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Manikavasagam withdraws threat

September 30th, 2008
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MP for Kapar initially threatened to quit his post as  Deputy State PKR chief over the demolition of temple in Ampang. Not surprisingly, he stated that he will still maintain his MP and position in PKR supreme council. He posted on his website that:

My Head is on chop board now claim Manikavasagam as he need to answer voters and supporters on this incident. Though I’m disappointed with slowness in gazetting all histrocial place of worship I hope it will materialize soon.

I guess since a temple on private land was partially demolished in Kapar, Manikavasagam is having a hard time. This second temple is giving him headache as the makkal are asking him questions. All due to Makkal Sakthi 🙂

Morever, he claims that MPAJ had issued notice to another 10 temples under its area and that the MPAJ did not even inform the two Indian representatives in the council board about its plans:

Kapar MP S. Manicka­vasagam has threatened to quit as the Selangor Parti Keadilan Rakyat liaison committee deputy chairman if no action is taken against council officers involved in a Hindu temple demolition exercise in Ampang re­­cently.

Manickavasagam, who is also a PKR supreme council member, said he might even quit the party if he was not satisfied with action taken by the state government.

He said action should be taken against the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) president, its en-forcement chief and other officers involved as the matter was not referred to the state govern-ment before the temple was demolished.

“The council president also did not inform the two Indian representatives in the council’s board of the action. I have recently learnt that MPAJ sent notices of demolition to 10 other temples in the municipality.

Today, after news of MPAJ’s deputy president’s suspension came out, Manikavasagam, or Mike, retracted his threat. According to his political secretary M Shanmugam:

“Manikavasagam will retain his post as PKR deputy liaison chief for Selangor following the suspension of the person behind the demolition,” said Shanmugam.

Meanwhile, Shanmugam said he had met with Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, the political secretary to Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and the latter had promised stern action against those responsible for the temple demolition.

“He told me that the state government was not involved with the temple demolition and that they will do a follow up after the one week suspension ends,” he added.

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HINDRAF to attend PM Raya open house

September 30th, 2008
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So, we can expect few thousand extra visitors to PM open house tomorrow. The open house is at PWTC from 11.30am to 12.30pm for VIP and diplomats, and 12.30pm to 4.30pm for the public.

Hindraf supporters are asked to come in the orange t-shirts to show support. Not sure how many people will be around as its holiday season.

Below is press statement from Waytha:


HINDRAF
135-3-A Jalan Toman 7
Kemayan Square 70200
Seremban.

PRESS STATEMENT – HINDRAF – VISIT TO PM OPEN HOUSE

HINDRAF would like to inform the public that the Prime Minister’s department had acknowledged receipt of our request to lead a delegation of 10,000 HINDRAF supporters and that the Prime Minister had been advised accordingly.

HINDRAF call upon all HINDRAF supporters and all Malaysians to visit the Prime Minister on the 1st day open house at PWTC to make it a memorable day whereby each one of us as a citizen of this democratic Malaysia can actually see him eye to eye and wish him a Selamat Hari Raya and demand that the ISA to be abolished and release our leaders along with the others in the spirit of humanity and mankind.

This is an occasion on an auspicious day for all HINDRAF supporters and all Malaysians to come forward and voice your feeling without any red tape bureaucracy directly to the premier so that the moral and spiritual truth in each one of us as a rakyat can be heard by him directly in the spirit that is coherent with the creation of the original constitution by our forefathers.

HINDRAF urges all its supporters to come it their orange t-shirts and assembly at the main entrance of PWTC on the 1st day of Hari Raya at 11.00am.

Your presence will show that HINDRAF is about everyone for the goodness of Malaysia to live a fair, equal and just life in this multicultural society.

