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State leaders barred from school functions

March 24th, 2009
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The letter says it clearly:

hishamuddin-ban-school-vip

source: Malaysiakini

The copy of letter was provided by Petaling Jaya City councillor A Thiruvenggadam, who is also the PKR PJ Selatan division vice-president. He said that he had followed Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim to the Highlands Tamil school in Klang last Sunday.

“As a local councillor, I am often approached by the PTA and school headmasters to help them out with problems related to the deteriorating school’s facilities.

“Now, the school officials have apologetically told me that they will not be able to invite me to their official functions. I do not mind helping the schools even if I am not invited because my motive is to serve the schools in need of repair.”

More info on the letter:

In an education department list on who can attend official events in all schools in the state, Pakatan Rakyat leaders names are glaringly missing.

The education department letter’s list was issued to all school headmasters in Selangor earlier this month.

The letter from the district education department instead stated that the education minister has appointed 73 Umno, MCA, MIC and Gerakan leaders who were sanctioned to attend official events in the state’s schools.

“Only these officials named in the attached list are allowed to attend official functions in the government schools in the state,” the letter dated March 11, 2009 stated.

Previously, all school heads were verbally told not invite Pakatan leaders for any official functions in schools.

In the recent parliamentary sitting, a government official denied that there was any directive barring elected leaders of the Pakatan state governments, said Petaling Jaya City councillor A Thiruvenggadam, who gave a copy of the letter to Malaysiakini.

Well, the issue could have been handled in a more statemanly manner, but unfortunately the schools have been turned into a political tool. The list could have just contained state education department officers names, instead of politicians. Obviously the minister has the right to appoint anyone, but doesn’t seem right.

The government official may also be punished for misleading the House.

The state leaders, hopefully will not use this reason as an excuse not to help the schools, especially the partially-aided ones.  As it is, one HM (tamil school) said that PIBG are not allowed to collect fund from public for school events/infrastructure. So, he is at loss on how to go about doing improvement in the schools. Money from government sorely lacking, and not allowed to collect from public. Forced to fully depend on the “guardian of the indian community” party.

Note: this is a repost served from memory. Accidentally deleted the original post.

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Najib on MIC elections

March 23rd, 2009
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From what I read, DPM Najib doesn’t sound very enthusiastic with the re-appointment of Samy Vellu as MIC President. His hands are tied as its another party, so nothing much to be done. Judge for yourself the comments made:

BARISAN Nasional (BN) component parties must be responsible for the leaders they choose to lead them, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

“We don’t interfere in the affairs of any BN component party. We leave it to their members to elect the leaders they think deserve their support through their internal process.

“We hope that the election of leaders in the BN component parties will have an impact on the respective parties … they should be responsible for the leaders they choose,” the deputy prime minister told reporters after opening the bumiputera entrepreneurs symposium organised by Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF).

He was asked to comment on the election of Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu as MIC president for a record 11th consecutive term after more than 90 per cent of the nominations for his challenger, Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan, were rejected by the party’s presidential election committee during nominations yesterday.

Asked whether Samy Vellu’s election would further hamper the BN’s efforts to gain the support of the Indian community, Najib said: “There are various opinions but he (Samy Vellu) has been elected by the MIC members so we have to accept it and we have to work hard to convince the Indian Community that the BN is serious about their interests.

The deputy prime minister said that the BN had in fact taken various measures towards this end, the latest being the aid given to repair Tamil primary schools as announced in the economic stimulus plan.

Asked whether Samy Vellu’s election would affect the BN’s chances in the April 7 Bukit Selambau by-election, he said: “We’ll see the result then.”

“But for now we are working hard and we must go down to the ground and meet all the voters and convince them that the BN has an agenda to fight for the interests of all races,” he said, adding that the voters in Bukit Selambau could gauge how well their assemblyman from the opposition had served them since the general election in March last year.

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Last Term for Samy

March 22nd, 2009
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After Muthu’s nominations were mostly rejected, leaving him with only 5, Samy Vellu was declared as MIC President for a record 11th consecutive term, after the party’s presidential nominations closed at the party headquarters on Sunday.

Samy Vellu obtained 455 nominations as opposed to five garnered by his challenger, former MIC vice president Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan.

Samy Vellu has been president since 1979, when he became the acting president after the death of then president Tan Sri V. Manikavasagam.

