KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said he had fixed the time to transfer the MIC presidency but still wants to defend the post in the March party elections.

“I will also go. I have fixed the time already,” said Samy Vellu, who has helmed the MIC for 29 years as he brushed off criticisms that he wanted to hang on to power.

“It (the date) is not to suit anyone but to suit the MIC,” he said when asked why he was still holding on to the MIC reins while his Barisan Nasional counterparts have handed over power to their successors.

Saying that he would defend the post in March, Samy Vellu said: “Some people who said I should go are only interested in destroying the party.”

He pointed out that he was democratically elected, and based on the party process, it was the 3,600 party branches that elected him and not the delegates.

“In the next election, I will still go to the branches and if they say no, I will go back. If they say yes, I will (defend the post),” he said when met at the MIC Deepavali open house at the Putra World Trade Centre here yesterday.

Asked if he did not want to go because he did not have a successor, he said: “I have a lot of successors.

“If today I resign, there will be another to take my place.

“Only when others below me feel I am not doing my work properly then someone will come in to challenge me in the election.”

KUALA LUMPUR: Senior leaders of the MIC together hosted a Deepavali open house for the first time at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here yesterday.

In the past, party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu would host the open house at a school hall near his residence in Jalan Ipoh here.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and several Cabinet ministers attended the open house yesterday.

Samy Vellu and Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk M. Saravanan were among the MIC leaders on hand to welcome the guests.

Some of the other leaders who attended the open house were Umno secretary-general Datuk Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, MCA vice-president Datuk Liow Tiong Lai, MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, and Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.


Happy Deepavali: Clasping their hands in the Indian greeting ‘Namaste’ are PM Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and MIC chief Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu at the MIC Deepavali open house at PWTC Monday. With them are Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam (left), Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai (2nd left), Gerakan chief Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (2nd right, second row), Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and Datin Seri Indrani. — NORAFIFI EHSAN / The Star

Thousands of Malaysians thronged PWTC to join in the celebrations. Visitors shook hands with Abdullah and other Cabinet ministers. Samy Vellu later told reporters that Malaysians must continue the open-house tradition and respect for all races.

Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal said the open house was a way for Malaysians to mingle and get to know one another better.

May This Diwali be as bright as ever.
May this Diwali bring joy, health and wealth to you.
May the festival of lights brighten up you and your near and dear ones lives.
May this Diwali bring in u the most brightest and choicest happiness and love you have ever Wished for.
May this Diwali bring you the utmost in peace and prosperity.
May lights triumph over darkness.
May peace transcend the earth.
May the spirit of light illuminate the world.
May the light that we celebrate at Diwali show us the way and lead us together on the path of peace and social harmony
"WISH U A VERY HAPPY DIWALI"

PUTRAJAYA: Go collect your passport, P. Waythamoorthy.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said the passport, over which he and the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader, who is in self-exile in London, had had a war of words, was being kept at the Malaysia High Commission in London.

“In April, as he was travelling back to Britain from another country, the British authorities confiscated his passport on the basis of police-to-police cooperation bet­ween our two countries.

“They subsequently turned it over to our high commission. The high commission did not inform us until two days ago and I have instructed it to be returned to him.

“The passport is still valid until the expiry date in 2010. So, he can come take it from us,” Syed Hamid told reporters at the Home Ministry’s Hari Raya open house yesterday.

Asked about Waythamoorthy’s status in Britain without his passport, Syed Hamid said it was up to the host government.

Waythamoorthy had called Syed Hamid “racist, extremist and a liar” in the latest controvery over his passport, which he claimed had been cancelled.

Syed Hamid warned that police would act against any non-governmental organisation that supported Hindraf’s cause or associated itself with its activities.

On Thursday, some of the 10 Hindraf supporters who were arrested as they tried to give a memorandum at the Prime Minis­ter’s Office claimed to have come as “individuals” while some called themselves members of the “Police Watch Malaysia”.

Syed Hamid said Waytha­moorthy’s wife, K. Shanti, could also be in trouble with the police for bringing her six-year-old daughter Vwaishhnnavi to an illegal demonstration.

On another matter, he said newspapers must not accept advertisements promoting Malaysian passports or permanent residency for sale and tours to Israel.

“The approval of passports or permanent residency is under the purview of the Home Ministry. To advertise that one can ‘buy’ the approval is akin to saying there is a prior arrangement between the ministry and advertiser concerned.

“Similarly, any trip to Israel is approved on an individual basis by our ministry,” he pointed out.

PUTRAJAYA: A group of Oppo­sition MPs have submitted the first batch of signatures to the Prime Minister’s Office in support of a motion to discuss the repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The five Pakatan Rakyat MPs - Fong Po Kuan (DAP — Batu Gajah), Lim Lip Eng (DAP — Segambut), William Leong (PKR — Selayang), Loh Gwo Burne (PKR — Kelana Jaya) and Dr Siti Maria Mahmud (PAS — Kota Raja) — arrived at the office at about 11.10am.

The signatures were handed over to the Prime Minister’s senior private secretary Datuk Ahmad Yaakob.

Fong urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to be compassionate and release all those detained under the ISA.

“He should think of the ISA detainees’ family members. Release the five Hindraf members and let them spend Deepavali with their family,” she said.

So far, a total of 85 MPs — 81 from the Opposition, a backbencher and three Independents — have signed in support of the motion.

PUTRAJAYA: The 10 supporters of the banned Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), who were arrested outside the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday, were remanded for three days for assisting an illegal organisation.

Hindraf leader P. Waytha­moorthy’s wife K. Shanti was released on police bail on Thursday night. Their six-year-old daughter Vwaishhnnavi, who had followed Shanti to the police station, left with her mum.

Another two — S. Jayathas and Mary Lourdes — are in Putrajaya Hospital after they complained of being unwell.

At about 8.30am, the group of eight men and two women were brought to the Kajang magistrates court at the Palace of Justice, which was surrounded by about 80 Federal Reserve Unit personnel.

However, remand proceedings started much later and dragged on until 3.15pm.

Only family members and lawyers were allowed into the courtroom and they had to exchange their MyKad for passes.

At around noon, there was a minor commotion when Mary Lourdes, who is believed to be suffering from diabetes, fainted in the midst of remand proceedings.

She had to be carried out of the courtroom into a car and taken to the Putrajaya Hospital.

This was the first group to be picked up by police since Hindraf was declared illegal by the Government on Oct 15.

They had been at the Prime Minister’s Office trying to hand in a memorandum calling for the release of the five Hindraf members held under the Internal Security Act when they were arrested.

Magistrate Nurdiana Mohd Nazari allowed the remand order under Section 48 of the Societies Act for assisting an illegal organisation, which carried a penalty of RM15,000 or five years’ jail.

Earlier, M. Manogaran, one of the six lawyers representing the group, criticised the heavy police presence in the court complex, saying that he would make a complaint to the Bar Council.