P.Waytha Moorthy

HINDRAF – Chairman

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Ampang temple demolishment on national TV

September 29th, 2008
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Well, a temple being demolished seldom makes main news especially on TV. The last time that happened was in Padang Jawa, and we know what that led to. This time, the tables are turned, with MIC as accusers and the Pakatan Rakyat led state goverment on the defensive, being accused of condoning temple demolishment. Add to this statement from MP Zuraida, and you get accusations and counter-accusations. The story of the temple being demolished is covered here and here. In a nutshell:

1. Maha Kaliamman temple in Ampang demolished on 9th September, supposedly by officers from MPAJ, the local council.
2. An state EXCO, Ronnie Liu, told the next day that it was not ordered by the state government nor were they informed about it. The MPAJ president is overseas, so he is also in the dark.
3. MIC, Samy Vellu gets to hear about this two weeks after the demolishment, and one if its state youth leaders, make a police report. MIC accuses the state goverment of not being able to keep its promise.
4. Another EXCO, Xavier Jayakumar angers the community by saying that its a “shrine not a temple” and saying that its not registered. However, he clarified that no orders came from state government for demolishing the temple.
5. MP for Ampang, Zuraida says MIC trying to politicise the issue and says that it was demolished for renovation. This is in conflict with earlier statement by Xavier.
6. Temple committee chairman says not sure who reported the temple causing it to be demolished.

Let’s continue with what happened after those postings.

MIC quickly highlights the confusing statements by PKR leaders, condemning them as trying to mislead and confuse the community:

In a statement today, he said the conflicting claims indicated that the Selangor government was diverting public attention away from the fact that the temple was demolished by state authorities.

“We want the state government to come clean on the matter and expose who had authorised the demolition of the temple,” Samy said, adding that the outcome of any investigation ought to be made public.

NST reported that MIC wants the state government to make public the report of the temple demolishment since there are conflicting statements by the two leaders.

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the conflicting statements showed that the state government had deceived the people over who was responsible for the demolition of the Sri Mahakaliamman temple on Sept 9.

“We want the state government to come clean on the matter and expose who had authorised the temple’s demolition,” he said in a statement.

Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin had said that the temple’s committee members had demolished the temple for renovation work, while Selangor’s health, estate workers and caring government committee chairman Dr Xavier A. Jayakumar said it was the work of Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) enforcement officers.

“Who is telling the truth now? We demand an explanation,” Samy Vellu said.

MP Zuraida later issued another statement on the 28th saying that her initial one was misquoted. She was referring to her statement that the temple was demolished for renovation purposes. According to her, Murugiah, the temple chairman was in the process of doing minor renovation when the temple was demolished by MPAJ workers.

A part of her first statement is reproduced below:

 Hakikatnya, kuil tersebut telah dirobohkan pada 10 September untuk kerja pengubahsuaian bangunan dan dokumentasi. Pada 11 September, Ahli Majlis MPAJ En. Soorianarayanan dan En. Supiramany tampil untuk berbincang bersama Timbalan Yang di Pertua MPAJ untuk menyelesaikan isu prosedur pengurusan kuil tersebut. Kini pihak pengurusan kuil masih menunggu laporan dari pihak Majlis Perbandaran.

Menurut Pengerusi kuil En. Murugiah, masalah kuil ini iaitu tanpa dokumentasi sudah berlanjutan hampir 19 tahun, malah pernah dirobohkan sebanyak dua kali di bawah pentadbiran Barisan Nasional. Barisan Nasional telah membiarkan masalah kuil tersebut.

I’m not sure who wrote it, but its pretty clear that is says the the temple was demolished on 10th September for renovation work and documentatio.

Xavier Jayakumar later visited the temple and said that temple committee is equally at fault. He was also recorded on camera as saying that he talked to Zuraida and she had clarified that her earlier statement was misused.

The Sri Maha Kaliamman temple committee must share equal responsibility for the demolition of the temple, Selangor state executive councillor Dr A. Xavier Jayakumarare said.

Xavier said the temple was built on forest reserve land and the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council was right to take action.

He said, however, the council should have sought permission from the state government before demolishing the temple.

“The state government was not informed of this matter.

