Press Statement - The Need for Fitting Action Against HM's Derogatory Remarks

I am perplexed and distressed by the Education DG's statement that the matter concerning the Headmistress Siti Inshah Mansor's derogatory remark was due to misunderstanding and has been settled.

At least 17 reports has been lodged over the matter and numerous students/parents have complained. How could all of them have misunderstood? How can the matter be considered resolved when we were informed that she is on leave pending disciplinary action?

This is the third civil servant that has made racially derogatory & outrages remarks that has been let off the hook with a slap on the wrist.

It sends wrong signal to all Malaysians and threatens national unity. Government must put a full stop to such incidents with strict action against the perpetrators.

I call upon the PM, the Education Minister and the Home Minister to thoroughly investigate the matter bring upon the heaviest punishment of the law. Mere suspension or transfer will not do.

S.Murugessan

MIC CWC Member

Sibu - Congratulations DAP

Press Statement

I congratulate DAP on its Sibu By-election victory. I am disappointed that BN lost. However, in keeping with BN’s core principle, we respect and abide by the people’s decision.

BN must comb through the result and find out what prompted the swing of 2000 votes. If National issues are the cause, then we must address those issues thoroughly. We must get to the root of what affected people’s confidence in our stronghold. As the dust settles, I am sure the reasons will become clearer. In the meantime, I urge the PM to continue with his agenda for renewal and action.

As a party worker who has toiled in numerous by-elections, I understand the disappointments. However it’s important to move forward and not lose sight of our aspirations. Leadership with integrity will ultimately lead us to victory in PRU 13.

S.Murugessan

Stop Being Such a Sore Loser, PKR

PKR should be graceful enough to accept their Hulu Selangor By-election defeat. BN had lost numerous previous by-elections and accepted them gracefully. For example, we lost Manik Urai by-election by a very narrow margin and yet accepted the result without complaining. Even in Hulu Selangor, when BN lost in the 2008 GE by a mere 198 votes, we accepted the people's verdict. Why is it that PKR can never accept the people's verdict gracefully? It has become a trend amongst PKR leaders to hurl all sorts of accusations when they lose, by-elections or otherwise.

By saying that the people of Hulu Selangor have been 'bought over', PKR is casting aspersions on the integrity and intelligence of the voters in Hulu Selangor. It also shows their deep seated disrespect on the choice of the people.

I take this opportunity to thank, on behalf of MIC, all component parties for their close co-operation and strong support in ensuring the victory of YB P.Kamalanathan. I also thank the thousands of BN Party workers and BN supporters for their tireless effort.

However, I would like to caution that we should not be too carried away with this victory. We should continue working hard as we still have some distance to cover before we regain the pre 2008 level of confidence.

I am confident that we will we will regain lost grounds in the 13th GE if we continue this momentum.


S.Murugessan
Secretary General
MIC

Just a "Small" Matter of Temple Breaking

About three weeks ago Ampang Jaya Municipal Council demolished the Sri Maha Kaliamman Temple at Kampung Tasek Tambahan. There was a total blackout on the incident for more then a week... and then the facts started to trickle in and PKR's house of cards began to fall.

First, there is Anwar's famous election slogan "Kerajaan BN roboh kuil. Kalau Pakatan tubuh kerajaan, kita akan bina kuil!". There was much applause and shouts of support whenever those words were uttered. Pakatan managed to from state governments in Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor in part due to such promises.

How many temples have you built PKR? None, but you have already demolished a temple!
PKR 1, Indian Community 0.

Then there was a fervent attempt to hush up the whole temple demolition episode. A Malaysian Nanban reporter that went to the site a few days after the demolition was threatened and told not to publish the news. He was also told that "Makkal Sakti" will demonstrate in front of their office if the news is published.

Interesting how anyone can claim to represent "Makkal Sakti" and threaten almost anyone with it. The temple committee itself did not raise the issue as they were Pakatan supporters. So much for transparency and openness promised before the election.
PKR 2, Indian Community 0.

