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Samy Vellu passes away at age 86
Former MIC president and cabinet minister S Samy Vellu has died at age 86.
It is learnt that he died peacefully at his home in Kuala Lumpur this morning...
Former MIC president and cabinet minister S Samy Vellu has died at age 86.
It is learnt that he died peacefully at his home in Kuala Lumpur this morning.
Former health minister Dr S Subramaniam, who is also a former MIC president, shared the news on his Facebook.
"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I received the tragic news of the demise of Samy Vellu, the former president of MIC and a legendary minister in the cabinet, from his son Vell Paari.
"To many of us, he was the ultimate mentor.
"His contribution to the nation and to the Indian community will be permanently etched in our memories," Subramaniam said.
He did not provide further details on Samy's death.
According to MIC’s website, Samy began his political career at age 23 in 1959 when he joined the party’s Batu Caves branch and climbed the ladder until he became the party president in 1979, a position that he then held for over 30 years until 2010.
He first won the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in 1974 and retained it for eight terms until March 2008, when he lost the seat in the 12th general election.
Samy served as a member of the federal administration under three prime ministers, namely Hussein Onn, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and Abdullah Badawi from 1978 to 2008.
Samy first served in the government as a deputy local government and housing minister from 1978 to 1979, before being appointed as works minister from 1979 to 1989.
He then served as energy, telecommunications and posts minister from 1989 to 1995. His last post in the cabinet was the works minister, a position which he held from 1995 until March 2008.
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