“Why are there FRU personnel in the court of law? This is not the Government’s court or (Home Minister Datuk Seri) Syed Hamid Albar’s court.

“This is the first time where a lawyer is being asked to turn in his MyKad so that he can see his clients. They won’t even accept my MP’s card,” he said.

Manogaran, who is also Teluk Intan MP, said supporters should not be remanded at a time when Deepavali was so near.

Several Opposition MPs — including Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng and Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam — were present.

P Vwaishhnnavi, the six-year-old niece of detained Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar, and her mother, K Shanti, were released today after spending a night at the Putrajaya police district headquarters.

Both mother and daughter were with 10 other people arrested yesterday when they attempted to submit a letter at the Prime Minister Department's office in Putrajaya calling for freedom of all ISA detainees.

The duo were released late last night but they refused to leave the police station and stay with the rest.

The remaining 10 were brought to Kajang court this morning where the police are expected to apply for further remand to facilitate their investigation.

Vwaishhnnavi (left) is the daughter of Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy, who is currently in self-imposed exile in London.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman told Malaysiakini yesterday that eight men and three women were arrested during the incident.


He clarified that Vwaishhnnavi had not been arrested and was with her mother.

According to the police, those held are being investigated under the Societies Act following the Home Ministry's imposition of a ban on Hindraf on Oct 15, declaring it an illegal organisation.

Police Watch Malaysia coordinator S Jayathas, who was also held, claimed that they had been told that they were part of an illegal assembly for having gathered near the entrance of the building.

"We were trying to obtain permission from the security guards for Vwaishhnnavi to submit her letter. They said that we were from Hindraf, but we insisted that we were 'concerned Indians' who were accompanying Vwaishnnavi," Jayathas when contacted yesterday.

[More to follow]

KUALA LUMPUR: Shah Rukh Khan will be conferred a datukship next Wednesday.

The Bollywood actor will be in Malacca to accept the award on that day, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said yesterday.

He said the ceremony at the Seri Negeri Hall would be telecast live at 10pm.

Mohd Ali said Shah Rukh would be encouraged to stay for two or three days in the state, with the hope that he would visit the Taming Sari Tower, Eye on Malaysia ferris wheel and other attractions.

“Despite the criticisms, I still believe Shah Rukh deserves the title,” he told reporters at the Malacca Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house here. €” Bernama

Peace-loving members of the Indian community would not have an issue over the government’s ban on the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), said Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar.


MCPX
“I think I got support from the Indian community who are peace loving,” he told Malaysiakini in an hour-long exclusive interview at his ministry in Putrajaya on Tuesday.

“(The ban) is not against the Indians or the Hindu religion. We have no problems with the Indians or the Hindu religion.

“The Indian community and the Hindus have always worked very well with us,” he said when asked to comment on the ban which he had imposed on Hindraf last week.

“It is an extremist group. It advocates and propagates hatred, inciting feelings against certain segments of the community,” he said in justifying the ban.

“We have always lived peacefully and we have no problems but when you advocate hatred and (tell them that) the only enemies are the Malays or the only enemy is Islam...

“If you read their speeches (in) their 338 demonstrations, it (shows) how patient we are before we take any action.”

He also explained how the ministry could take action against Hindraf following the ban despite that the movement was not registered with the Registrar of Societies.

According to Syed Hamid, although Hindraf was never a registered body, it operates very much like a registered society.

“We have got their addresses and offices bearers – that’s how you enforce. And their activities are now no longer legal,” he warned.

Ban nothing to do with Umno polls

Syed Hamid also denied that the ban was the result of Hindraf’s decision to attend the Prime Minister’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house on Oct 1 where they had expressed their opposition to the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The 63-year-old veteran Umno leader also denied that his decision to ban Hindraf was to gain popularity in his bid for the vice-president’s post in the party polls expected to be held next March.

“I think I am one of the persons who still don’t have enough nominations. If it is because of Umno ... I will be the first one to qualify,” he said.

“For your information, all ministers of home affairs will never take a populist view. We are never popular but we are like a candle - we burn ourselves in order to protect society.”

Syed Hamid had on Oct 15 announced that Hindraf was banned after “facts and evidence showed the movement had and was being used for unlawful purposes and posed a threat to public order and morality".

Hindraf gained prominence last year for highlighting the issues of temple demolitions.

Last November, it organised a 30,000-strong rally in Kuala Lumpur to protest against the plight of the Malaysian Indian community.

A month later, five of the movement’s top leaders were detained under ISA, which allows for detention without trial.

Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy, who is currently in self-imposed exile in London, has assumed the task of coordinating the activities of the banned movement.

DAP chairperson Karpal Singh has been suspended for two days from Parliament for accusing Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia of being "not serious" and "playful".


MCPX
The suspension arose as a result of Karpal (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) chiding Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz for being insensitive towards the disabled people.

Karpal took offence to Nazri referring to Wee Choo Keong (PKR-Wangsa Maju) as 'blind'.

"The minister has insulted the disabled people, and as I represent them, I want him to retract!" said the wheelchair-bound Karpal.

The heated exchange went on until Pandikar had to interject and said the minister had done nothing wrong. Pandikar added that the word 'blind' did not refer to any disabled people.

Unconvinced, Karpal then trained his anger at the speaker, stating: "You are not serious and are being playful (about this)!"

Pandikar then issued a warning to Karpal but the latter refused to back down, repeating the remarks.

"I have given you a warning and I have to take action under the Standing Orders. I am suspending you for two days from Parliament," said Pandikar.

The is not the first time the outspoken veteran leader has faced disciplinary action. He served a six-month suspension from the House in 2004.

His son and MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo had also landed in hot soup last June following a run-in with the Speaker and was suspended for two days as well.

Bar Council dinner

Today's heated argument started when Wee posed a supplementary question to Nazri as to why the government had spent so much money to sponsor the Bar Council dinner at the JW Marriot Hotel in April.

"Does this not show that the government was just looking for compliments from ( the Bar Council) just for their political interests?" asked Wee, a lawyer by training.

However, Nazri dismissed the claim, saying the dinner was held to strengthen the relationship between the government and the Bar Council which had soured during his tenure as a law minister.

"Now the government and lawyers have a good relationship to convince not only the public, but the world that we do have a stable judiciary system," he added.

Nazri further cited an event where the Prime Minister’s Department had spent more than RM120,000 to sponsor another Bar Council dinner last year at the Renaissance Hotel, which was also a relationship building exercise.

However, Wee interjected, calling it ‘bribery’ but the minister once again disagreed.

“That is not corruption...it is just an effort to strengthen the relationship between the government and the lawyers. Only blind people would say that (it is corruption),” he said.

At this point, many opposition MPs stood up to voice their protest forcing the speaker to intervene.

Speaker: Padang Serai (N Gobalakrishnan-PKR), Wangsa Maju (Wee), please sit down. The minister is answering the question.

