Iqbal Abd Ghaffar

Election results for the top four MIC post all goes to the President’s men. While 19 out of the 27 CWC candidates endorsed by Samy Vellu were returned

Reformist and change agents within MIC were of no match against the all too powerful Samy Vellu. His dictatorial ways of ruling the MIC has only reaffirmed his position as the ONLY leader for the very divided Malaysian Indian community.

Subramaniam’s defeat for the deputy presidency against incumbent G.Palanivel with a mere 87 votes only suggests that his chances of winning would have been better had the third contender S.Sothinathan not contested. He gained 280 votes.

With powers now fully clenched in his fist, Samy Vellu has already started to exercise his executive powers to “discipline” all those who oppose him. The top line up? Contender for the deputy president’s post Datuk S. Subramaniam.

Its now up to Samy Vellu to decide how slow and painful or quick and clean will death be for the former deputy president of MIC.

MIC has already dug up its own grave. Its demise will slowly come to pass. Respect for the party among its community and in BN is already at an all time low. It has an uphill battle of winning back support from the very people it discriminated, divide, and oppressed.

Any changes and reforms it suggests, are only cosmetic and will be viewed cynically. It’ll be hard to believe in the sincerity of such change since the grand old man of MIC is still at the helm. It is a difficult task indeed.

MIC, God Speed and Rest in Peace.

IAG

Iqbal believes that a large chunk of the delegates threw their votes behind Sothinathan to “play it safe”. Even if Subraminiam did win, he’d be all alone and at logger heads with the Samy Vellu and it’d be a matter of time before he suffers the same fate as former MCA deputy president Chua Soi Lek and former UMNO deputy president Anwar Ibrahim.

Iqbal actively posts his thought and opinions at www.iqbalghaffar.com

Iqbal Abd Ghaffar

The first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman had once said “An unhappy Indian is its own political party”. I can’t recall the quote word by word, but it sounded something like that.

Tunku Abdul Rahman couldn’t have said it any better as the quote stands true.

In present day Malaysia, the world can bare witness to the myriad of political parties that champions the roughly 2 million Malaysians of Indian ethnic. There’s a total of 9 starting with MIC, PPP, MIUP, Hindraf, Mindraf, AMIPF, KIMMA, MCC, PPM. This doesn’t take into account multiracial parties such as DAP, PKR, Gerakan, and PAS supporters club that the Indians can join .The number is quite large considering that the Indians make roughly less 9% of the Malaysian population.

While the large number of Indian based parties shows that democracy certainly thrives, the flip side of the coin is that a large number of people in the Indian community may be unhappy with the oldest Indian party in Malaysia. This became even more so evident when in March 2008, the MIC was almost obliterated from the face of Malaysian politics.

This can be solely attributed to the dissatisfaction the community has had with the leadership of the MIC. More specifically pointing to Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, the man who has had an iron fist control of the party since 1979.

Since his “dynasty” as President of the oldest and largest Indian based party, he has marginalized his own people, destroyed the political (and personal) careers of anyone who opposes him, and expelled those who supported the opposed. His dictatorial ways have successfully instilled fear instead of  respect in the community, split its support base many times over, and created a highly marginalized community. In that same process, he destroyed many aspiring and talented leaders from rising within the Indian community. There was only one key message that he wanted to say and that was “Support me, and I’ll extend my help to you. Oppose me, and you’ll perish!”

Samy Vellu is one man whose is skin far thicker than the glaciers of the Alps. Despite his loss in his own constituency of Sungai Siput and the obliteration of MIC in March 8 2008, the calls by grassroots for him to step down, and despite knowing that the many of his presidential peers in the ruling BN coalition has retired and the current BN leadership especially Najib Razak does not openly support him anymore, he defies all this stating that the MIC still needs his leadership to be reformed.

The biggest call to reform, would be to start with himself stepping down as President of the MIC. With him out of the way, new blood and ideas can then be injected into the party. With him out of the way, the shackles of fear based politics would be dismantled. With him out of the way, and with a leader who is more dynamic, young, vibrant, and who stands up to the cause of uniting the community will the party be able to see real progress.

Sept 12 marks the day when 1,464 MIC delegates will elect 23 representatives into the Central Working Committee, three Vice Presidents, and one Deputy President.

Samy Vellu has already lined up 27 “preferred” candidates for this election. But within the party ranks and files and more strongly the grassroots has signalled that this will not be an easy fight. The focus is on the three-cornered fight for the Deputy President’s seat. Incumbent and Samy Vellu’s preferred candidate Datuk G. Palanivel, is being challenged by former deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam, and new comer and former blue-eyed boy of Samy Vellu Datuk S.Sothinathan.