Dr Xavier criticized MPAJ and washed his hands by saying that the state government had no knowledge about it. What happened to the much promised accountability during the campaign?
PKR 3, Indian Community 0.

He was also quick to point out that MIC is politicising the issue. Politicising the issue? Hello, can Dr Xavier say with confidence that PKR would have formed the state government if not for the Kg Karuppiah Temple (Padang Jawa) demolition this time last year? It was not politics then but it is politics now! Yes, right! Its is politics when its convenient for them!
PKR 4, Indian Community 0.

Dr Xavier went on to split hairs on the issue by saying that it was a "shrine" and not a "temple". According to him the temple had no permit and was on state land. Since when they started to make such distinctions? Since winning the election and forming the state government?

In that case can Dr Xavier point to one temple (or even a "shrine" for that matter) that was properly registered and built on its own land but subsequently broken by the BN government? Didn't Pakatan stoke the fire of discontent and rode to power on those sentiments? Why the double standard?
PKR 5, Indian Community 0.

The person that took the cake in this whole episode must be the Ampang MP, YB Zuraida Kaamaruddin. According to her, the temple was not broken by MPAJ but by the temple committee itself for renovation works. She must have said it in confidence that the pro Pakatan Temple Committee Members would back-up her spin. And they did by their silence! How insulting!

And what a mess they left behind when they "broke the temple for renovation!" The temple committee must have been in one big hurry as they broke the temple without removing the 'soolam' that was at the centre of worship and left the temple in one big rubble . Her statement is in direct conflict with the admission by MPAJ, Dr Xavier and YB Manikavasagam.

What does she think we are? Idiots? Instead of admitting as to what went wrong, here we have an MP who is trying to lie and spin a new story. To be fair, we can't totally blame her as we have been buying all PKR's spin so far.
PKR 6, Indian Community 0.

For those readers who would like to point out BN's poor track record when it comes to handling of the temple issue, let me save everyone's time by admitting that YES, we do have a poor record! And we paid a heavy price for it.

The previous BN state government attempted to impose the 'legality' on the temple issue with an iron fist and were shown the way out by the voters. We too, at MIC paid dearly for our failure to stop certain demolitions.

However, MIC and in particular the Youth Wing have always fought when it came to temples, even if it was against our own government. T. Mohan had demonstrated before this (much to the displeasure and anger of the former MB, YAB Dato Seri Khir Toyo and the late MIC State Exco YB Dato Sivalingam) in front of the SUK in protest of temple breaking in Puchong. I was there with my Shah Alam MIC Youths fighting our own enforcement officers against the breaking of the Kg Karrupiah Temple last year.

T.Mohan in particular and the MIC Youths in general had fought against and managed to stop many temple demolitions. Not many know about these stories because 'saved' temples are not hot issues. None of the temples saved (or those demolished) had the proper papers. But fight we did.

When it comes to temples, it is not a matter of legality but rather of prudence and care. BN ignored it and was handed its heaviest electoral loss ever. Now its Pakatan's turn and they are trying spin their way out of it.

"You can fool all people some of the time
and you can fool some people all the time
but you can never fool all people all the time".

SELAMAT HARI RAYA
MAAF ZAHIR BATIN!

Murugesan Sinnandavar

BN's Missed Opportunity

We have only five more days for September 16. The build-up and anticipation of September 16 has some what died down since last week.

It could be partially due to the absence of the 'target group', namely BN Backbenchers, from the country (according to BN, they are away on a 'study tour' to Taiwan). It could also be due to the realization of many that September 16 is just another one of Anwar 's political gimmick.

I feel BN had lost a golden opportunity to expose Anwar's lie by sending away the backbenchers for a study tour smack in the middle of the purported cross-over date. If BN is confident that September 16 will not take place, they should just postpone the trip to another suitable period. It is not as if the trip is a 'must do item' on this year's calender. Even the initial country to be visited had been changed from China to Taiwan.

Now, Anwar has another excuse to give for not delivering on his promise. He will just set another date and will leave everyone in suspense yet again.

