The Undying Legend Of Samy Vellu
By Tay Tian Yan (Sin Chew Daily)
The senile Samy is, once again, the MIC president. To the party, time has almost stood still, and life remains very much the same after decades.
And to Samy, time is moving backward, back to the good old days.
Little wonder that the hair on Samy's head is getting thicker by the year, and is more luxuriant, darker and glossier than three decades ago.
Miracles of life have been worked in his physique.
His contemporaries have either withered or retired into obscurity.
Mahathir has moved behind the scene, and becomes a showy old man with a fair deal of grumbles to make every now and then. Abdullah is already drafting his retirement speech, although he is a lot younger than Samy.
Ling Liong Sik, the name is beginning to get strange to many people. Ong Ka Ting is perhaps just a young chap in the eyes of Samy.
These people used to be Samy's allies and comrades in BN.
Time is like a river that flushes them into history.
Except S Samy Vellu, who is attempting to distort the laws of time, go against the current, and fight against the time.
At the advanced age of 73, he is, as widely anticipated, re-elected the party president, unchallenged.
His opponent does not even have the opportunity to contest, as he was sent out of the race prematurely.
This position seems to have been tailor made just for Samy. MIC without Samy is like the Indian rice without the rich curry gravy.
But Samy seems to have forgotten that no one could ever challenge the time. MIC is no longer that same entity it once was. And the senile Samy is no longer who he used to be.
Samy and MIC may still live in the illusion of their glorious past as if nothing has changed.
They fail to see the emergence of Hindraf, or the fury and misery of their Indian compatriots.
They also can't hear the shouts of Makkal Sakthi, or the dissatisfaction and angry howling of their Indian compatriots.
They have even forgotten that MIC almost lost all their seats in the general elections, including Samy's bastion Sungai Siput.
Even the almighty UMNO needs to move with the times, and hoist the banner of reform.
Only MIC and Samy Vellu continue to bask in their stagnant glory. With Samy as the core, they have erected a solitary Taj Mahal.
Inside the fortress, Samy is the immortal being; but outside the fortress, he may be blasted to ashes.
Within the fortress, the legend continues, locking the realistic world out. (By TAY TIAN YAN/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)