Subramaniam, 49, has a strong support base from the grassroots who want to see real change in MIC. His support also comes from those who have been expelled from the party by Samy Vellu. His mantra of change for the better, and his promise of accepting all members who have been expelled from the party has won their hearts and minds.

The task of winning the post is an uphill battle as Samy Vellu’s tentacle is strongly wrapped around many delegates. However, his move to publish and interview with Dr.Mahathir on the future of MIC and Samy Vellu has already caused quite a stir with Samy Vellu telling Subramanian brought “shame” to the party, and telling Mahathir to stay out of MIC’s affairs.

Dr. Mahathir’s comments will have an impact on the delegates decision to elect their leaders. Those who want change are already excited with the comments given by the grand old man of Malaysian politics as this endorsement has given steam for the party to push for reforms and a put in place a new leadership that will hopefully muster enough power to oust Samy Vellu.

It is a known fact that the MIC has lost its respect within the Barisan Nasional coalition. In their view, MIC has lost the mandate of the Indian community. Many in BN agree and want to see Samy Vellu step down and let someone else take the helm. The chairman of BN who is also PM, Najib Razak have on many occasions bypassed Samy Vellu when it came to Indian issues such as the Section 23 temple relocation debacle.

All eyes and ears are now focused on Najib’s speech at the opening of MIC elections on the morning of the 12th as this will give an indication to the delegates on who to vote and elect. The outcome of this election will determine the rebirth or the demise of the MIC.

-IAG-

Iqbal backs Subramaniam to lead the way for reform and change in the MIC and ultimately oust Samy Vellu from the post of President. He has Indians close at heart because he and his brothers were well taken care of by a Tamil Sri Lankan maid for 12 years since he was a born. He regularly blogs at www.iqbalghaffar.com

To compare Tony Fernandez to Idris Jala is like comparing a mangosteen to a “ciku”!

Iqbal Abd Ghaffar

While scanning through my favourite non-biased free online paper, my eyes were immediately fixated to a news headline that was screaming for my attention.

It read “PAS says Tony Fernandes better than Idris Jala.”  This piece of news written by Shazwan Mustafa Kamal was interesting because PAS’s vice-presidents Datuk Haji Mahfuz Omar and Datuk Sallehuddin Ayub “told reporters today that the party is questioning the basis and criteria of Idris’ appointment, claiming that the former MAS chief executive had no record of outstanding performance in his previous job.”

They claimed what!? Idris Jala had no record of outstanding job performance in his previsou job?? I beg to differ!

Here would be my reply to Datuk HajI Mahfuz Omar and Datuk Sallehuddin Ayub.

Dear Datuk Haji Mahfuz Omar and Datuk Sallehuddin Ayub ,

First of all, your remarks about Idris Jala’s past performance before joining MAS is indespicable. You have grossly understated his ability. Talk to any of his colleagues and bosses in Royal Dutch Shell that he has served for over 20 years and you will know that he has been an excellent leader.

His greatest strength is in business turnarounds and he has successfully demonstrated and proven this with turning around the Shell Gas company in Sri Lanka. It had been operating at a loss before he stepped in. He was tasked to turn the company around, and he successfully did so in a few years. There are many more successful business turnarounds which he has delivered throughout his high flying career in Shell.

To compare Tony Fernandez to Idris Jala is like comparing a mangosteen to a “ciku”!

Idris was appointed to change and make a mammoth company full of complacency, beaurocracy, and festered with cronies and corruption that was driven by a GLC mentality profitable.

Whereas Tony Fernandez bought over an unknown AirAsia from DRB Hicom (of which was also making a loss) and made it into a profitable airline making him very wealthy in that process.

Idris Jala was handpicked by the government and tasked to make a GLC profitable of where he does not own major or minor stake in the company, while Tony Fernandzs is a business man who (with a couple of his friends) bought over AirAsia and had no choice but to make it profitable or else he’ll go bankrupt!

Now fellow VP’s of PAS, get your facts straight before lambasting and looking down upon an individual which you know little or nothing off. Please stop playing petty politics just to gain cheap political mileage. I think a large majority of Malaysians would disagree with your “hit below the belt” statement about Idris Jala.

Idrs Jala’s contribution to the organizations and companies that he served is far bigger than what you may have achieved in your party or for the country.

Regards

Iqbal Abd Ghaffar

————————————————————————————————————————————

It goes to show how some people would go to great extents just to hit at Najib’s administration. That’s fine with me, in fact I do too! One can hit at the politicians who lead the ministries, but one should exercise extreme caution when targeting an individual that is known to have an excellent track record of delivery.

