Vox Populi: But what has Samy done?

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Readers take issue with MIC president S Samy Vellu alleged statement to a Tamil vernacular newspaper that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had not helped the Indian community during his reign. They say that Samy is just shifting the blame from himself to another. Other topics which draw response include the aborted public forum in Penang on constitutional rights, Mahathir's DVD release and the taking of nude photos of women.

On Samy: Nothing for Indians in 8MP

KSN: Bravo Samy! So you woke up from your slumber after 25 years of being a cabinet minister and MIC president and just realised that Dr M did nothing for the Indians. When decisions were being made affecting Malaysian of all communities, what were you doing in sitting in the cabinet?

Having decided on policies by the cabinet,where were you and the MIC when policies systematically sabotaged the Indians, bringing them to their present pathetic state? You sat in the cabinet and went about propagating that the MIC and the government were taking care of the Indian community's welfare and future. You sold the Indians out!

Now, when everyone is gone, you have the cheek to come out publicly and state the truth that Dr M did nothing for the Indians. During your 25 years as a cabinet member and MIC president, you have publicly said a thousand times, 'I will speak to the PM' whenever a community problem surfaced, did you not realise that you and the Indians you claim to represent did not matter to Dr M?

To a certain extent, I can understand your predicament. Why did you not then, under those circumstances, walk out of the cabinet and pull the MIC out of BN? You could have earned some respect from the community and message would have been loud and clear to them to fend for themselves!

Your statement about Dr M not doing anything for the Indians is disgraceful and you and the MIC should be ashamed yourselves.

Imas Bestupid: Please pass along the following questions to our esteemed minister S Samy Vellu:

Q1: What has the MIC leader delivered to Malaysians in general and the Malaysian Indian community in particular in all the years that he has been MIC leader and a minister?

Q2: If Samy wants to 'make noise and demand for it', why didn't he do it during Dr M's reign?

Q3: Who is the richest among the three longest serving party leaders in Malaysia, Taib Mahmud, Lim Keng Yaik or Samy? It is not Samy? Poor fellow.

Q4: When is Samy going to say: "Ok, I've had enough, someone else can have a go'?

Q5: Samy, could you please tell us how thick is your skin? Just a guesstimate will do just fine.

Mei Mei: Quoting a report by Tamil daily Makkal Osai, Samy Vellu had actually shown his true colours when he criticised Dr Mahathir Mohamad for not giving anything to the Indian Malaysian community under the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP).

Therefore, as a leader he has successfully misled the Indian community for 22 years. What kind of a leader is he? Whilst serving his community under the leadership of Mahathir, he always praised his boss sky-high, the former premier. He also managed to convince the Indian community that Dr M's government were taking good care of them and now he is denying that.

This Samy (not the one you find in a temple) needs to secure the support from the Indian community so that he can continue to remain as MIC president for as long as he can. If a new leadership takes over from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Samy still survives, this type of person will not hesitate to criticise Pak Lah for the same reason he criticised Mahathir.

If his allegation is true, he should feel guilty that he had miserably failed to deliver the promises made to his community and therefore resign as president of MIC.

For the sake of Indian community interest, one must try to answer these few questions before giving the support to this person:

1. What kind of leader is he?

2. Are you convinced that he did not get anything for the Indian community from the government under the leadership of Mahathir?

3. What was he doing for the 22 years under Mahathir?

4. Based on his allegation, do you think he is an effective leader?

On the abovementioned matters, you are the best judges.

K Narayanasamy: After so many years of faithful service to the then PM and having consistently told the community that the MIC was its sole champion, suddenly, when there is a new PM, the MIC chief admits that his party has all along been hoodwinking all and sundry for the perks that the few party leaders were enjoying!

Really, it takes much guts to admit the failure ...great! But to what extent can the community expect the same party - with practically the same men and women at the helm - to effectively champion its cause?

Maybe when the leader is about to quit, he'll make some 'noise' on the matter as he will have nothing to lose ... fantastic representation!