“According to our guidelines, local authorities must seek permission from the state executive council before demolishing any place of worship,” Xavier said after visiting the temple site at Kampung Tasik, Ampang yesterday.
He said the council had been directed to submit a report on the demolition but declined to say if disciplinary action would be taken against anyone.

Xavier said the temple committee chairman, S. Murugiah, had also been advised to write to the state government for approval before rebuilding the structure.

He also described the demolition as a small issue.

“This is a small issue compared with other more serious problems affecting the Indian community. Why don’t we look at the bigger picture?”

Ampang member of parliament Zuraida Kamaruddin has denied that she had said “temple committee workers had demolished the temple to carry out renovation works”.

Her political secretary, who was at the site yesterday, said Zuraida was “misquoted” by several newspapers on Saturday.

I still remember my friend telling that “small things will become big things if not handled”. It is wrong of Xavier to brush aside this as a small problem, because this incident is a symptom of disobedience by officers. This problem can easily manifest in other areas. Secondly, this incident is about religion. Anything to do with race and religion is never a small issue.

At the site also was MHS representative, who said that state government or local council must approach MHS before demolishing any temples. He said MHS will find a solution for these sort of problems. This incident can be avoided if MHS was involved.

its quite clear that MPAJ is involved. The next steps are clear – get a report out, investigate who/where/why it happened. Mete out punishment to the guilty party. Anything less than that means Pakatan Rakyat is also like BN. All talk, no action.

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Religion and ABSENCE of plans for Tamil schools

September 29th, 2008
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I’m not privy to the full proposal by the MIC as mentioned by its Information Chief, Saravanan. But I wonder, how do those non-Hindu students be accommodated while Hinduism is thought in the classes, in the name of Tamil language? We complain when our young children are “taught” to “baca doa” or youths forced listen to Islam-glorifying speeches either in school or universities, so obviously its unfair to force others to listen to Hinduism.

One option is to provide religious classes during the Agama Islam period. Only those parents who do not want to the children to be taught religion should send their kids for Moral Classes (perhaps the parents are atheist, or have no faith in the teachers, or are unsure of their religion…whatever). This is a potential logistic nightmare as thousands of religious teachers will be needed to teach Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Bahaism, Sikhism and so on. Coupled with lack of classroom, it will be a doomed effort.

Political wise, this will be deemed as undermining Islam as religious classes are taught in school just like Islam. So, those folks at UMNO and its frontmen will start to protest. Another headache.

So, I’m not sure how MIC came up with this proposal:

The MIC yesterday urged the Education Ministry to consider the party’s proposal to incorporate religious aspects into the Tamil language curriculum at the primary school level.

In making the proposal, MIC information chief Datuk M. Saravanan expressed disappointment over the current Tamil language curriculum.

“Learning the Tamil language is unlike studying the other languages as religion should be a main component of the curriculum.

“Therefore, I urge the Education Ministry to make the necessary changes to the Tamil language curriculum so that young Indians can be taught religious values from an early age,” he said after opening the annual general meeting of the Tamil Teachers Union of Malaya.

Saravanan, who is Federal Territories Deputy Minister, said that one of the reasons why Tamil schools were being politicised was the absence of short- and long-term plans for the schools.

The second thing which alarms me is the statement that “one of the reasons why Tamil schools were being politicised was the absence of short- and long-term plans for the schools”. Now, is this like throwing mud into one’s own face? The champion of the community, the guardian of Tamil schools, is telling us that THERE IS ABSENCE of plans??? What the $%^$&*@$%@^$&%&#%@%%. Yeah, I’m pissed off. 62 years and this is the nonsense we get. Another great job. Why don’t these people do us all a favor and go to the top most floor of a highrise and jump off?

I hope to God that Saravanan was misinformed, misquoted, misled, or mis-whatever.

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Why are 20,000 Indians still without identification?