Nazri: He (Wee) just does not see that we have a good relationship with the lawyers. They could not see because over there (pointing at the opposition bench) is too ‘dark’. The prime minister had the rights to do (so), like sponsoring Hari Raya 'open house'...that is it. Nothing involving corruption.

At this juncture, Karpal raised the Standing Orders for it to be used against the minister for uttering the word ‘blind’.

"Mr Speaker, the minister has used a rude word. He was kurang ajar (rude), and has insulted blind people. Can the minister retract his statement?"

Speaker: Thank you for that. I am listening...

Karpal: Don't you want to impose a ruling?

Pandikar however refused to impose a ruling, justifying that the ruling would only be one-sided if imposed.

"Even when Wangsa Maju (Wee) accused the minister of corruption, and that is considered accusing someone with bad faith.

"But from what I have seen it has become a culture in the House to do so. If I impose any ruling raised by all the YB here, then the House would be deserted as I would throw you all out," he said.

'Noble warrior'

Karpal: But if you are a 'noble warrior' (Pandikar Mulia), how could you not know if someone is being kurang ajar?

Speaker: Enough, enough Bukit Gelugor (Karpal). We should not prolong this. As far as I am concerned, you (Karpal) have uttered even worse remarks than this against Kinabatangan (Bung Mokhtar Radin) that I dare not even mention here.

Karpal disagreed, saying that his altercation with Bung had been settled. He then asked permission to interject but the speaker refused and threatened to take action if Karpal pursued the matter.

Karpal: Mr Speaker, stop being playful.

Speaker: I am not, I am being serious!

Karpal: I think you are not being serious and being playful!

This resulted in the decision to suspend Karpal and the speaker stressed: "This shows that I am serious and I will not hesitate to take action. Please, please leave."

However, Karpal refused to leave and his colleague Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) defended the latter and said the speaker should review his decision.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is now playing down the possibility that he can MCPXtopple the Barisan Nasional-led federal government, saying he is “not in terrible hurry” to do so.

“We are not in a terrible hurry because, particularly in the present economic downturn, we need to engage with government leaders to ensure they take the right measures,” he told a press conference in Parliament House today.

Anwar, also PKR’s Permatang Pauh MP, nevertheless reiterated that the opposition alliance is still working on the takeover plan.

He then mentioned that he has said enough on the issue and that there should be an ‘element of surprise’.

Asked about his options to topple the government, he answered: “We have exhausted (option) one, two, three. There are maybe 10 (more) to go.”

‘It’s getting difficult’

The opposition leader had been asked to comment on his takeover plan in view of the global economic situation and whether his chances would be affected by greater stability in Umno following the finalisation of the leadership transition plan.

Responding, Anwar argued that it would be an “exaggeration” to suggest that the rival Umno will consolidate under Najib Abdul Razak, the deputy president who is slated to take over the party next March if he wins the party polls.

Anwar, the ex-deputy premier and finance minister, has missed a few self-imposed deadlines since Sept 16 to topple the BN government, although he claimed to have the help of lawmakers intending to defect from the ruling coalition.

Pakatan Rakyat, which controls 81 parliamentary seats, needs another 31 MPs in order to get a simple majority to form the federal government. Anwar had claimed he has more than 31 defectors in hand.

In an interview with news agency Bloomberg yesterday, Anwar for the first time conceded that he was running out of options to unseat the government.

“I am not saying we have no options left, but I’m saying it’s getting to be much more difficult,” he was quoted as saying in the interview.

No surprises - with several leaders making crucial gains over the last weekend to cement their candidacy and probably victory in March’s Umno party elections.


MCPX
The conclusion of the second weekend of nominations shed much light on the most open Umno nominations in decades, and ended the faints hopes of a few..

An interesting distraction for now is the continued discussions and dissent on the four month campaign period - after the nominations end.

Outgoing Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has expressed his discomfort with some Umno leaders still harping on the premise that a prolonged campaigning will jettison the job of governing. The March assembly date will most likely stay however, and the president to meet some of the disgruntled leaders.

Continuing with the football references, some have qualified, others are almost there, a few need some good results and a fair share have to start accepting their fate.

Presidency

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak leads with 66 nominations.

He is only eight nominations above the minimum 58 required, but he has got every nomination available and more importantly his only outright opponent former Semangat 46 president Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has none.

Unless the Kelantanese prince launches one of the most memorable comebacks in Umno history - which is improbable. He’ll have to win slightly less than half of the nominations remaining, which is an average of one of out of two.

If Tengku Razaleigh fails, Najib will take on the role of prime minister-in-waiting. The son of the second prime minister is set to be the sixth prime minister.

Deputy presidency

International Trade and Industry Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should be breathing a sigh of relief, and probably can afford to grin a little with the 46 he has plucked.

His candidacy has been confirmed and his competitors have not made major gains over the weekend.

Melaka Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam has only a third of the 39 necessary, while former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhd Taib stalled a little with only nine. The Melaka man was the better of the two since he made inroads into other states - winning in places like Segambut and Bandar Tun Razak (Kuala Lumpur) and Bukit Gantang, Parit Buntar, Tapah, Ipoh Barat (Perak).

Muhammad would be most disappointed, adding six nominations only. This weekend he has to penetrate the other states and become the national candidate. His main watch would be for the five Selangor meetings in PJ Utara, Serdang, Hulu Langat, Sabak Bernam and Ampang - a clean sweep will take him to 13 and keep him in the hunt.

He will look to the prime minister’s home state to come in to lift his chances. The Penang divisions meeting this weekend are Permatang Puah, Bukit Mertajam and Jelutong.

Vice-president Ali - who must rely heavily on other states to keep himself in the race - has probably already counted the Tangga Batu and Jasin division support, even if they meet on Sunday.

The Segambut nod last week might be an indicator he might notch up Setiawangsa too on Saturday. He would be disappointed that Gopeng is the only Perak division scheduled a meeting this weekend for now, as he has been doing well there.

If Muhyiddin wins all the nine Johor nominations - Labis, Tanjung Piai, Johor Bharu, Pulai, Sri Gading, Simpang Renggam, Parit Sulong, Sembrong and Kluang - and a substantial number of the other nominations, both Ali and Muhammad will be running out of divisions to scrape from.

If neither the Melaka or Selangor man reaches the half-way mark of 20 this weekend, then they both might consider settling for a supreme council seat.

The weekend will definitely shed light on if either candidacy is still viable.

Vice-presidency

In a crowded field Najib’s cousin, Hishammuddin Hussein has 54 nominations which is 10 more than fellow Johorean Muhyiddin’s deputy presidency tally.

This is also making him the clear-cut favourite to win in March. Which renders the rest of the competition to focus on winning as many nominations as possible - even if they have already gained the necessary 20 - so that they increase their elect-worthiness in March.

Traditionally this is the most competitive position in Umno and there is never shortage of surprises.