Unfortunately for Mahfuz Omar and Salahuddin Ayub, Idris Jala is a man with many excellent track records of delivery.

I applaud Najib’s move to appoint Idris Jala into his cabinet. I believe He is trying to live up to his motto of “People First, Performance Now”. The move will definitely ruffle a lot of feathers especially political warlords from the ruling BN coalition.

But I strongly feel that appointing a handful of professionals into his cabinet will not make his cabinet any more credible. Its already brimming with corrupt politicians who are more self-interested than they are of the people. If Najib is serious about “People First, Performance Now” then at least 60% of his cabinet ministers should be professionals!

To Idris Jala, I wish you all the best in implementing these KPI’s. You’ve got a great deal of work cut out for you. It won’t be an easy feat trying to get cooperation from UMNO/MCA/MIC and the other BN component party warlords to achieve their KPI. But if you are able to pull this one through and survive BN politics, you can survive almost anything.

-IAG-

Iqbal Abd Ghaffar admires both Tony Fernandez and Idris Jala for their strong business acumen and leadership qualities. He has yet to meet Idris Jala.

Iqbal Abd Ghaffar

I can still vividly recall back in August of 1997 of how almost every vehicle had stuck the Jalur Gemilang (Malaysian flag) onto their windscreen or the hood of their bike. I was only 15, staying in a boarding school. Access to outside of the school compound was only limited to weekends, and even that was limited on a fortnightly basis.

However, the site of my teacher’s and school staff’s vehicle be it a car, van, motorcycle flying the Jalur Gemilang  was a site to behold. TV news and the printed media reported the success of the “Raise The Flag” campaign that ran from the 15th of Aug – 15th Sept. Images of vehicles and homes proudly flying the flag was proudly showcased.

I was ecstatic! I was excited! My young-self then felt every vein in my body oozing with patriotism and love for the country.

The following year, the campaign changed its wording to “Kibarkan Jalur Gemilang”. Though many people did raise it, I could feel that the there was a slight reduction in participation from the public. The spirit was dampened as we were hit with the Asian financial crisis, and the Ringgit and stock market was plummeting to new lows.

The spirit of raising the flag dampened with the passing of the years. Today, finding a car flying the Jalur Gemilang is as rare as finding diamonds on the road.

The strong feeling of patriotism and love for the country that I had 12 years ago remains a distant memory.

People cite all sort of reasons for not raising the flag. Petty reasons such as, no one giving out free flags (cheap skate!) to safety reasons such as flags flying off the cars can become a missile (this argument does have merit).

Our closest neighbor (as much as we hate to admit it) by blood and history down south celebrates their independence day with vigor and pride. I haven’t experienced myself, but from what I read and gather, folks down there are patriotic about their Merdeka Day and its celebration. For every year without fail, they’ll raise their flag and fly it with pride and honor.

Citizens of the USA proudly raise the Star Spangled Banner in their homes as a display for the love of their country without fail on or before every July 4th. And they’ve been doing that since 1776!

So what has happened to the Merdeka day spirit of our fellow Malaysians? Have we really lost the pride of calling ourselves Malaysians? Are we just too distracted with fending for ourselves and our livelihoods that we are unable to express or show the gratitude towards this country in which we call home? Or have we succumb ourselves to petty politics and allowed the differences in opinions and our political stance to divide us and dampen our patriotism and love for the country.

I hate to shudder the thought of it, but the stark reality is that many Malaysians just have no clue on how to celebrate Merdeka day. They’re not sure of how to display their love for the country (even though they would like to). And a great many Malaysians are far too divided with their political stance or non-political stance that Merdeka day becomes a display of their utter disgust towards the government of the day (since the parade stand is always filled with government officials from the ruling coalition).

In my opinion, Malaysians of all creed from all walks of life should make this day a neutral day. It should be marked as a day where one remains apolitical and non-partisan. In all due respect, whatever opinions or stance you may have towards the ruling government towards the opposition, on this special day, all Malaysians should uphold the dignity and sovereignty of this land we call home.

Bask in her glory, and dignify her, and remember the struggles of our forefathers and generations that have passed of their plight to achieve independence and self rule. For since the fall of Malacca into the hands of the Portugese in 1511, this land has been under the control of foreign powers for 446 years.

Let us not allow narrow racial politics to control our emotions and thoughts. Disallow the chauvinists from every racial group who only form the minority from controlling the mainstream politics and majority of the rakyat who only want to see tolerance and harmony permeate and blossom. It serves no one any good to allow such groups to fester and penetrate into the thoughts and lives of peace-loving, multi-racial embracing, diversity-driven Malaysians of all walks of life.

In this time of confusion, let us uphold the sanctity of the constitution and look up to the Yang DiPertuan Agung for his leadership and his non-partisan stance on the politics of this country!

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan Yang ke-52.

-IAG-

ps: I too am guilty of not raising the Jalur Gemilang. I promise to that I will raise it next year and every year after that. Please join me and pledge to do the same.

Will The Real Karpal Please Shut Up

by Iqbal Abd Ghaffar

“Karpal To Anwar: Step Down as Pakatan Head” was the bold headline displayed on the top of the Malaysiakini news portal. 

I couldn’t help but wonder why this grand old man of DAP has to bitch things in the media everytime he’s unhappy about his counterparts in PR. It doesn’t bode really well that the BN controlled media’s radar are always tuned in to look for grouses or bad news that could be used against PR.

Yes, he is angry. Yes, he never agreed to party hopping. Yes, he is against PAS’s Islamic State and Hudud agenda. 

And yes, it is his rights to voice his opinion, but doing it openly may not be the best way to solve any crisis or issues within the PR manifold.

His actions only expose him as an emotional disgruntled old man loosing his cool easily. Aren’t older men supposed to be wiser and more patient by virtue?

His unilateral announcement to sue Sultan Azlan Shah over His Highness’ decision not to dissolve the Perak State Assembly shines a bad limelight on not only him but PR for that matter. After all, he is the DAP chairman.

Luckily, this is just his own personal point of view as other top guns and members of DAP anPRdon’t share the same sentiment and opinion as he does. Or perhaps, its just damage control.

However annoyed he is, this respected old man of Malaysian politics should learn by now that if it has anything to do with the interest of his party or the PR, fight it out internally. Don’t work towards gaining cheap and quick publicity old man.

And Anwar, can you please keep your house in order?

I think that a great many Malaysians and your supporters are not interested to hear too much of your “wife’s” or “wives”  hatred with each other openly?  We don’t want to have to take sides either. We believe in what PR stands for…so please work towards strengthening its structure and strength. -IAG-

This is one man who is both smart and evil in the same time. His rule and grip on the ountry and its institutions would be far reaching and perhaps far worse than Mahathir’s years.

BN is a Four Letter Word

by Iqbal Abd Ghaffar

Dissapointed, disgusted, and outraged is a pure understatement of what the Rakyat of Perak and Malaysia feel of the saga that has unfolded in Perak.

Perhaps not all would feel that way, but to some extent a large majority of Malaysians who support PR, are anti-BN, or are pro-BN but sympathise PR, and not forgetting the fence sitters would feel that the events that have happened were in the most dubious of manners and shrouded in doubt and secrecy.

It could well have been that the whole ordeal was orchestrated and engineered timely and precisely to every minute of the hour. It was a movie directed extremely well, with scripts prepared by the best of brains, and a cast that could stand every chance of being nominated for a grammy award.

The actions of Datuk Nasaruddin Hashim, assemblyman for Bota to jump ship from UMNO to PKR on 25th Jan may have been a coy. The coy successfully put the PR’s gaurds down as they celebrated a small victory. Probably, little were they aware that by them accepting Nasaruddin into PR’s fold, this very move gave every reason for BN to justify PR’s assemblyman to jump ship to BN.

The “I’ll get even with you” and “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” attitude prevails. 

Soon after, the ex-minister of Perak and Perak UMNO liaison and BN chief, Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli quit. Najib Razak replaced his incumbent as Perak UMNO liaison and BN Chief with immediate effect.

This was followed by two of the most corrupted, incompetent, unethical and immoral PKR assembly went missing since the 27th of Jan. Their dissapearance caused a stir as it was rumored that they were defecting to UMNO. All attempts to contact them were futile as even their family members could not even reach them.

In the same time, Jelapang Assemblywoman from DAP, Hee Yit Fong also went missing for 24 hours. Speculation and rumors went abuzz about her meeting up with the President of MCA to defect into that party. When she appeared, she only said that she turned her phone off because she was “unwell” and quashed rumors that she was leaving the party. 

The whole event came to its climax when the speaker of DUN Perak recieved two undated resignation letters from the missing Behrang and Changkat Jering Assemblyman via fax. Suddenly then, did those two men who were MIA appeared rebuking that they had resigned from their posts as assemblyman. Ironically, this was done via a represntative and not appearing by themself! What a coward!

The mess began got from bad to worse as these three ADUN’s then left their party to become independant. They went as far as becoming friendly and supportive of BN. 

The Bota Assemblyman, after completing his mission , joined UMNO again. 

This gives BN a 31 seat lead against PR’s 28. 

Datuk Nizar’s request to the Sultan of Perak for a snap election to allow the people of Perak decide on their leaders was not well recieved by the King.

His Royal Highness rejected it, and instead accepted the BN’s proposal to form a new government in Perak. One wonders why the King had done this, but I figure that this could really be related to the decision of Nizar’s government to convert lease hold land of many new villages to free hold status.

This sentiment was reflected in a speech given by his Son and crown Prince of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah on the Islamic Economic Forum held in KL last January. He had made references of how the British, before the inception of Malaya and during the Malayan Union gave away Malay Land to the Chinese in many parts of the country. Raja Nazrin was emotional when he said this in his speech.

Coming back to today, could this have been the real reason why the wise Sultan disapproved Nizar’s request? Only he will know, but the backlash from the rakyat was something that was never expected by the Sultan. 

But whatever the reason the Sultan may have used to deny the request of the Datuk Nizar, what’s brewing for sure is a constitutional crisis.

On the one hand, the Sultan is to be fair, neutral, and uphold justice for the interest of the people and uphold the sanctity of the constitution, but on the other hand, did the Sultan live up to the expectations that he has after he and his son has positioned themselves as a champion of nuetrality and the uplholder of the constition since March 8th?

Constitutional experts have a mixed view on this as there are gray areas in the constitution that does give the right to the ruler listen or not listen to the advice of the Menteri Besar of the day.

But apart from all this, what’s most disturbing and the real focus should be on the upcoming Prime Minister in-waiting, Najib Tun Razak. 

A protege of Dr. Mahathir, he is already showing his leadership style; strong, willed, and determined; far more dictatorial then the man he is replacing. 

This is one leader that carries the most access baggage with him. He comes in with his name stilled embroiled with the Altantuya case, his commisions that he earned from the procurement of the submarines, and the latest, the toppling of a people’s government in Perak to that of the Federal’s choice of government from Putrajaya.

If there’s anything to go by, his cloak-and-dagger leadership style that was effectively and well demonstrated in the toppling of the PR government in Perak shows that he is one leader is power hungry and will stop at nothing to have things his way.

After a defeat in Permatang Pauh and Kuala Terengganu, he needed something strong to show to the UMNO warlords and its members that he is no weak leader. The Prime Minister in-waiting needed to tell his people that, he is strong, capable and not a wimp. And the UMNO warlords are happy that they have someone who can stand up to Anwar’s onslaught and grind his plans to a halt with the saga in Perak. 

This is one man who is both smart and evil in the same time. His rule and grip on the ountry and its institutions would be far reaching and perhaps far worse than Mahathir’s years.

But his show down in Perak and his onslaught to topple more PR state governments will not bode very well for everyone particularly with the more enlightened Malaysians. He is dealing with a country far more politically divided than his predecessors and his father had ever faced.

Though he may have won the battle in Perak, he has already set the stage for the imminent down fall of BN and put UMNO on a fast track to extinction. The very people that he should have worked hard to win their hearts and mind, has been cast aside for his political ambitions.  He has lost my respect and many other Malaysians as well.

Thanks to him, BN and UMNO has become a four letter word. – IAG-

Call In Fresh Polls for Perak

Iqbal Abd Ghaffar

A government holding on to a razor thin majority brings no benefit at all to anyone, specifically to the people. Time, money and effort that should otherwise be focused on wielding and solving problems also has to be diverted to political bickering and political supremacy. What more in a time like this when the whole world is suffering from a financial, economical, and confidence crisis?

The only party that survived and ruled a state with a razor thin majority was PAS in Kelantan. This happened in 2004 when Abdullah’s reign ushered in a euphoria of a new dawn. Assemblyman of PAS had stayed true to their principles and closed ranks in the face of a larger presence of BN/UMNO legislators as the opposition in the state assembly.

Bota’s assemblyman that jumped shipped from UMNO to PKR had both desirable and undesirable consequences.

The event prompted long time ex-Perak Menteri Besar and BN state liaison chairman to step down citing his incompetence to hold the BN/UMNO faction together. Deputy PM, Najib Razak has taken over the job.

On the 31st of January, two PR assemblyman charged with corruption had gone missing, Bala style (after the infamous P.I Bala statutory claim incident on the Altantuya murder). No one is able to reach them, not even their family members. Rumors are rife about them defecting to UMNO with UMNO offering to drop the corruption charges against them. Now a 3rd assemblyman from DAP is said to be mulling joining MCA.

