Death threats and the MIC

 16 January 2008

Death threats and the MIC

Time to wake up to face the realities

The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) assemblyman for Tenggaroh, Datuk S. Krishnasamy, was gunned down at gunpoint publicly in bright daylight. Its president, Datuk Seri Samy Velu, revealed that the victim had received death threats prior to his assasination.According to Samy Velu  such death threats are common for politicians, he himself having received such threats before. In a matter of a day or so, it was reported that another senior national MIC leader, received a call saying he was next on the hit list. 

Such acts of violence to settle disputes are uncivilized and barbaric and must be strongly condemned by all in and outside the government. There can be no justification for anyone to take the law into their hands for whatever reason. The police and other law enforcement agencies must come hard on such people or parties regardless of who they may be.

Having said that it is pertinent to ask what is happening to the MIC, the sole component in the Barisan National (BN) coalition representing the Indians? Are these death threats and assassination politically motivated? We would like to think otherwise, but going by the events that have unfolds in the last couple of months, it may drive one to think in the affirmative.

The MIC leadership and Samy Velu, who had been at the helm of the party for over 25 year, have serious credibility problems at hand which they must address with great urgency. They must come out of the state of denial and face the realities on the ground; the Indian community is beginning to lose confidence in the very party that was in their blood for over 50 years.

Why is this so? The main reason is that the party leadership had taken the people’s trust for granted too long, so much so they are losing touch with the grassroots. The Indian Community being small as it is cannot afford to be divided. It has to be represented by just one party which has been the MIC and there is no reason why it should not continue to do so. What is needed is change within the party to make it relevant to the Indians once more. Whether the Indians like it or not they have to accept that fact and ensure that the MIC works well in protecting their rights and promoting their interests. If they find it is failing them, then they must strive for change within the party.

At the same time the leadership must be more open to dissenting voices not stifle them. They should be more receptive to change for the betterment of the community as a whole. Healthy dialogue and debate should be encouraged; talented and capable younger leaders allowed to rise up the ladder of hierarchy without favoritism or prejudice but based purely on merits. Nepotism, an evil that eventually brings self-destruction, must never be allowed to take roots in the party for whatever reason.  

What is going on in the country should be a wake up call to Indians to face the hard realities of life, especially in a multi-racial and multi-religious country like Malaysia. There is a need for   them to change their mindset; from being dependent on government handouts to becoming self-reliant in all fields. They should be energetic and quick to grasp the opportunities available to them. They should not blame others, but themselves, if they do not succeed in a country that has abundance. 

Dr.Chris Anthony

 

 

 

 

Malaysia Today

 

A very disgruntled citizen

In America, people are afraid of terrorists,
In Malaysia we are afraid of bloggers .

In Japan people make quality cars,
In Malaysia, Proton’s a blast.

In Sweden, customers’ car parks are on the ground floor, nearest to the shops.
In Malaysia, customers’ car parks are on the 4th floor and getting there requires gymnastics skills.

In most countries, parking in public places are often free.
In Malaysia, the government has proposed to extend parking charges till 10 am to reduce road congestion.

In most countries, traveling outstation, there’s little or no toll.
In Malaysia, If you go to Seremban, the toll is more than your petrol.

In almost most countries, there’s no ID card.
In Malaysia, if you have no ID card you can go to jail for 6 months.

In all countries corruption is  almost looked upon with disdain.
In Malaysia, after two White Papers on the police, they are dancing to our disdain.

In all developed countries, nobody is above the law.
You have only to be the Deputy PM to have everything “expunged” on Page 3.

In most developed countries, your house is about quarter mile from the highway.
In Malaysia, your house is in between the highway.

In many developed countries, toilets and parking bays are reserved for the disabled.
In Malaysia we have locked toilets and barred parking bays and you have to find the guard to get the keys if you are disabled.

In Indonesia, all toll and parking charges are reasonably fixed by the government.
In Malaysia, you can get a heart attack just looking at your parking charges.

In Australia, beer flows like water.
In Malaysia, money flows like water when drinking beer.

In Indonesia, you can squat on the toilets; in Germany you can even lie down.
In Malaysia, you have to use one hand to hold your nose and the other your willy.

In Singapore and Hong Kong, one ticket takes you around all subways.
In Malaysia, Subway is the name of a sand witch joint and it takes a genius to understand the route through 4 subways providers.

In most countries, their PM is honest or dishonest but they do not pretend to be otherwise.
In Malaysia, our PM pretends to be honest when he is really rotten dishonest.

When people remarry, they go for a honey moon.
When our PM remarries he is back from his honeymoon and he goes to his first wife grave and ask for forgiveness.

When Clinton was elected President, he went for 4 organized parties in Washington DC the same night.
When our PM was made PM, he drove home and knelt beside his mother and cried for the papers to publish.

People usually have their son and daughters succeed in their business.
Our PM is better as he uses his son-in-law for his business and his son for other businesses.

This country is so full of shit I am ashamed to call myself a Malaysian. Our 50th anniversary is but a side show to show our disgrace to the rest of world.

You only need one bullet to kill democracy and that’s our self-anointed Malay first policy.  Remember Rome and its indulgences and wastages and you will remember how this country will fall in the next 50 years. Fortunately, I will not live till 100 to see it but at 75, I will be paying RM40 to travel home to Seremban for toll just so to visit my parent’s grave.  I wondered who is buried there – my parents or my passivity.

If I run for politics, will anyone support me?

If you vote for the government, I will certainly cut your balls.

 

 

 

 

More commitment needed to fight crime

We need more commitment not gadgets 

 

We share the concerns of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, over the crime situation in the country which is far from ideal. We commend his personal involvement in fighting this menace which is threatening the peace of Malaysians. The increase in crime rate by 7.12% last year is frightening and a cause of worry for all.

 

Not a day passes without some gruesome crime being committed. I wonder what our country is really coming to. We can hardly go anywhere without fear of assault, robbery, rape and even murder. Even being caged in the home behind locked doors, grilles, expensive alarms and security guards does not seem to protect us from these criminals. Crimes are increasing by the day and we do not see signs that they will be brought under control anytime in the near future. The police and other law enforcement agencies appear to be ineffective in bringing the situation under control.

 

The Prime Minister’s personal involvement and his four fast-tract steps to fight crime is an admission of the gravity of the situation which has become very critical. These steps include the installation of Closed Circuit Televisions (CCTVs) in high risk areas, re-employment of retired police officers, hiring more civilians to handle police administrative duties and setting up more police stations in crime prone areas.

Of late there has been so much emphasis on CCTV as though by installing them would itself prevent crime. There are plans in the pipeline to spend millions of ringgit on installing these monitoring devices all over. This would only further burden the already financially strained taxpayers.

With CCTVs installed in strategic locations, we may help to reduce crime to a certain degree but we must not be carried away that it is a fool-proof way of preventing crime. Apart from being costly, there is also the question of their maintenance, which is always a problem in our country. Then there is also the problem of vandalism which is a common cause of damage to public amenities. Will CCTVs escape the wrath of vandals? What is the use if after investing millions of ringgit to install CCTVs they are not functioning when we really need them?

Even if the CCTV was in good working condition and we have recorded a crime, we need to further interpret, identify and trace the person who had committed the crime. Following that he/she has to be charged in court and proper punishment meted out in accordance with the law. The most frustrating thing is that many criminals may go scot-free after the long and arduous process of trying to bring them to justice.

The most important factor that is needed to effectively fight crime is not technological sophistications but the simple human factor – genuine commitment on the part of the people in general and the police force in particular. CCTVs and all the technological advancements are only tools to be used in our fight against crime; the most vital component is still the commitment of the police force. What we need is a police force that is adequately manned, professional, dedicated, disciplined, independent, non-corruptible and people friendly. These pre-requisites must be there firmly on the ground before any sophisticated tools can be used effectively to achieve our targets.

We may easily acquire all the latest high-tech methods and equipment but without the whole hearted commitment of the police, they will only go to waste. I am afraid what we lack is this whole-hearted commitment on the part of our police force.Delibrate attempts must be made by the government, the police and all concerned parties to ensure that these prerequisites are there on the ground, otherwise all the sophisticated and advanced gadgets that we acquire are not going to bring the desired effects in our fight against crime.  

Dr.Chris Anthony

struggle for justice is indefinite

I’m not giving up Hindraf struggle’

Yoges Palaniappan                                                         Malaysiakini Jan 4, 08 12:57pm

Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairperson P Waythamoorthy, who is currently in United Kingdom, has claimed that he was misquoted in an interview conducted by the Associated Press (AP) on Dec 30.

In a statement released from Hounslow, London today, Waythamoorthy said his comments to AP was “taken out of context”.

“I am disappointed that a small portion of the interview had been blown out of proportion to mean I am giving up the struggle of Hindraf or that struggle is likely to die soon,” he said.