R Rama Chand: It is indeed very true that Mahathir took the Indians for a good ride for 22

years and it took Samy 22 years to realise it. I have written many times, like many others, the woes and plight of the poor Indians in the country.

Now it is Pak Lah, a sincere and honest man. But Samy and the MIC must be constantly persistent in the Cabinet to secure what was not given to the Indians over the last 22 years under the Mahathir regime.

We sincerely hope the MIC won't have the same story to tell us five years from now when we go into the 10th Malaysia Plan ie that Pak Lah too betrayed us ...

On Suaram: Penang protest a setback

Rohandaren: This incident in Penang reinforces my low opinion of some groups in Malaysia. They are an insecure lot suffering from an acute sense of inferiority complex. Do they represent the face of their religion?

It seems that they are incapable of rational thought and furthermore forbid any other from discussing anything on the ground of "sensitivities". How narrowminded are they? Have they ever considered that others, too, have sensitivities?

I am generally a very liberal person but the behaviour of these groups in Malaysia have put me off.

WF: The protesters of the Penang public forum on the Constitution brought up unrelated allegations in linking the forum with the Inter-Faith Commission.

They are clearly being misinformed about the purpose of the forum and also the IFC. We should be concerned about their misguided notion.

Perhaps dialogues should be held between these groups and NGOs.

PT Tan: The chief of Teras is simply expressing the mob leader mentality if he disagrees, why can't he join the forum and thrash things out like a leader? The leaders of a mob should know about mob instincts in that emotions, once fanned, cannot be controlled.

They live by it and they shall be condemned by it. The same mob instincts took over on May 13, 1969 and the then menteri besar of Selangor shall forever be condemned by history for organising the mob on that day, even though his intentions were different.

Or were the leaders of the Penang mob employing the same excuses as Mark Anthony in Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar ?

Who Do You Represent: You can hear the pin drop. Complete silence. Stillness of the wee hours of the morning. No courage or not interested.

Yes, this is the only correct description of all the political parties who claim to represent the minority races in this country, and especially those in the ruling government, in respect of their response to the trampling of minority rights in the recent event in Penang.

Why? the answer is obvious - they do not represent the minorities but they themselves. In other words we need to ask ourselves who do these 'minority political parties represent. Over to you, mosquito parties in the BN.

On Mahathir vents frustration on DVD

A Very Ashamed Malaysian: 'The education system in Malaysia does not emphasis character building', says Dr Mahathir Mohamad. But isn't it his product after 22 years' rule?

Let us not confuse self-respect with ego. Let us take the bull by the horns. No more excuses, no more blame on everybody else. The only way for the bumiputeras in Malaysia to move forward in life is for the country to stop the unjust (abused) NEP.

When a person can proudly say that every ringgit that he spends comes from his own sheer hard work, then only can he walk tall and hold his head high. Only then can he honestly say to himself that he has self-respect.

KSN: Never forget that Dr Mahathir Mohamad was responsible for most, if not all the ills Malaysia faces today. These include racial politics, corruption, cronyism, mega-projects, denying non-Malays their constitutional rights and freedoms, declaring Malaysia an Islamic nation when it is not and denying non-Malays entry into civil service and educational institutions.

Our MCA and MIC clowns slept through for 22 years when all these things were happening. Dr M has destroyed every institution in the country including the judiciary and filled key posts with inept, incompetent people.

Do you know how the country will pay for all his sins in the end? He has taken the country to a point of no return. So please do not sing praises of Dr M. It does not wash

On Another woman lives to regret her stupidity

Ng Tze Yeng: I think this report is very biased against the woman. How she and her then lover choose to express their sexuality with each other is none of our business. There is no shame in a woman appreciating her naked body.

She is not to be labeled stupid just because she wanted to share the appreciation of her body with her lover and she trusted him then. Having said that, I can only assume it was done with her consent and she was not being coerced into it.

Also, why are we not holding the man who took the pictures to task? He is the one who is stupid enough to send the phone for repair without ensuring the privacy of very personal pictures.

Worse still, is it because he doesn't respect the privacy and intimacy of their liaison? Is that why he feels it's no big deal?



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