vox populi small thumbnail 'Kamalanathan seems quite satisfied to talk about providing food, clothing and shelter to the people of Hulu Selangor. An NGO can do that job there more effectively than an MIC man.'

 

PR man Kamalanathan's public relations blunders

Yuvan: Most of the serious issues faced by the Indian community in Malaysia today are national issues, although some issues are "uniquely Indian" and can be taken as community-based.

Kamalanathan has not shown any interest to talk about the bigger and more serious issues affecting the Indian community - for example, the severe lack of education opportunities in local universities, lack of scholarship awards to even meritorious students, a total imbalance in how the Indian community is represented in the country's public sector and in the essential services sector, lack of meaningful employment opportunities in the GLCs, unreasonable difficulties and obstacles faced by Indian business owners and entrepreneurs in obtaining approvals and financial facilities.

Kamalanathan does not seem to have a grasp of any of these issues and seems quite satisfied talking about his plans to provide food, clothing and shelter to the people of Hulu Selangor. An NGO can do that job there more effectively than an MIC man.

Ghkok: Good report. In my opinion, it shows clearly that Kamalanathan is a candidate of Umno, not MIC. He's obviously targeting the 53.9 percent Malay votes instead of the 19 percent Indian votes. That jives with PKR's campaign that says that the contest is actually PKR vs Umno.

My conclusion is that Kamalanathan is a tool of Umno, and Umno is determined to capture the 53.9 percent Malay votes, whatever it takes. That means Indian issues will drop out of sight for ‘Kamal'. That means Umno runs his campaign and tells him what to say to the Malay electorate.

If that's the case, does it imply that Umno views ‘Kamal' as even more compliant than G Palanivel - and that's why Palanivel was dropped?

Questions Kamalanathan refused to answer

Arul Inthirarajah: Any potential MP who is also a public relations man worth his salt would have used a press conference to full advantage, to fully espouse what he plans to campaign for on a national level.

Instead, what we have been exposed to is a barrage of 'no comments' and a refusal to answer questions. We can only deduce that he is completely out of his depth, has no clue, and if elected, will be a complete stooge of Umno.

Fly Emirates: With this kind of response, it is not surprising that RPK (Raja Petra Kamarudin) is questioning his education credentials. Any genuine Edith Cowan graduate can do better that this. Clueless, stupid and unintelligent politicians will find it tough to survive in this era of the new media.

'An Indian will vote for another Indian'

Chee Hoe Siew: Have these Indians ever wondered why after 50 over years, they are still stuck where they are? They really need to thank BN for the non-action to improve their standard of living. Probably it is BN tactics to keep them isolated and make sure they are not in touch with the outside world.

At times like these that they still vote for BN is because they think that the world has not changed. To progress forward, we cannot continue to think in terms of race but country. Otherwise, the country is going to deteriorate further.

Eugene : It's disappointing to hear the voter say "an Indian votes for another Indian". This is the result of five decades of BN divide-and-rule policies, where voters can't see beyond skin colour to vote based on the candidate's merit.

When will I see the day that racially-based sentiments will finally die off?

RM8 bil armoured vehicle poser

Pemerhati: The siphoning of the taxpayers money through inflated contracts was started in a big way by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Umnoputras decades ago.

Tens of billions of ringgit of the rakyat money has been stolen in this way and it is revealed in the newspapers and magazines from time to time when we read that Mahathir's or some Umnoputra's children, relatives or cronies have suddenly become billionaires or made some huge investments in foreign countries such as Mahathir's son's investment in a brewery in the Phillipines.

If all this money was not stolen but instead used to build the infrastructure projects like, say roads and power stations, the poor people would have been greatly helped because the electricity charges would have been very low and all the roads could have been toll free.

Amaso: I once watched the documentary on battle tank M1 Abrams deployed in Iraq war. The M1 Abrams design is really superior in many aspects, fully electronic hi-tech controls inside and many times more sophisticated than APC. Who dares to go near it?

Why should we pay RM31.1 million for a APC when M1 Abrams costs RM20 million only? Obviously the "mark-up" goes to the rent-seekers. Bring up this to the Hulu Selangor by-election and tell the voters that BN is sucking our blood.

Petaling Jaya Resident: I supposed these APC are the latest model where it could travel on land, sea and air when necessary. That is why it costs RM31.1 mil per unit.

 

T he above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only Malaysiakini subscribers can post comments. Over the past six months, Malaysiakinians have posted 50,000 comments. Be part of the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .