Fatigued reps will have to go, says Samy
The Star
Some of the MIC-elected representatives who are suffering from “fatigue” and will be dropped in the coming general election, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said on TV2 last night.
“A few (elected representatives) are clear about their duties and carry out their responsibilities accordingly. Some have reached the fatigue stage and I am going to do many changes,” he said.
In the hour-long Tamil programme Karuthu Kalam or Opinion Forum, Samy Vellu said the elected representatives are told about their responsibilities during the party’s monthly Central Working Committee meetings.
MIC has nine MPs and 19 state assemblymen, including five state executive councillors, in peninsular Malaysia.
He said Indians had taken part in the illegal demonstration recently to register their anger over the inadequacy in the implementation of projects by the Government.
“Their anger is not because I had not raised questions about or fought for the plight of the community. We have done this many times and I have the documents to prove this if anyone says I did not raise these in the Cabinet,” he said.
Samy Vellu said he was not the kind of representative who would ignore the people's problems and “have fun” instead.
“I work from the time I wake up in the morningtill 1am. Why? I do so for the betterment of the community.
“Many say the community has not improved. I can’t believe this. If they say what we have got is not enough, I’ll agree and I’ll request more. I have demanded for opportunities according to our population size, not only with the current Prime Minister but also with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Hussein Onn,” he said.
On Tamil schools, Samy Vellu said that he and MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting have been fighting in the Cabinet for a long time for all vernacular schools to be turned into government-aided schools.
He said there are 522 Tamil schools in the country, of which 180 are government-aided and the rest are partially-aided.
“From 1983 till today, we have rebuilt 76 Tamil schools. I don’t know whether some people have eyesight problems or those schools are 'magical' schools. I can see them but others can’t. At all times, Tamil schools are being built,” he said.
Samy Vellu said he had asked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi not to allow any quarters to demolish any temples in the future.
“Whichever temple it may be, no one should go to the extent of demolishing it. If a temple has a problem, it should be brought to my attention. I’ll visit the place and I’ll get the appropriate allocation from the Government and make the necessary arrangements to rebuild the temple. I’ve said firmly that only then can a temple be relocated,” he said.
He said the temple in Padang Jawa was built on private land and the land owners had obtained a court order two years ago to get the people staying there to vacate.
“I was angry because there was no order to demolish the houses, temples and mosques. They did not give orders for the temples and mosques. They only had an order to get the occupants to vacate the houses.
“But I am still wondering why they wanted to demolish the temple first. I think there must be a personal reason or someone could have hated the temple,” Samy Vellu said.
He said he would raise funds to construct a temple at a new site in Padang Jawa and hand it over to the people.
