Flip-Flop by DAP

Earlier today I received an sms stating that Buntong Assemblyman from DAP, YB A.Sivasubramaniam was quiting his party. Upon checking I found that this was true. However, before I left my office, I received yet another sms stating that he had retracted his resignation. This was also true!

Now this brought back to memory about another representative from DAP, YB Fong Poh Kuan who 'resigned' all her post before the election only to retract it later. Mind you, I remember her telling that nothing would change her decision. Mmm... I wonder what changed?

Perhaps this is nothing new in DAP. One can 'resign' from one's post with full media publicity and 'retract' it with yet another 'publicity'. Of course they would be 'offended' if you dare call it a publicity stun and will bring to bear their full fury upon you. How dare you question them! They are the ones that are supposed to do all the questioning. And the preaching. Period.

YB Lim Kit Siang has done it before. He had 'resigned' from one party post after electoral defeat only to be 'persuaded' to take up another post. Now, thats accountability for you.

Granted that resignation and retraction is a personal choice and when it concerns a party, its an internal matter, one can't stop pondering on the soundness of judgment of those concerned when there is a retraction.

Resignation, from my understanding and experience, is the last resort. Bearing in mind the public office that one holds, announcement of resignation must only be done when all else fail and there is no turning back. Once it is announced, any retraction, no matter how good a reason, will call into question either of one's judgment or integrity. The lack of either one is fatal for a leader.

The preachers of integrity, accountability and transparency will do well to bear in mind that these qualities are applicable to all and are expected from all leaders. You may preach about it one day (and thats all well and fine) but people expect that out of you when you are in a position to lead. You have to walk the talk.

Murugesan Sinnandavar

Release of Hindraf 5

Yesterday (March 30th), the President of MIC, Dato Seri S.Samy Vellu called for the release of those Hindraf leaders detained under ISA. I reproduce herewith the news clipping, a response from one of a member from a yahoo group and my reply to him.

News Report:

Release the HINDRAF 5, says Samy Vellu

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu today asked the government to release the five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders under detention, saying two of them should be freed sooner because one was ill and the other was now an elected representative. He said R. Kenghadaran, 40, "is very sick" and M. Manoharan, 46, had won a seat in the March 8 general election. Manoharan had won the Kota Alam Shah state seat in Selangor on a DAP ticket.

Samy Vellu also said that V. Ganabatirau, 34, and K. Vasantha Kumar, 34, had not been very much involved in the massive rally organised by the unregistered Hindraf in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25 last year, which was a reason for the five to be detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). The fifth Hindraf leader under detention is P. Uthayakumar.

The MIC president spoke at a news conference after opening a workshop on "Rebranding the MIC" attended by the party's 150 divisional leaders, here. He said Ganabatirau, and Vasantha Kumar were "not very much involved (in the rally), so the government has to make a decision."

The MIC supremo also said that his asking the government to release the five Hindraf leaders was not for publicity or a move to win back Indian support for the party, touted to be the largest Indian-based political party in the country.

"This is done in fairness, sympathy and, also, we feel that we as Indians have to do something about it. It is not a publicity stint," he said.

He said that though the party had received harsh criticism from certain quarters for failing to safeguard the welfare of Indians in the country, it would continue to do what it can on matters concerning the community.

"If they (those detained) go ahead with the advice of their lawyers, many things could happen. They should not simply be attracted to those people who want to argue for them. Many people like to argue for them so that they can get publicity. We don't want the publicity, we want the truth," the MIC chief said.

Source: NST

This was the response from one the members from a yahoo group:

On 3/30/08, jegan@fn.com. my <jegan@fn.com. my> wrote:

See below article from the Samy Velu - what he is trying to prove!!!!

• Did I just heard the word "Samy Vellu"? How come he did not felt 'sympathised' the moment the 5 HINDRAF leaders were sent to Kamunting? How come he did not considered the term 'fairness' at that time and how come he did not even thought of himself 'being an Indian' and 'doing something about it' during that time?It is really sickening to see that it took approximately four freaking months for you and your so-called party members to finally THINK and come up with a wise statement, directed to the government to free the HINDRAF leaders. He personally DECLARE OUR 5 Hindraf Brothers - PENGANAS. WHY ON sUDDEN hE WANTS TO help!!
• When he was in power ( 27 yrs) don't bother to fight for Indians Rights & future of Indians. Why on sudden!!
• Wat is the SV explanation on MAIKA!! Doesn't mean he lose the election he can escape from MAIKA scandal!! SV should answer for this & must refund our MAIKA investMENT AMOUNT (PRINCIPLE) WITH INTEREST.
• FIGHTING FOR BETTERMENT OF ESTATES COMMUNITY FOR - BETTER LIVINGS, WAGES ETC... WHY NOW!!! WAT HE HAS DONE FOR PAST 27 YRS!!!
• THE BEST PART HIS HE IS PLANNING TO "TRAVEL WHOLE MSIA " TO EXPLAIN & TO GAIN SUPPORT BACK FROM INDIAN COMMUNITIES. WELL PLS FREE TO DROP BY TO OUR STATES & OUR TMN, VILLAGE ETC...OUR SLIPPERS ARE WAITING FOR YOU.