Shafie Apdal is almost an equal favourite with Hishamuddin in terms of sentimentality - for being the flag-bearer for Sabah. He’ll continue to bring in the nominations.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Ahmad Zahid Hamidi - who is in second place - and Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin the other confirmed candidates will keep wooing for support, for they have March in mind.

Khaled would be the more pensive, since he is the second Johor candidate confirmed, and if Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar keeps his momentum, there will be a third Johor candidate.

It is highly unlikely that Umno delegates will vote an unprecedented three Johor vice-presidents in - they have never done so for any of the states. So Khaled will seek to have a comfortable lead over Syed Hamid even if the Kota Tinggi MP meets the minimum this weekend - as a psychological and PR edge.

The last time delegates voted in two - not three - vice-presidents from the same state was in 1991- a nostalgic combo of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and the present prime minister.

The trailing group - Dr Rais Yatim, Mohd Isa Samad, Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, Shahidan Kassim Jamaluddin Jarjis - have a weekend of reckoning ahead of them. Having between four to six nominations now, they have to gain traction now.

Of the five, Foreign Minister Rais should be tentative about the weekend - as he has come out strong against the culture of vote-buying in the party.

Perhaps the former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar expects the shame to produce an upswing of votes for him. It’s a gamble, since Umno members don’t like to be chided in public.

It might be a desperate tactic since his six votes have been disparate - Kimanis, Semporna, Pagoh, Jelebu, Cheras, and Gombak - coming from five different states.

Shahidan Kassim - former Perlis menteri besar - is in a similar predicament in his spread and having a small home base. His six nominations are from four states. Still chief liaison for Perlis, but without control of his state or a ministership he will have to rely on his grassroots appeal if he is to legitimately persuade support.

Both Isa Samad and Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik - six and four nominations respectively - are in the same boat. They were heads of bordering states and tarnished by scandals, but now have returned to the fray.

The votes they win might be a clear gauge of how much reform zeal there truly is through the rank and file of the party.

The divisions to watch: Hulu Trengganu, Dungun, Sik, Beaufort, Bera, Gopeng, Permatang Pauh and all the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur divisions.

Wanita chief

There is little to discuss here except that every nomination from now on for deputy chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil is a plea for her to fight for the chief position - with every chance of winning the post. Incumbent Kuala Kangsar MP Rafidah Aziz would be squirming uncomfortably in her seat.

The gap between the two is 39 - Rafidah’s 79 to Shahrizat’s 40 - and if the gap stays or reduces in the nominations remaining, the former MP for Lembah Pantai might just have to contest to appease a clear call for change in the wing. If not she risks alienating a large support base which is firmly behind her for now.

The supply line of former Puteri leaders like Tourism Minister Azalina Othman Said will make a beeline for the leadership quicker if Shahrizat does not show leadership mettle this time around.

Youth chief

Mukhriz Mahathir is officially the favourite for the youth chief post and outgoing chief Hishamuddin’s deputy Khairy Jamaluddin has to play catch from now on.

His father may have quit the party but Mukhriz has emerged a favourite with the young wing - with the 62 nominations so far, through the 127 division meetings. That is almost half the nominations decided.

The race started with expectations that all three - Mukhriz, Khairy and former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo - would have an equal chance, with Khairy shading it.

Now the Jerlun MP has surged ahead, the game will all be about matching Mukhriz.

Khairy is two shy of the 39 minimum, so probably by tomorrow he will have his candidacy sealed. The story is not so straight forward for Khir who needs to muster 11 more from the remaining 64 divisions remaining.

That would be asking him to get a sixth of the remaining divisions, but there might be complications. Independent whispers may emerge - in a party apt to campaign in whispers - that Mukhriz would have less trouble dispatching Khairy if it is a two way fight, not a three way fight.

The ‘we don’t want Khairy’ faction might just shore up the Mukhriz count only and hope Khir does not make it to the March vote.

Yet the Selangor man - with a past with a broom - will survive.

The clump of Selangor divisions left to meet are likely to edge Khir past the 30 nomination figure easily, and with his clear and consistent messages - he is far more persuasive a speaker in Malay than the other two in the field - it is unforeseeable for the Selangor opposition leader not to make the cut.

Week three

The youth divisions are close to ending, but the main divisions still have not reached the halfway mark. With 125 divisions still undecided, the contests for deputy president and vice-president will be the focal point, especially if all three youth chief aspirants reach their minimum this weekend.

Three more weekends remain, however by Monday we should be able to ascertain if there will be a contest for deputy president and predict if the vice-president field will be crowded or not.

The sideline attractions continue however - on what Shahrizat will comment on her continuing nominations for wanita chief, whether she will ask her constituents to stop nominating her. Or if Tengku Razaleigh grabbing an odd nomination bring back the highlight on the presidential contest.

And if many of these intrigues are sorted out by Sunday evening then the attention will shift to the actual contest in March.

DAP chairperson Karpal Singh has been suspended for two days from Parliament for accusing Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia of being "not serious" and "playful".


MCPX
The suspension arose as a result of Karpal (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) chiding Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz for being insensitive towards the disabled people.

Karpal took offence to Nazri referring to Wee Choo Keong (PKR-Wangsa Maju) as 'blind'.

"The minister has insulted the disabled people, and as I represent them, I want him to retract!" said the wheelchair-bound Karpal.

The heated exchange went on until Pandikar had to interject and said the minister had done nothing wrong. Pandikar added that the word 'blind' did not refer to any disabled people.

Unconvinced, Karpal then trained his anger at the speaker, stating: "You are not serious and are being playful (about this)!"

Pandikar then issued a warning to Karpal but the latter refused to back down, repeating the remarks.

"I have given you a warning and I have to take action under the Standing Orders. I am suspending you for two days from Parliament," said Pandikar.

The is not the first time the outspoken veteran leader has faced disciplinary action. He served a six-month suspension from the House in 2004.

His son and MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo had also landed in hot soup last June following a run-in with the Speaker and was suspended for two days as well.

Bar Council dinner

Today's heated argument started when Wee posed a supplementary question to Nazri as to why the government had spent so much money to sponsor the Bar Council dinner at the JW Marriot Hotel in April.

"Does this not show that the government was just looking for compliments from ( the Bar Council) just for their political interests?" asked Wee, a lawyer by training.

However, Nazri dismissed the claim, saying the dinner was held to strengthen the relationship between the government and the Bar Council which had soured during his tenure as a law minister.

"Now the government and lawyers have a good relationship to convince not only the public, but the world that we do have a stable judiciary system," he added.

Nazri further cited an event where the Prime Minister’s Department had spent more than RM120,000 to sponsor another Bar Council dinner last year at the Renaissance Hotel, which was also a relationship building exercise.

However, Wee interjected, calling it ‘bribery’ but the minister once again disagreed.

“That is not corruption...it is just an effort to strengthen the relationship between the government and the lawyers. Only blind people would say that (it is corruption),” he said.

