the politicians from East Malaysia? I think only Bernard Dompok and Maximus Ongkili said something so far (here, here, and here). I wonder what Bung Mokhtar would say 🙂 Say, would the folks in East Malaysia remember this?

Makes me think, if the ban was not put into place, all this would not have happened. Things were going well as it is, until someone saw it fit to interfere in the religious affairs of the Christians. I see it as interference because what they do with their religions and books is their problem as long as they don’t proselytize to Muslims. If there’s proof that such attempts took place, then can charge the persons because our law says cannot promote other religions to Muslims.  So, if some of the Muslims purposely go and search for materials from Herald, is it Herald’s fault or the Muslim’s fault?

The religious experts are saying different things about the use, exclusivity, and history of the Word. They themselves can’t (or won’t) agree on this, what more of politicians and public who have practically lesser knowledge. Some experts saying it involves sociological context, sensitivity of the majority, and other what-nots. Some even say Syariah Court should rule on Herald’s application! Lots of factors to consider.

I think the judge ruled wisely saying that banning the Word is interfering with other’s people’s rights because there are laws that exist to ensure others don’t misuse their freedom.

I can’t really see a solution to this problem because ruling on a total ban will most likely damage our name in the international circle and create uproar in East Malaysia (from which the ruling government draws some of its power), while a total approval will provide ammo for more protests and attacks.

I have to offer a word of thanks to the Christian community which consists of various races, for not reacting aversely to the attacks on their places of worship.

As for Hindus, let us pray for a solution, an enlightenment from almighty God, that an amicable solution be found. Let us not become emotional or condemn without purpose and care. We have not used the Word in our prayers, so we are not affected. Yet, we can empathize with the Muslims and Christians, and pray for the Divine to open their minds.

Well, let’s see if the Word divides or unites (and who it divides and/or unites).

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Selangor MB worried about Tamil schools UPSR results

January 5th, 2010
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Worrying is good start, dear MB. Question now is, what’s next? How about yearly allocation of RM10 million and land allocation/conversion for 5 schools per year?

About 45% of Tamil School pupils in Selangor do not fare well in the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination and this was something that had the state government worried, said Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

He said this could be due to a lack of support from parents who were mainly in the lower income group or the absence of an effective mechanism to help them achieve better performance.

He said this when handing over financial aid from the state government to Tamil schools at the Selangor state secretariat building here on Tuesday.

At the function, 31 Tamil schools received financial aid totalling RM704,000 while Parent-Teacher Associations of Tamil schools received a total of RM508,000 in aid.

Khalid said there were 97 Tamil schools with an enrolment of 34,000 pupils in Selangor and that 80% of the pupils came from families in the lower income group. — Bernama

The funds given (704k/31 schools) is about RM22,710 per school.  If same number of PTAs got the 508k allocation (508k/31 = RM16,387), then its RM39,097 per school. Not sure how that amount can help the schools.

Its clear that Tamil school problem needs a massive and immediate action from the Education Ministry and state governments in terms of financial allocation, land procurement, school relocation, and school status conversion, but it had not been happening as fast as it should be. Instead, its worse than snail’s pace.

In spite of all the shortcomings and problems faced by Tamil schools, 55% have done well in UPSR. That’s something to ponder about. And given the effort by the schools, parents, community and NGOs, hopefully the percentage increases year after year.

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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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YTL clarifies

December 29th, 2009
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Following the protests by the residents in Sentul over the missing low-cost houses, YTL provides some clarification:

According to a representative of YTL Land & Development Berhad, the only agreement made was with Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) for the development of Kampung Railway.

The representative said the company had been wrongly vindicated in this matter as Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd in 1994 was under another parent company and that YTL only took over later in 1997.

“It has nothing to do with YTL as our joint venture agreement is only with KTMB, whereby Kampung Railway will comprise a series of medium-cost apartments to be constructed on Sentul Lot PT16 for the purpose of housing KTMB employees and their immediate families.