In the interview which was widely published both locally and in international media, Waythamoorthy was quoted as saying, among others, that Hindraf has to close the chapter and that it would not be part of the next chapter if there is any.

Clarifying today, Waythamoorthy said: “The government has successfully locked up voices of peaceful struggle for democratic rights and dissent.

“People have no one they can trust to lead them as they are all locked up. All their hundreds of appeals, memorandums and letters to the prime minister written on their behalf by these leaders have gone to waste bins. What can you expect them to do next?

“These are poor people who are not educated to articulate their grievances in a refined manner. In these circumstances I honestly feel our “chapter” (Hindraf’s peaceful struggle) has been forcibly closed by the government and so they must expect a new chapter to be opened,” he said.

However, he added, if a “new undesirable chapter” is opened in the history of Malaysia, the organisation would hold the government solely responsible for they have killed legitimate voices of dissent and peaceful democratic struggle.

The government’s responsibility

He said that he was also asked in the AP interview on Hindraf’s position if the government failed to make any changes even after five to 10 years of campaigning.

“My answer was even if we are fighting a losing battle, we will continue with the battle because not all battles are meant to be won.

“If we lose after years of campaigning so be it, we will call it a day. No one organisation (including Hindraf) can ever claim we are here forever and will continue forever. Nothing is permanent in this world and it also applies to Hindraf,” he said.

He added that it was the responsibility of the government to make the necessary changes in the interest of the minority Indian community.

“People power can continue with the struggle but the ultimate power lies in the government. In Malaysia, Indians are minority and the reality is we can’t form a government to change the situation,” he added.

He also said that he was misquoted when he told the interviewer that he would keep his mouth shut if the government agrees to give them (Indians) two or three real concessions and that he did not look at him as a sacrificer.

He explained that was what he had told a police special branch officer who interviewed him one and a half years ago that he would “keep his mouth shut” and leave the public scene if the government resolved at least the temple demolition issue and permanently gazetted all temples existing prior to independence.

“Everyone would know that at that time Hindraf was practically dealing on issues of religious conversions and temple demolitions,” he said in his statement today.

Struggle to continue

He reiterated that he will continue to lead Hindraf even if he was on the move throughout the world.

He stressed that Hindraf’s struggle will not “die soon” as reported in the AP article.

“I have many plans lined up and will reveal to the Malaysian Indians in stages and with the support of people power which we are witnessing now we will together continue to advocate and assert the rights of the minority Indian community,” he said.

“I will do all possible within my means to lobby support from the British government parliamentarians and human rights organisations and these include our demand that the five Hindraf leaders be released unconditionally.”

“Thereafter I plan to continue the lobby to Europe, United Nations in Geneva, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand,” he said.

In his statement, Waythamoorthy said that he “will never regret for initiating Hindraf and leading it to its current struggle”.

“The Malaysian Indians have been cheated by the Umno-led government over the last 50 years using coalition Indian political parties to pacify the Indian community whenever they complain their rights are trampled upon.

“The government’s divide-and-rule policy seemed to have succeeded but not any longer. The Indian community can no longer be cheated,” he said.

Peaceful protests

He also said that he felt sad for the five Hindraf leaders who have been made scapegoats by the government.

The five – P Uthayakumar, M Manoharan, R Kenghadharan, V Ganabatirau and T Vasanthakumar – have been detained under the Internal Security Act last December for allegedly being a threat to the national security. They have been detained for two years at the Kamunting Detention Centre.

“The irony is even our legal advisers Kenghadharan and Manoharan who were purely acting for Hindraf as legal advisers were not spared. They were both vigorously and couragesly defending us when various sedition and criminal charges were levelled against us,” said Waythamoorthy.

He also said that Hindraf would be organising various peaceful protests throughout the country to highlight the plight of the underclass Indian society and for the release of the five Hindraf leaders.

He said he would be announcing his next step of action next week.

AP interview excerpts

Some excerpts from Waythamoorthy’s AP interview:

“We are fighting a losing battle, we know. We try our level best but if we don’t succeed, we have to call it a day, isn’t it?”

“We have to close the chapter. There may be a new chapter, but we may not be part of the next chapter… I know, eventually we will also fail.”

“We want the minority Indians to be given their basic rights If they can give us two or three (real concessions), we are willing to keep our mouth shut.”

“That’s what I don’t understand: why isn’t the government conceding? We are not asking for super rights, we are asking for basic rights.”

“What we can, we will still do. But if the whole struggle is going to die, what can we do?… As it stands now I don’t think we can accelerate.”