At this point, many opposition MPs stood up to voice their protest forcing the speaker to intervene.

Speaker: Padang Serai (N Gobalakrishnan-PKR), Wangsa Maju (Wee), please sit down. The minister is answering the question.

Nazri: He (Wee) just does not see that we have a good relationship with the lawyers. They could not see because over there (pointing at the opposition bench) is too ‘dark’. The prime minister had the rights to do (so), like sponsoring Hari Raya 'open house'...that is it. Nothing involving corruption.

At this juncture, Karpal raised the Standing Orders for it to be used against the minister for uttering the word ‘blind’.

"Mr Speaker, the minister has used a rude word. He was kurang ajar (rude), and has insulted blind people. Can the minister retract his statement?"

Speaker: Thank you for that. I am listening...

Karpal: Don't you want to impose a ruling?

Pandikar however refused to impose a ruling, justifying that the ruling would only be one-sided if imposed.

"Even when Wangsa Maju (Wee) accused the minister of corruption, and that is considered accusing someone with bad faith.

"But from what I have seen it has become a culture in the House to do so. If I impose any ruling raised by all the YB here, then the House would be deserted as I would throw you all out," he said.

'Noble warrior'

Karpal: But if you are a 'noble warrior' (Pandikar Mulia), how could you not know if someone is being kurang ajar?

Speaker: Enough, enough Bukit Gelugor (Karpal). We should not prolong this. As far as I am concerned, you (Karpal) have uttered even worse remarks than this against Kinabatangan (Bung Mokhtar Radin) that I dare not even mention here.

Karpal disagreed, saying that his altercation with Bung had been settled. He then asked permission to interject but the speaker refused and threatened to take action if Karpal pursued the matter.

Karpal: Mr Speaker, stop being playful.

Speaker: I am not, I am being serious!

Karpal: I think you are not being serious and being playful!

This resulted in the decision to suspend Karpal and the speaker stressed: "This shows that I am serious and I will not hesitate to take action. Please, please leave."

However, Karpal refused to leave and his colleague Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) defended the latter and said the speaker should review his decision.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysiakini reporter Wong Choon Mei, who wrote an article detailing the contents of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's "manifesto" that was later found to be untrue, resigned yesterday.

Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan said Wong's resignation took immediate effect.

"She admitted her mistake and resigned to take responsibility for the error."

Gan said that it was a serious misjudgment on Wong's part and he accepted her resignation.

"We regret the incident and the report should not have been published," Gan was quoted in a report published yesterday in Malaysiakini.

Wong, who joined Malaysiakini three months ago, has been a journalist for 10 years with stints at The Edge, Reuters and Channel News Asia.

The report quoted Gan as saying that Wong conceded that she had not verified the contents of the "manifesto" with Najib's office. She had received it by email on Sunday.

The report was uploaded late that night without going through the standard double-checking by a second editor. Wong was the editor on duty for that day

Despite Wong's resignation and Malaysiakini's apologies, trouble may still be brewing for the news portal.

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had started investigations on the news portal, under sections 211 and 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Commission Act.

He said this followed a report lodged to the commission on the matter. However, he declined to reveal the origin of the report.

THE Dewan Rakyat descended into 10 minutes of chaos yesterday after a deputy minister used the word "buttocks" on an opposition member.

Deputy Transport minister Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin was chided by opposition MPs and was forced to retract the word, which he used on N. Gobala-krishnan (PKR-Padang Serai).

The argument was triggered when an accusation of bribery was heard in the house when Lajim was answering a supplementary question by Datuk Mohd Sirat Abu (BN-Bukit Katil) on the upgrading of the Batu Berendam Airport.

Lajim's reply to Sirat was interrupted towards the end when he implied that Pakatan Rakyat could not afford to build the airports even if they did take over the government as the current government spends billions of ringgit to build one.

At this juncture, a member was heard shouting , "that is a lot of money, half of it must be bribes".

The clearly agitated Lajim then replied "Macam la, waktu Anwar jadi menteri kewangan, tak ada rasuah (As if, when Anwar was the Finance Minister, there were no bribes)."

His reply sparked a furore among the opposition MPs, notably from Gobalakrishnan.

Lajim then told Gobalakrishnan that he was still a new MP who was tagging behind the buttocks of others. Despite incessant protests, Lajim stood his ground saying the word was not sensitive.

"I meant the act of following others from behind which could be considered as following from behind their buttocks."

Lajim may have been innocuous in making the remark about following buttocks but to the PKR members whose leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is facing a sodomy charge, it was something not to be taken lightly.

Deputy speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had his hands full controlling the house and had to repeatedly remind members to mind their language.

He tried explaining that Lajim's statement was not a personal attack but his explanations fell on deaf ears.

Eventually, Wan Junaidi reprimanded the MPs, saying they were not allowing him to make a ruling on the matter.

"You are constantly yelling and screaming. Everybody stop talking," he said and finally asked Lajim to retract the word.

"Two wrongs don't make a right. We as elected representatives should be on our best behaviour and not embarrass each other this way," said Wan Junaidi before calling for the next question.

THE Dewan Rakyat descended into 10 minutes of chaos yesterday after a deputy minister used the word "buttocks" on an opposition member.

Deputy Transport minister Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin was chided by opposition MPs and was forced to retract the word, which he used on N. Gobala-krishnan (PKR-Padang Serai).

The argument was triggered when an accusation of bribery was heard in the house when Lajim was answering a supplementary question by Datuk Mohd Sirat Abu (BN-Bukit Katil) on the upgrading of the Batu Berendam Airport.

Lajim's reply to Sirat was interrupted towards the end when he implied that Pakatan Rakyat could not afford to build the airports even if they did take over the government as the current government spends billions of ringgit to build one.

At this juncture, a member was heard shouting , "that is a lot of money, half of it must be bribes".

The clearly agitated Lajim then replied "Macam la, waktu Anwar jadi menteri kewangan, tak ada rasuah (As if, when Anwar was the Finance Minister, there were no bribes)."

His reply sparked a furore among the opposition MPs, notably from Gobalakrishnan.

Lajim then told Gobalakrishnan that he was still a new MP who was tagging behind the buttocks of others. Despite incessant protests, Lajim stood his ground saying the word was not sensitive.

"I meant the act of following others from behind which could be considered as following from behind their buttocks."

Lajim may have been innocuous in making the remark about following buttocks but to the PKR members whose leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is facing a sodomy charge, it was something not to be taken lightly.

Deputy speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had his hands full controlling the house and had to repeatedly remind members to mind their language.

He tried explaining that Lajim's statement was not a personal attack but his explanations fell on deaf ears.

Eventually, Wan Junaidi reprimanded the MPs, saying they were not allowing him to make a ruling on the matter.

"You are constantly yelling and screaming. Everybody stop talking," he said and finally asked Lajim to retract the word.

"Two wrongs don't make a right. We as elected representatives should be on our best behaviour and not embarrass each other this way," said Wan Junaidi before calling for the next question.