If these 3 PR assemblyman from leave the coalition for the opposition, BN would lead with a single majority of 30:29.

This razor thin majority is by any standards not healthy and would only leave a bad aftertaste of instability. A house built on a shaky foundation would collapse sooner than later as lobbying and courting for defections would intensify.

The ultimate borne loser?  The rakyat of Perak.

Already, PKR has initiated its contingency plan, the undated letter signed after the March 8th by each PKR assemblyman that they shall vacate their seat should they jump ship. With them gone missing, and Menteri Besar, Nizar Jamaluddin making a missing persons report, the contingency plan has been set in motion paving the way for a by-election in 60 days.

But having a by-election for these two seats would not solve the problem of leading with a thin majority. The best way to move forward is to call on for fresh elections in the state.

PR is already leading with a 4-0 lead over BN with the 4th goal scored when the Bota assemblyman defected to PKR. the 3rd and 2nd was in the KT and Permatang Pauh by-election while the first was on March 8th.

Fresh polls for the state of Perak will have a huge impact on Najib as he is now the Perak State liaison chairman for BN. He has already suffered from two by-election losses. A loss of a state would only mean that he and BN/UMNO are rejected by the people.

A fresh polls for the state of Perak will also give the opportunity to PR to rebalance its seat distribution as many members of PAS and PKR were not happy that they were the minority in the state assembly.

Will Nizar Jamaluddin get the consent of the Sultan of Perak to hold fresh polls for the state? Will Nizar even call on fresh polls?

I certainly hope he will, because this is one show that I won’t want to miss! Tune in to Sunday, March 8th 2009 for polling day!

IAG

IAG to All: Don’t Racialize Kugan’s Death

Iqbal Abd Ghaffar

It was an untimely demise of their beloved son.

Kugan Ananthan,  22, died while in police custody on suspicion of stealing luxury cars.  His death which was first reported as due to fluid in his lungs has been reclassified as murder by the Attorney General’s Chambers, after his family and many dissenting voices revealed photographs of bruises on the deceased’s body.

His funeral procession held on the 28th of Jan from University Malaya Medical Center to Batu 14 Puchong looked more like a mini rally. Some prominent VIPs and politicians attended the funeral. A sizable amount of people who attended the procession could easily have been members of the outlawed HINDRAF organization, who could easily have used this event to ignite the flame of anger and dissent against the government.

It is unfortunate that the death of a civilian, in this case a suspect of a luxury car theft case was caused by police brutality. The event triggered an out cry from the public particularly the Indian community of the ill treatment that they have been receiving from the government of the day. It has been widely acknowledged that the community is stricken with many social ills and mistreatment, but the latest untoward incident while in police custody adds salt to the wound.

While a lot of attention has been focused on uncovering who were the officers that caused Kugan’s death, an underlying issue has been largely overlooked; why did Kugan commit the crime?

The real motive remains forever buried six feet under at the Batu 14 Puchong Indian Cemetery. But nonetheless, a number of reasons could easily point to his inability to find work,poverty, or he wanted to provide for his family. But it was unfortunate that this young man had to resort to crime to get access to money.

And to this, we have the MIC to thank for not doing enough in helping the community that they represent out of its hardship. Through years in power, money has flowed into the pockets of the few individuals in the party to enrich themselves. Enough should be said about UMNO and its corrupt ways, high ranking officials and party members of the MIC are as corrupted or far worse than their UMNO counterparts.

The Indians can thank MIC for building a university now embroiled in debt. Indians can thank MIC for breaking up the Indian community into many more factions and groups. And finally, the Indians can thank MIC for giving birth to HINDRAF which now has been out-lawed.

But let not the powers that be and those who are emotional get carted away into thinking that this is a racial fight of Malays against Indians. It never is, never has been, and never should be.

It is a case of police brutality, violation of trust, and a humanitarian issue.

Put it this way, if it were a Bangladeshi who died while in police custody, would the MPs, VIPs, ethnic NGOs and groups and yourself  storm into the mortuary to take photographs of his body, demanded a second post-mortem, and taken part in his procession? Would the press give as big a coverage as it does now with Kugan?

If your answer is anything less than yes, then it just goes to prove that there’s much to gain from racializing, politicizing, sensationalizing and getting overly emotional over one Indian’s death as a case of racial discrimination than looking at it from a case of police abuse, brutality, ignorance, and negligence. – IAG

A Fair Price for Oil

As the world’s population grows larger, and a country increases its wealth, so does the demand for energy. So high has the demand in energy particularly oil that the cost of it touched an all time high of $147 per barrel.