What surprises me in all this is the silence by NGOs, human right groups and organizations purporting to promote democracy over Anwar's political manoeuvring . Just imagine the uproar if BN had announced that it is planning to take over some of the opposition held states by cross-over of PR ADUNs? BN will be accused of not respecting the will of the people and is trying to undo the results of Election 2008. Isn't Anwar's attempt amount to the same thing?

Yes, BN took a beating and were dealt a severe blow in GE 2008 but win the election it did. BN was returned to power, albeit with lesser majority, by the people. Everyone should respect that. Why is Anwar an exception?

I remember when Al Gore and George W. Bush contested for the American Presidency in 2000. Al Gore had more votes but George W. Bush had more electoral delegates. It is the electoral delegates that vote for the President of United States. There were also suits pending in respect of disputed votes. However, once it was clear that George W.Bush had the majority of electoral delegates by the slimmest majority, Al Gore conceded defeat and George W.Bush was sworn in as President. No one challenged his authority to rule despite winning by the narrowest of margin. That is democracy.

If it all Anwar has the required number of MPs, he should just get on with it. Instead, he is playing cat and mouse with the future of the country.

BN should just confront him and call his bluff. That is why I feel that BN had missed yet another opportunity to expose him. Besides, if indeed there is a risk of some BN MPs crossing over, how long can BN prevent it? We can't keep sending them overseas forever can we?

Sooner or later people will know who is telling the truth. It is just sad that in the meantime the country is left anxious about its future.

Murugesan Sinnandavar

Merger Push in Perak

I read with interest on the merger talk between PAS and UMNO to form a new Perak State Government in the NST today. The Perak Barisan Nasional chief Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali was ‘magnanimous’ enough to offer the post of Menteri Besar to PAS. Probably the talk of the merger is the result of earlier secret talks between Pas and UMNO on the Malay unity agenda.

As much as I would like to see the BN wrestle back the five states held by the opposition, I don’t agree that it should be done through such back door methods.

First of all, the people have spoken through the ballot box in the last general election. Not only did they vote for the candidate, they voted for the party AND the coalition. That being the case, we should all respect the people’s choice and not try to reshuffle the cards after the event.

Both Pas and UMNO must bear in mind that it was not only the Malays that voted them in. Both parties received votes from all races through the coalition mechanism. PAS especially enjoyed an unprecedented amount of goodwill from the Chinese and Indian voters in the last general election.

PAS and UMNO had different agendas, different priorities and belonged to different coalitions when they went into the 12^th General Election. The votes they received were cast based on the two different corners that they fought from. That being the case, won’t their action now tantamount to a betrayal of trust of both the voters and their coalition partners?

Forming a government through such back door tactics will erode the confidence of our people on the very political process in this country.

Just as much as I am opposed to Dato Seri Anwar’s idea of forming a Federal Government through defection of BN MPs, I am opposed to forming a state government in Perak through the so called merger of PAS and UMNO.

At best it would be a marriage of convenience, at worst it would be abandoning the principles of consensus upon which the Barisan Nasional had been built upon.

Would PAS abandon its stated mission of forming an Islamic State or UMNO concede to PAS’s pressure to form such a state? What about the wishes of voters that chose them based on their opposing manifestos? What about the bond of understanding of partners that fought along their side?

PAS and UMNO must make it clear if they are willing to break ranks with their coalition partners so everyone will know where they stand. In any event PAS and UMNO, by their conduct, had lost the moral high ground to question any coalition partner on their loyalty to the coalition.

Another dark cloud that hangs over this whole episode of PAS-UMNO merger is the question as to whether this will push our nation into the abyss of blatant racial politics. God forbids if this were to happen as there won’t be turning back and Malaysia will be consigned to join the ranks of some of the worst countries in Africa.

It is in the best interest of our political system, our people and our nation that both PAS and UMNO return to the business of good governance and win back the confidence of the electorate through their performance instead of attempting to run circles around the system by forming a ‘secret pact’.

Please concentrate on the Nation Agenda instead of any narrow racial or religious agenda.

Murugesan Sinnandavar