THE MIC has not forgotten its main role of helping the Indian community despite having lost in the general election, Tamil Nesan reported.

Party vice-president Datuk S. Veerasingam said the MIC, through its branches, would continue to serve the community by helping them settle their problems.

Veerasingam, who is Kampar MIC chief, was speaking to reporters after presenting Deepavali hampers and financial aid to 300 deserving people at the Sri Nagaman Temple in Kampar on Sunday.

He said the Government had formed a special committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to look into problems faced by the Indian community.

He added that MIC would always fight for the rights of the Indian community and ensure that they were not neglected.

KUALA LUMPUR: The current situation in the country where more people have started to utter things that could be seen as subversive in nature has to stop, an academician warned yesterday.

Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris lecturer Datuk Dr Zainal Kling, expressing his worry by what was presently happening, said the current development, if unchecked, would bring more harm than good to the country.

Speaking at a national congress on the future of the Malays here, Zainal said the Malays, in general, were known to be an accommodative lot, but if they were constantly challenged and pushed from all sides, they would be forced to push back.

"We have reached a very dangerous level now as the Malay Rulers themselves have started to voice their concern. More and more Malays are uneasy with the current developments in the country."

He also warned that the people, especially politicians, should not question things that had been accepted in the past and had proven to work in keeping peace and harmony in the country for so long.

Universiti Teknologi Mara vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Abu Shah said other races must understand the Malays and the Malays must educate themselves and strengthen themselves in all aspects.

He stressed the importance of racial harmony, otherwise it could trigger misunderstandings and suspicions.

"As a result, certain groups will begin to feel uneasy. This can lead to security threat to the people and the country."

Another speaker, former Universiti Malaya lecturer Halimah Mohd Said, said the civil society must step in to strengthen unity.

She said more activities to promote racial unity must be organised at grassroots level since one could no longer depend on political rhetoric to do the job for them. She felt that politicians had failed to make it work.

In this respect, she believed in the soft approach for the Malays to consider by showing that they also helped other races and were not focusing on their own kind alone.

"Highlight this to the people. It is also time for the Malays to compete with other races on a level playing field. Once they have shown that the Malays, too, can succeed, others will start to respect them."

Halimah said when this happened, the Malays' special rights and the non-Malays' legitimate rights would not be threatened.

She said so long as the Malays took refuge under the wing of the government and practised a patronage system, they would be seen as incapable or not at par with others.

At the same time, she said the non-Malays would perceive that they had been sidelined and treated unfairly.

PUTRAJAYA: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin has appointed Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi (pic) as the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday.

He also said that the King has appointed Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Alauddin Datuk Mohd Sheriff as Court of Appeal President and Federal Court judge Datuk Arifin Zakaria as the Chief Judge of Malaya.

All the appointments are effective from Oct 18, he said in a statement.

Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad went on mandatory retirement last week. - Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: It was a circus on the first day of Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P. Uthayakumar's sedition trial yesterday.

A woman fainted in the courtroom after she was allegedly roughed up while a pen was thrown at a police officer's head.

The commotion began about 11am when proceedings stood down.

The proceedings were supposed to be heard in Civil Sessions 6, but the venue was changed to Sessions 6 Criminal.

Both are on the third floor. About 100 supporters squeezed their way into the courtroom.

As they were waiting for hearing to resume in the second courtroom, Uthayakumar's counsel, N. Surendran, alleged that a police officer had grabbed a woman by the neck during a scuffle, causing her to faint.

The woman was taken to a room and an ambulance called. She was sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

Soon after, riled-up supporters began chanting and calling out Uthayakumar's name.

A police officer tried to calm them down but a pen was thrown at him. The officer remained calm and told them to respect the court.

Uthayakumar, who was in the dock, also tried to calm his supporters. The 47-year-old lawyer, who was wearing a white shirt, torn blue pants and a pair of flip-flops, looked unkempt with his thick beard.

Despite looking like a "vagrant", he was in a cheery mood.

"The longer they keep me in detention, the more support I will get. Our struggle will continue. People are watching, the world is watching. We are committed to a peaceful struggle."

Uthayakumar was a celebrity for the day as supporters queued to shake his hand and take his autograph. They hugged him and snapped photographs of him while he was in the dock.

(Uthayakumar has been detained under the Internal Security Act since December last year).

It was supposed to be the first day of hearing yesterday, but Uthayakumar's lead counsel, M. Manogaran, objected to the consent letter issued by Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail (to charge Uthayakumar), citing that the latter had an axe to grind with the accused.

"The attorney-general was involved in a shouting match with Uthayakumar in court when 31 supporters were charged with attempted murder last year," said Manogaran, citing a Malaysiakini report dated Dec 5, 2007.

"Gani had also alleged that Uthayakumar was linked to an outlawed Sri Lankan terrorist group and local gangsters."

This, he said, showed Gani had a vendetta against Uthayakumar. Hence, he issued the consent letter to charge him in court.

Manogaran also said the consent letter was defective as Uthayakumar and the attorney-general had a suit pending in court.

(In January, Uthayakumar filed a RM100 million suit against Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and Gani over the alleged remarks associating him with the Sri Lankan terrorist group).

"Therefore, there is an element of bias in the consent letter," Manogaran added.

"We are challenging the letter signed by Gani. It is defective and the charge against my client should be dropped."

Earlier, he informed the court the police had given Uthayakumar's lawyers and wife the runaround by refusing to let them meet him after he was brought to the Travers police station on Sunday night.

Deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran said Manogaran should file an affidavit in court on his allegations to allow Gani to reply.

"This application should have been made earlier when the accused was charged in December last year. The attorney-general himself was present to conduct the charge. It would have been the best time to raise this."

Raja Rozela also claimed the prosecution was ambushed and had no knowledge of this application raised by the defence team.

"We are ready to proceed with the trial and we have about four witnesses present. It looks like the application is just a delaying tactic by the counsel."

She argued that there was no bias as the counsel was only arguing based on a news report.

"This is not material for the court to consider the element of bias," she said, adding that the consent letter was not defective.

On the issue that the wife was not allowed to meet Uthayakumar, Raja Rozela said there were lockup rules to follow whereby no visitors were allowed after 6pm.

Judge Sabariah Othman, who clearly looked displeased with what transpired, fixed Feb 3, 4 and 5 next year for her decision and for the trial to begin.

Uthayakumar was charged with publishing seditious material in a letter written between Nov 15 and Dec 8 and posted on the Police Watch website. The letter, dated Nov 15, was from Hindraf and addressed to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at No 10, Downing Street, London.

He is alleged to have committed the offence at No 135-3-A, Jalan Toman 7, Kemayan Square, Seremban, Negri Sembilan, on Nov 15 last year. He faces a maximum fine of RM5,000 or a maximum three years' jail.