September 29th, 2008
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It’s good to read that MIC secretary-general, Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam admitting that there are still about 20,000 Indians throughout the country without birth certificates or MyKad. This is a smaller number than the 80,000 or 30,000 bandied about earlier. He says MIC was currently resolving several hundred cases involving Indians who were in the process of obtaining their identification documents.

“This situation arises mainly because a majority of them were born in villages often located in estates. Their deliveries were handled by midwives, many of whom have since passed away, making it difficult for us to get any record of their birth.

“In some cases, newborns were sometimes given up for adoption by their poor parents,” he said .

He said at present, the NRD would require an individual to show proof that he or she was born in Malaysia by producing a letter from the hospital or clinic where they were born. “This is where the problem lies. Many of those born in estates don’t have any documentation. This fault lies with the parents who should be more responsible in registering the births of their children.

“However, the MIC will work closely with the Home Ministry to assist as many Indians as we can to get them the relevant documents,” he said.

Dr Subramaniam was referring to a recent New Straits Times report which highlighted the plight of R. Ragu who was told by the National Registration Department (NRD) in Putrajaya to get a letter from Sultan Azlan Shah to enable him to obtain a permanent identification document.

Ragu only had a birth certificate bearing his father’s name and place of birth as proof of his citizenship.

“This is the kind of cases we are talking about. We do not want to see any child deprived of their right to a sound education due to the lack of proper birth papers and will continue doing our part to assist them in every way,” he added.

So, Dr S.Subra is saying that more cases are happening because the NRD had introduced an additional rule. Therein lies the problem. At cabinet meetings or ministerial talks in the last 2 to 3 years, surely this new rule of NRD would have been highlighted by the MIC representatives. Or weren’t they? Don’t tell me only now MIC know about this.

He easily blames the parents (who are of course partly to be blamed – together with estate management, MIC, Health Ministry, NRD, and NGOs). While parents are at fault, it is also alarming to realise that this problem had been there all this while. If in a year, MIC can help to solve 100 cases, in the past 30 years, that would be just 3000 cases. Let’s put it at 500 cases per year, meaning 15,000 cases solved in last 30 years. So, how many people were without IC before this?

The action to get people their documentation should go hand in hand with education and awareness campaign.Were the campaigns ineffective? Were such campaigns in place at all? For a party that boasts of the most number of Indians, (was it 500,000 members?) it seems to be an disaster that this problem was not solved or reduced dramatically. Whose fault is it – members, grassroot leaders, or the leaders themselves? How about the media? How many times did we ever hear any campaign to get your children registered or advertisement on the importance of identity documents? Can the readers recall? I can only remember THR’s ad that appeared in the last few months. Do we see any ads inserted in newspapers or TV airtimes? How about putting ad during movies in cinema that says “GET YOUR MYKAD TODAY!” or something like that?

Finally, action + awareness is meaningless without the infrastructure or system. What measures were taken to bring the government to the public instead of blaming the public? Did NRD provide mobile registration counters? Were there “turun padang” exercises to visit estates and other remote areas or were this places conveniently ignored? Are they Tamil speaking officers attached to the department offices to help this rural folks?

If some folks in Sabah can get instant MyKad as alleged by various quarters, why not these 20,000 people? Need to grease some palms or due to lack of economic and political value?

In short, years of inaction, improper strategy/planning, “tidak apa” attitude, and lack of willpower and persuasion (and perhaps respect) at the top level are coming back to bite us in the posterior.

Well done!

UPDATE: NRD’s director-general Datuk Mohd Abdul Halim Muhamad response is below:

The National Registration Department (NRD) will go on a nationwide search to register “stateless” persons, as well as look into the plight of odd-job worker R. Ragu.

“I will follow the order of the minister to go to certain areas in all the states to help the stateless people,” said NRD.

On Thursday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar told the department to check the situation of stateless people and give them identity cards.

When asked about Perak Sultan Azlan Shah’s call to NRD to issue a temporary identity card to Ragu, Abdul Halim said that he would follow the minister’s directive.

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