Samy Vellu’s win Sunday came on the date he had officially become the party supremo 28 years ago in 1981.

Vijayanathan, in making the announcement, said Samy Vellu had obtained 572 nominations in all but 117 nominations were rejected for non-compliance with the party constitution and the presidential election by-laws.

Muthupalaniappan had 53 nominations but 48 were rejected for the same reasons, he said.

“The election steering committee verified all the nomination papers and as a result of the verification, we rejected those nominations for both the contenders,” he added.

Looks like Muthu’s worst nightmare had become true:

Vijaynathan said: “Ninety-nine percent of the nominations were rejected for duplicity (branch chairpersons who nominated both candidates).”

Dismissing the allegation that the entire process was rigged, he said Muthupalaniappan’s chances were slim from the start.

“He was already treading a thin line, his safe margin was less than five percent.”

After filing his nomination papers, Muthupalaniappan told reporters that his rivals were using underhand tactics to disqualify him from the race.

He alleged that the incumbent’s camp went from door-to-door to secure nominations from those who had already nominated Muthupalaniappan, thus rendering the nominations invalid.

The former MIC vice-president, who vowed to bring massive reforms to the party if elected, confidently declared: “If my nomination goes through, I’ll become the president.”

Anyway, the following may be music to some ears:

Meanwhile, Samy Vellu said this would be his last presidential elections. “I will leave after this (term). I have nothing to hide. All the 3,640 MIC branch leaders are my bosses.”

Thanking God for being allowed to helm the party for a record 11th term, the president said he would relinquish the reins after training the next generation of leaders.

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RM12 million and 200 taxi permits

March 22nd, 2009
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Not sure if this RM12 million is new allocation or just re-announcement of earlier allocations. Sometimes we have to get clarification because numbers get repeated often, giving a wrong impression to the public.

Another good thing is the 200 taxi permit being allocated to Indians. But question is 200 out of how many? Just curious.

The announcement of EPU allocations:

The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Prime Minister’s Department has allocated RM12mil to improve the livelihood of the Indian community.

Deputy Minister Datuk S. K. Devamany said several programmes were being planned to train Indian youths in vocational courses.

The courses included those in the hospitality and services industry namely tourism, broadcasting, filming, logistics, and entrepreneurship.

“The Government wants the community to realise that many people have benefited from EPU’s efforts,“ he told a press conference after launching the eAcademy, a joint-venture between KnowledgeCom and SAP Malaysia here yesterday.

He said those interested in attending training programmes should register at the Social Strategic Foun­dation (YSS) of the MIC.

“YSS will also consider giving out small loans to those who want to start a business,” he added.

“The EPU has also given out 200 taxi permits to Malaysian Indians through the Entrepreneur Developm­ent and Coorperative Ministry,“ he said.

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Resign to study???

March 22nd, 2009
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This is a ridiculous reason to say the least. I have never heard of any important leader resigning from critical post just because want to pursue studies. Usually its the other way around  – people quit their studies due to work demand.

This is really an embarassment to Penang government. I won’t be surprised if the ex-DCM is then linked to dubious deals or criminal activities.

I think he was given a chance to resign and walk away without much fuss so as to avoid damaging the PR government’s name.

From The Star:

Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin has resigned effective April 8, Chief Minister Lim Guan said.

Lim said Fairus also quit his position as state executive councillor but declined to disclose the reason to reporters at the press conference held in his office in Komtar Saturday morning.

However, later in Petaling Jaya, de factor PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told reporters that Fairus, who has two Masters degrees, had received an offer for further stuidies overseas and planned to take up that offer.

In the Penang press conference, Lim said he received a resignation letter from Mohammad Fairus this morning stating his intention of stepping down as both Deputy Chief Minister and state executive councillor.

“After discussions with him, PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and state party chairman Datuk Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, I have decided to accept his resignation which will be effective from April 8,” Lim said.

“As Mohammad Fairus is on leave and not in Penang, the letter was faxed this morning,” he added.

He said Mohammad Fairus would stay on as the Penanti assemblyman.

When asked about the reasons for the resignation, Lim said it would be announced by Mohammad Fairus at a suitable time.

“Everything else will be announced later. I just got the letter this morning and so let us do the necessary transition.

“Let him answer at a time he sees fit,” Lim said.

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