“The identified site for this project, unfortunately, has been occupied by squatters and their reluctance to move has delayed the commencement of construction for a considerable time,” said the representative, adding that this meant the memorandum handing-over was also directed to a wrong party.

In a press statement issued, it is said some 41 families have already moved out of their squatter homes; with 22 of the 41 relocated to PPR Kg Muhibbah Puchong while the other 19 found homes of their own.

As for this current group of 18 families, a court case was ongoing and no date has been fixed for the next mention.

“We have taken numerous measures to look into the welfare and interest of the affected families, like dialogues and briefings, extending moving-out deadline, assisting the families with new low-cost homes via liaising with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

“We will still offer relocation compensation and assist with the new accommodation, although it is in the hands of the DBKL to decide on the location,” said the representative.

Some residents say they did not know what they signed, while others saying moving to Puchong is too far and incur very high costs.

Meanwhile, this is the predicament of the Kampung Railway residents:

RESIDENTS of Kampung Railway in Sentul suspect that the low-cost flats promised them were scrapped due to the possibility of a hypermarket taking shape in the area.

The residents recently won a year-long legal battle against the developers and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB).

The original residents of the village were former employees of KTMB and many of the current residents are their descendants. According to them, they had been promised low-cost flats but, till today, had heard nothing further.

Last year, they were served with eviction notices, citing plans for a railway village for KTMB employees.

They began their legal battle in December, 2008, when Batu MP Tian Chua helped them file the suit. On April 29, this year the court had ruled in their favour.

“The court acknowledged that the 20 residents should receive low-cost units as promised because they had documentation proving their cause,” Chua said.

KTMB filed an appeal a month after the decision was handed down.

Since then, three more residents have opted to join in the lawsuit.

Chua said they would have to provide the proper documentation, including family history and assessment bills paid during their stay at Kampung Railway.

However, the two families highlighted in StarMetro’s article on Dec 16, M. Thanaletchumy and her son-in-law, R. Parthiban, cannot be included in the list as they have already signed agreements to move out.

K. Letchumi, 39, whose house was demolished together with Thanaletchumy’s is also seeking help to fight her case. She has not signed any agreement to move out but her house was still demolished.

Chua said they had only relocated residents who had lived in the area for less than 10 years to Kampung Muhibbah, Puchong.

According to him, brochures sent out by the developers showed that a hypermarket would be built on the land.

“Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) cannot issue a development order for the construction as it was initially planned for low-cost flats,” he said.

Chua said he would bring up the issue with KL mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail and Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.

So, YTL is saying those people staying in Kampung Railways are squatters whereas they are descendents of the KTMB employees, and some of them have won their court case against KTM and developer?

Yesterday, residents together with MIC  held a protest:

OVER 50 people, comprising Batu MIC division members and squatters residents from Kampung Railway in Sentul, staged a protest yesterday over claims that low- and medium-cost flats are not being built as promised.

The protest was held at the YTL building in Jalan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur where 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.

In the memorandum, it is claimed that Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd (under YTL) was to build 3,000 units of low- and medium-cost flats and two multi-purpose halls and a football field.

However, the group said not a single low-cost unit has been built 15 yearson.

Batu MIC division chairman C. Ramanathan, who is the group’s spokesperson, said the area was now developed with many high-end apartments.

“What we want is for the developer to honour its promise made 15 years back, that is to build the low and medium-cost units,” said Ramanathan.

“They have been asked to relocate to Puchong but it’s so far away. These are poor people earning like RM400 a month and many are uneducated folks who would not know what is happening once they move there.”

Resident Yogalingam Muthukrishnan, 41, said his father first made the home there 50 years back, and is unhappy now that he is asked to move to Puchong.

“I have children who are still schooling so it’s not convenient for me. Also, they have taken away our football field there,” he said.

YTL Land & Development Berhad customer relations manager Karen Tan later came out to receive the memorandum.

Police officers had gathered around to supervise and man the crowd.

So, is this another case of badly management development with scant regards for the residents? Some of the villages in Sentul exists for more than 100 years, so what happened in last 10 years? Where did all the folks go to?

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