The others in the prosecution team are Melissa Mohd Akhir, Farhan Read and Jasmee Hameeza Jaafar. Uthayakumar is also represented by Surendran and A.S. Dhaliwal.

ISA-detained Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar is in Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court this morning for his sedition trial over a letter which he posted on a website.

MCPXThe letter, addressed to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, highlighted the alleged marginalisation of Indians in Malaysia.

In the letter, Uthayakumar also sought the help of the British government to move emergency UN resolution condemning ethnic cleansing in Malaysia.

The letter was dated Nov 15, 2007 and sent from Hindraf main office in Seremban.

Uthayakumar, in ISA detention since Dec 13 for undertaking Hindraf activities, was charged on Dec 11. He pleaded not guilty and is out on a RM50,000 bail before he was detained under the detention-without-trial Act two days later.

He was charged under Section 4 (1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 which carries a fine of not exceeding RM5,000 or a jail term not exceeding three years or both for a first offence.

Prosecution is led by deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozeela Raja Toran while N Surindran and M Manoharan represent Uthayakumar.

Commotion in court

Hearing is before Sessions judge Sabariah Othman but the trial today was preceded by a small commotion in the courtroom when the case was moved to another court, but also before the same judge.

Hindraf supporters were unhappy when they were not allowed into the new courtroom. A shouting match ensued between the supporters and the police, with Uthayakumar - wearing a white shirt and a blue pants - joining in as well.

He was brought from Kamunting detention centre for the trial yesterday.

A woman fainted in the ensuing disorder and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.

More than 150 Hindraf supporters had gathered at the court complex since early morning for the case.

The government had banned the organisation last week for playing up sensitive issues.

BN parties must speak out

On a related matter, Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy urged all BN component parties to make their stand on the banning of Hindraf and the real problems facing the ethnic Indian community.

"Hindraf urges component parties within BN to come out of their cocoon and speak up the truth on the real situation facing the Indians and the impact of the Umno repression on Hindraf which is causing great uneasiness amongst the people," he said in a statement today.

He said that the Umno-led government "cannot go on forever silencing all legitimate voice of democracy in the unfounded and malicious allegation of national security".

He said the BN component parties have a moral duty to speak up the truth in the larger national interest and to protect and uphold the rule of law.

Malaysiakini:

comment MCPXPolitics is the art of the possible and impossible possibilities becoming impossibilities and vice-versa. MIC president S Samy Vellu stands out among those who have mastered the art.

Just two years ago, he backed G Palanivel to challenge and successfully oust incumbent S Subramaniam for the deputy president's post.

Prior to that, Subramaniam had been stripped of his government post by the party supremo when he was dropped as MIC candidate for the Segamat parliamentary seat in the 2004 general election.

Now, Samy Vellu is said to be planning a reconciliation with his old nemesis Subramaniam to oust Palanivel, with whom the MIC leader no longer sees eye-to-eye.

Palanivel was widely regarded as Samy Vellu's successor as party president.

Insiders stressed however, that Samy Vellu only wanted Palanivel as an interim deputy to eventually make way for another stalwart, S Sothinathan.

The Samy Vellu-Palanivel partnership can be described as rocky at best, and things boiled over just before the March general election, in which many MIC leaders, including the party president and Palanivel, were booted out by voters across the country.

Just before MIC's humiliating performance on March 8, Palanivel is believed to have told Barisan Nasional chairman and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that "he was ready to take over MIC" from beleaguered Samy Vellu, who had lost his commanding influence among Malaysian Indians.

Now, Samy Vellu is learnt to be lining up Subramaniam, a former deputy minister, against Palanivel in next year's party election.With tacit support from Samy Vellu, Subramaniam will likely defeat Palanivel and be ready to take over the presidency when the long-serving president steps down.

According to party sources, Sothinathan will seek re-election as a vice-president and place himself as the next in line to take over from Subramaniam.

Current member of parliament for Segamat, Dr S Subramaniam, is now the party's secretary- general and the only MIC cabinet minister.

Dr Subramaniam may also want to be in the frame of leadership, but it all depends on whether MIC delegates, predominantly the president's men, want him or not.

A local leader said at present, former Teluk Kemang parliamentarian Sothinathan should win against Dr Subramaniam because "he has been more vocal than the Segamat MP".

If so, whither Palanivel?

MIC losing relevance fast

MIC insiders suggest the isolated deputy president has now rested all hopes on Najib Abdul Razak, with whom he has close links, becoming the prime minister next March to safeguard his political career.

However, one has to realise that MIC elects its president a few months before holding the one-day party poll to elect other top national leaders.

This will give Samy Vellu, who intends to seek re-election, ample time to prepare the groundwork for the eventual demise of Palanivel.

Samy's hatred for Palanivel is so strong that even those seen talking to the deputy president have often ended up in the bad books of the president.

A fine example is the recently sacked Bayan Baru MIC division leader M Nganasegaran in Penang, who is learnt was given a dressing down by Samy Vellu for associating with Palanivel during the recent Permatang Pauh by-election.

Samy has frequently told several MIC leaders and members that Palanivel is a traitor who has backstabbed him.

Nganasegaran's close relationship with Palanivel caused his fallout with Samy Vellu and eventually led him to PKR last week with some 3,500 MIC members.

It is that learnt Samy Vellu is attempting to bring back another sacked local leader, L Balasupramaniyam, to revive the collapsed Bayan Baru MIC division.

Balasupramaniyam, the former Taman Hye Keat branch leader, was expelled from MIC two years ago for some misconduct best known to the party president and certain local leaders.

After a failed attempt to resurrect his political career by joining the Malaysian Indian United Party led by K S Nallakaruppan on Nov 25 last year, he joined PKR just after the general election.

Certain state MIC leaders are learnt to have contacted him to rejoin the party and revive MIC's Bayan Baru branch.

If it happens, it would be a satisfactory tit-for-tat for the party president and to compensate for the loss of Nganasegaran to PKR.

The Hindraf factor

As he works overtime to resurrect MIC's place in mainstream politics, Samy Vellu seemingly accomplished a minor coup by getting the the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) banned.

Although it was the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar who wielded the axe on Hindraf, many Indians blame the ban on Samy Vellu.

With Hindraf being declared a ‘foul' word in social activism, MIC's path seems clear to rebrand and reposition itself as the legitimate voice of the Indian community.

It's been an open secret for a long time that Samy Vellu has been harbouring hopes of establishing a different Hindraf that would be subservient to his authority.

The new Hindraf would possibly be led by some pro-MIC community leaders, especially those who claim to be the original founders of the movement.

The new Hindraf would claim to champion the Indian cause while tacitly supporting MIC and Barisan Nasional, a tactic Samy Vellu hopes would confuse the community and sway them back to MIC.