This had severely impacted many economies and ultimately eroded the net disposable income of many people. The rise in inflation due to the increases in price of oil has had a domino effect on every single sector and industry that largely depended on it as fuel for its vehicles, power generation, and manufacturing.

Many analysts had pointed that strong demand from China pushed oil prices to the heavens. In tandem with that, commodities such as palm oil, soy and wheat and raw materials such as steel, concrete and copper too reached all time highs.

There are many who claim that speculation and manipulation of oil supply and demand in the international market was the main reason driving the absolute absurdity in the oil price.

Whatever the reason is or was, the effects of rising oil price per barrel had finally bared its toll on us back at home. As prices touched an all time high, the Malaysian government rose petrol prices at the pump by 41% on 5th June. The effects of a 41% hike came reeling in with the inflation rate hitting an all time high of 8.5% in the months ensuing it.

But what’s more interesting to note is that after touching an all time high in June, oil touched an new low of about $32 in November. This new low is something not seen in many years!

Politicians in Malaysia are quick to use the fuel price as an issue to gain political mileage. Take for example Lim Kit Siang proposal to give out RM6,000 annually to poor families. And just where will the money come from? You guessed it! From Petronas’ profits. But now, that the price of oil has dipped and is hovering around $40-$50 per barrel, how does he propose to continue such a populist and unrealistic manifesto?

I’ve never agreed to his suggestion. I find that the suggestion is irresponsible and serves no good to the nation or the poor. First, a company is established to generate profits. A company that does not intend to generate profits is an NGO or a welfare organization. Petronas is not a welfare organization. It is a company responsible to manage the oil resources in the country and to generate profits that would benefit the nation through taxes that it pays to the government, the creation of jobs and flourishing businesses. The company needs money to ensure that it continues to grow and has enough to invest abroad and expand its presence both locally and globally.

Lim’s suggestion to pay out RM6,000 annually is short sighted and is a selfish suggestion only aimed to get votes during the elections. It is unrealistic and utterly stupid to suggest such a thing. Besides, how can he help the poor get out of poverty by giving them money? A good Chinese proverb sums it up “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime”.

Historically, the last time oil was hovering around $40-$50 per barrel, the pump price was about RM1.52. Today it’s RM1.80. Critics argue that the government is making RM0.28 per liter of fuel sold.

My stand? RM1.80 is fair. Demand and consumption of fuel then, is far more smaller compared to this day. We have more vehicles on the road and sea, more industries and factories that need electricity of which the primary source of fuel for electricity is diesel.

Malaysians seem to forget that Malaysia’s economy is a heavily subsidized one. Not only is oil heavily subsidized, but so are other commodities such as flour, sugar, rice and cooking oil. A subsidized economy where prices of goods are kept artificially low can not be maintained over the long haul. The most limited of resources is money, and since money is limited, it should be put to good use to derive an optimum impact to the economy.

As the government has been heavily subsidizing petrol and diesel through out all these years, it is only fair that the government taxes consumers for using petrol and diesel when crude oil price is low. The profits that the government makes through the sale of petrol and diesel can than be used to pay for subsidies for daily food staples and commodities as well as improving the public transportation system.

A lower fuel price would not help reduce carbon emissions from vehicles and other industries. It will only spur it as people become complacent and less attuned to critical green issues. Green initiatives will probably get less attention as the need and the pressure is not present to drive home the message that the world is on a brink of  an ecological crisis! -IAG

DAP wanted Penang, PAS wanted to go national, and PKR wanted its big gun to be PM.

But what’s happening today? Some disgruntled indians from PKR are threatening to leave the party that they had rode during the politial tsunami. These small minority of Indian folks seem to be out of base and not realistic with their demands. They are more self-centered than arrogant than the UMNO politicians whom they hated. Let’s not forget that these are the leaders of the now banned and outlawed HINDRAF party that alleged that the Malaysian government has been committing racial genocide on their community. What absolute RUBBISH!

A Marriage of Convenience

Iqbal Abd Ghaffar

“BN is a dinosaur!”

“UMNO politicians are a crooked and arrogant lot!”

“Go to hell with KJ!!”

“MCA, MIC, and Gerakan are dogs of UMNO!”

….were the common slogans chanted repeatedly like a mantra by NOT the opposition in the run up to the March 8 2008 but by the people who had believed and voted a resounding victory for Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2004.