AS A INDIAN FEEL SHAME WITH HIS BEHAVIOUR - THE ROOT CAUSE OF MIC FAILURE HIS "SAMY VELU" & HOW COME THE MIC MEMBERS ARE STILL SUPPORTING HIM BLINDLY!! WHY THE UMNO & OTHER COALITION ARE NOT RESPECTING OUR COMMUNITY & OUR REPRESENTATIVE - HIS BECAUSE OF SAMY VELU & HIS BEHAVIOUR WHEN HE IS POWER. A TRUE INDIANS WILL NEVER BEHAVE LIKE THIS ....

A RELIABLE SOURCE IN MIC MENTIONED SAMY VELU PLANNING TO STAND FOR PARLIMENT FOR NEXT GENERAL ELECTION ( ~2012) IN SAME CONSTITUTION IN SG SIPUT. THAT'S AREA SON HE START TO WORK HARD & PORTRAIT HIMSELF AS THE SAVER, DEFENDER OF INDIAN COMMUNITY!!. I TINK SAMY VELU STILL TINKS HE CAN TRICK MSIAN INDIANS WITH HIS 50's POLICTICAL GIMMICKS.

WAT HE SHOULD BE DOING HIS TO STEP DOWN FROM MIC & LOOK AFTER HIS GRANDSON/DAUGHTER ( IF HE HAS ONE). EXPLANATION FOR ALL THE CONE/SCANDALS OF MISMGT INDIANS FUNDS......

This was my reply to Jegan:

What is wrong with Jegan? He is taking the attitude of damned if you do and damned if you don't! Dato Seri Samy Vellu has called the Hindraf 5 to be released from ISA. Instead of welcoming another voice in a move to free those detained, he has taken a defensive political posture. Is this going to help the cause of those detained? Or are certain quarters' sinister motives better served by having the Hindraf 5 under detention whilst they play up to the gallery?

MIC has fought for the Indians all this while and will continue to do so despite what some think or say. That MIC and BN has been dealt a severe blow in the last election is something that we recognize and accept. Point taken. Now lets move forward. If you are still unhappy with us by the next election, you can once again cast your votes to express your choice but stop being so "holier then thou". Is "our slippers are waiting for you" part of our culture, Jegan? Would we want to teach our children to do that to another no matter how much we hate that person? Stop perpetrating this politics of hate. It does no good to anyone.

If Jegan is genuine in ensuring a better future for our nation and community then he must welcome what is good, despite our political differences. We can have our differences but don't let that stop us from working on our common aspiration.

Murugesan Sinnandavar

MIC

Election 2008

" A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humoured inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other-side. Else to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another"

- Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Election 2008. As the dust begins to settle, Malaysians, including politicians, are searching for explanations on the how and why. The results are there for all to see. Barisan Nasional (BN) lost its two third majority in Parliament and four states in addition to Kelantan. It came as a "great wave" said some and "it spread like wildfire" lamented others.

But what went wrong and what went right? While the respective post-mortem reveal an array of causes, one thing, however, is certain - democracy went right.

I was the BN candidate for the Subang parliamentary seat. In the past, political pundits regarded this constituency as 'safe'. But nothing was safe from the March 8 Tsunami.

Yes, I lost and yes, it hurt. But I take a little consolation knowing that I was defeated by fellow lawyer R Sivarasa, a credible and respectable adversary.

Although I am upset with the results as other party members are, the people have spoken. And they did so in a thundering voice. So its time for us - on the BN bench - to sit up and listen. We thought we were listening but obviously something was lost in transition. Its time to take stock of what went wrong, as an individual, as a party and as a coalition.

Are the results of Election 2008 merely a collective venting of anger by the voters or is it part of the changing landscape of Malaysian politics?

If it is the venting of anger, then the signs have been there.

Alarms have been raised but were either ignored or reasoned away. The saying "beware of the fury of a patient man" resonates yet again. Issues that gave rise to the anger must be looked into with fresh eyes, open mind and resolved at it's fundamental level.

If the election results is part of the evolving Malaysian political landscape, then we as a party and a coalition must change to keep up with and if possible, stay ahead of the trend. Change is easier said than done. Harder still is to be attuned enough to detect it.

Often changes happen in small increment that it is seldom noticed until it stares us right in the face. The need for change stands before us like a mountain now. Change we shall or perish we will. Of course the question is about what needs to be changed and how.

However, what is right within the party must be reinforced.

I, like many other members, joined MIC to work to uplift the community. I am convinced that this is still the spirit and motive of most of its members. That being the case, where did we lose the plot?

I have my own thoughts on most of these issues but right now, as an individual and a member of MIC, I would like to hear the views of the people we represent, painful as it may be in some cases.

The ultimate ownership of MIC rests in the community. We party members are merely the stakeholders who hold it in trust on your behalf.

Murugesan Sinnandavar