Sensing the hatred and anger on the ground, one time Prime Minister in waiting, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim stitched a loose opposition coalition of the chinese dominated DAP party, multiracial PKR party, and conservative muslim PAS party that had only one objective in mind…topple BN.

The loose coalition of DAP-PKR-PAS for the first time created a harmonized opposition front that posed a challenge for the ruling and arrogant BN. Such was the hatred and the frustration of the people that opposition rallies were full, in fact it was brimming with seems of people wanting to hear and see the leader that they loved most, Anwar Ibrahim talk about a new dawn for Malaysia.

Had it been a rock concert, the tickets would would have been sold out in minutes!

The chants and voice from the opposition grew stronger and louder. The internet community through its forums and blogs urged every Malaysian to vote for the opposition.

The spirit of Makkal Sakthi ran high. Chinese and Indians carried the PAS flag where the candidate was form PAS, and the white skull cap pakciks and hijab covered makciks went all out to get their neighbors, friends and relatives to vote for the DAP and PKR candidates.

Then, on Mar 8, the most unthinkable happened.

BN lost 5 states and 2/3 majority in Parliament.

Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, and Hadi Awang became instant heroes. The people were both shocked and elated.

The BN and its components…devasted and was in state of an identity crisis.

And so the people of this once quiet and peaceful land called of Malaysia suddenly realized that they ARE the boss.

“Enough with the partying! Get to work!”, was all the average Malaysian wanted. All they wanted was the election promises be fulfilled. They wanted a transparent and open government. They wanted justice to prevail. They wanted money and resources to be channelled to where it was most important…the people and the land, and not some self-centered politician who thinks of nothing but enriching himself.

But alas, the coalition of DAP-PKR-PAS now so fondly called the Pakatan Rakyat find it hard to maintain stability and consistency of their governance model. They don’t have experience governing in the first place. The only man who has any experience of governing is Chief Architect of Pakatan Rakyat, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The different and extreme ideologies of the secular-minded-Malaysian-Malaysia-chinese-dominated party of DAP were always in logger heads with the conservative-Islamic-state-centric-hudud-law-upholder of PAS. PKR on the other hand specifically its de facto leader, was more interested in becoming the country’s Numero Uno.

But it was ok the people said. The coalition is still new, and will have some teething problems, but they’ll resolve it. And so Anwar Ibrahim was voted into parliament. The people hoped that he will give the BN a run for its money.

What a big dissapointment Anwar turned out to be.  Our own “Joe the plumber” was hoping for a roar of the mighty tiger but couldn’t even hear the purr of a kitten from the hallows of Parliament. His talk of toppling BN on Sept 16, then the 30th and then failing to do so sent his credibility index plummet to new lows.

It was a marriage of convenience for DAP-PKR-PAS.

DAP wanted Penang, PAS wanted to go national, and PKR wanted its big gun to be PM.

But what’s happening today? Some disgruntled indians from PKR are threatening to leave the party that they had rode during the politial tsunami. These small minority of Indian folks seem to be out of base and not realistic with their demands. They are more self-centered than arrogant than the UMNO politicians whom they hated. Let’s not forget that these are the leaders of the now banned and outlawed HINDRAF party that alleged that the Malaysian government has been committing racial genocide on their community. What absolute RUBBISH!

PKR Selangor chief and Chief Minister of Selangor couldn’t care less if the Kapar MP, Manikavasagam decides to go and leave the party. Him airing his grouses over the media will only make things worse for the loose coalition and will only give mileage to BN to harp on the PR’s weakness. Providing an ultimatum is akin to having a gun pointed at your head.

In all this, Anwar Ibrahim should play a stronger role to keep his house in order. His lack of interest to mend and see the issues of his party members through the lenses of the average Joe and Jane has only hurt PR’s image as a viable party to be voted in the next elections. If Anwar is so keen on becoming number one, he should first prove that PR has what it takes to govern the country through governing the 5 states in which they have succesfully taken over from the BN. He needs to show that PR is able to solve the internal ramblings of its members, and resolve any conflicts of its in which its partners may have.

Today, Joe the plumber couldn’t be bothered about who runs the country, as long as the country and its economy is running. Joe wants business to grow. Joe wants to feed his family and send his kids to school. Joe wants to provide jobs for Samy, Ong and Dollah. Joe doesn’t really care about PR or BN. Joe just wants those up there with power to govern and keep his beloved country out of a recession stink hole.

Let not bipartisanship crumble the spirit of cooperation in these tough times. Let not narrow minded and self vested individuals poison the very fabric of our society. We must work together and stay together to ensure that this beloved nation emerge stronger and more resilient than it was before.

IAG