Critics cynically said breaking up Hindraf and the community was the main motivating factor that compelled Samy Vellu to ‘swallow his spit' and pretend to champion the release of the Hindraf 5: P Uthayakumar, 47, T Vasanthakumar, 35, M Manoharan, 47, R Kenghadharan, 41, and V Ganabatirau, 35. The five have been detained under the Internal Security Act since Dec 13.

Observers, however, say Samy Vellu is still in a state of denial, believing that the electoral backlash against BN is only temporary. He is painfully oblivious to the fact that many Indians have joined either PKR or DAP to champion their rights.

"Many Indians do not believe in Samy Vellu and MIC any longer," an observer said, denying that the Indian hatred towards Samy Vellu was created by Hindraf.

"It was always there."

The emergence of Hindraf has only ‘let the pigeons out' and instilled courage among Indians to move out from under BN-MIC patronage.

The only thing helping MIC now is the unimpressive performance of certain Indian legislators from Pakatan Rakyat, notably in Penang.

But then, Samy Vellu remains the main stumbling block for MIC in reaching out to the community it claims to represent.

Many feel that only after he goes, can MIC re-establish itself and its relevance in the Malaysian political landscape.

Perhaps it's high time Samy Vellu went.

BATU PAHAT: MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu strongly believes that the MCA’s new leadership will be able to win back most Chinese voters.

“The new leaders are able to master the support of the Chinese community,” he said.

Samy Vellu said both MCA president Datuk Ong Tee Keat and deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek were vocal and strong leaders.

“They have always been fighting for the Chinese community, are hard working and not frightened of anything. I am waiting to see the working line-up,” he said.

In Tangkak, Johor Barisan Nasio-nal chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said the state Barisan expected Dr Chua to play a more active role in restrengthening the alliance. He said the election of Dr Chua showed that the former Health Minister still had grassroots support.

“I know him and to me he is among the MCA leaders who have a strong bond with Barisan and he can help to restrengthen the alliance,” he told reporters after opening the Ledang Umno division meeting yesterday.

JOHOR BARU: Pakatan Rakyat menteris besar have been challenged to seek audience with the Malay rulers to convey their desire to remove Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad, who is also an Umno supreme council member, lambasted Pakatan leaders, particularly Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, who reportedly had said the special rights of the Malays were no longer relevant.

"Instead of beating about the bush by saying that the Malays' special rights should be done away with, Khalid and other Pakatan Rakyat menteris besar in Kelantan, Kedah and Perak should make their stand clear by declaring to the Malay rulers that they want Article 153 to be scrapped," he said.

Speaking at the Johor Baru Puteri Umno meeting here, Shahrir also dismissed as ridiculous the notion that Umno's dominance had contributed to the Barisan Nasional's setbacks in the last general election.

"Some candidates from the coalition parties actually did well in the elections, thus showing that Umno's strength had helped the component parties instead of hampering them."

He said the efforts to revitalise BN must be based on facts rather than reactionary impulses arising from the results of the general election.

Shahrir took a swipe at suggestions that Umno's powers had to be clipped to bring the other component parties up to level terms.

"Should we compete with and blame each other until we are reduced to an opposition which cannot even form a government?"

Shahrir said the succession in Umno should not overtake in importance the drive for the party's revitalisation and renewal.

BATU PAHAT: The MIC is confident of regaining the support of over one-third of the Indians, who abandoned the party, with its re-branding exercise.

“I am sure that we can get back 35% of the Indian voters who left us,” said party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

Speaking at the opening of a “Rebranding Workshop” here yesterday, he said leaders of 1,350 branches had undergone the exercise aimed at forging closer ties between the party’s branches and the people in the past three months.

“We have another 1,950 branches to go. By February next year, we should be able to cover the whole of Malaysia,” he said.

Samy Vellu said he had seen some changes in the members and grassroots leaders who attended the exercise.

He said the workshop also acted as a platform for grassroots leaders to voice out their views and ideas to the central-level.

On his successor, Samy said the candidate must be able to speak up for the people and the party, adding that he would step down when everything was in place.

“I cannot just leave like this. I have to revamp the party first,” he said.

Samy said the party would practise democracy and members would be allowed to choose their next leader.

“I will not name anyone, it will be an open race,” he said.

Samy said at least four party leaders were eyeing the president’s post so far.

He, however, declined to name them.

Ong Tee Keat, newly elected MCA president

MCPX
For me I don’t want to say much. The important thing now is that we must immediately implement our plans to transform the party.

The only way to repay the support given by the delegates is through immediate hard work.

Are you happy with the lineup?

All of us must accept that this is the decision of the party

On the election of new deputy president, Dr Chua Soi Lek

The important thing was that there were no personal attacks, but merely a difference in opinion.


Chua Jui Meng, losing president candidate

Well, I tried again. I offered them my agenda and vision but they didn’t want it. That’s it. That’s life.

Does this mean your career has come to an end?

Politics will always be in my blood. There is no end to politics.

What do you think of your rival’s performance?

I congratulate him. It was a very transparent fight. The delegates wants his vision. All the best.

How do you read today’s result?

They prefer the old ways. They don’t want a new direction for the party and the nation which I amply illustrated and articulated very clearly in my agenda. Obviously, the majority of the delegates don’t want that.


Dr Chua Soi Lek, newly elected MCA deputy president:

I am confident that the new leadership will not disappoint MCA nor the Chinese community. I will work with the party president and the central committee members to ensure that the party is even more united and seek more for the Chinese community.

I have confidence that I can work with the president and the new central committee. We hope to reinvent and project a new image for MCA to fit the post March 8 post-election scenario.

I always had confidence in the wisdom of the delegates. They know how to differentiate between my public performance and my private life.

Most importantly, after the party elections we must ensure the unity and stability of the party. During party elections, a lot things were said. After the elections, we must forget our differences to ensure we can reinvent the party efficiently.


Ong Ka Chuan, losing deputy president candidate

There will be a winner and a loser. So this is not unexpected. Anyone who is interested in contest must be prepared to win or lose.

Does it mean that a Cabinet post does not guarantee a win in the party?

Seems that way.

Do you think that you lost due to the claims that you are in the ‘Ong Dynasty’?

You cannot say that. There are more than 2,000 delegates. What they think, you can’t really tell.

Do you think a ‘tsunami’ is happening in MCA?

I don’t think so. It is quiet balanced, particularly if you look at the central committee (lineup). Tsunami means it would be one sided. We’ve got a balance of old and young. It’s a fair reflection of our age groups.


Dr Ng Yen Yen, newly elected MCA vice president

It is a watershed outcome. The (glass) ceiling has been broken. It takes a lot of hard work. As long as we work hard, we will get support from our male comrades.


Kong Cho Ha, newly elected MCA vice president

I was also voted in as the central committee in the last election with the highest vote. I have said before that everyone is equal, therefore I think that the four vice president will have equal standing.

Those who are not voted in are due to the limited positions. I think they are also capable leaders and I hope they will continue to work for the party.

MCA leaders Ong Tee Keat and Dr Chua Soi Lek have been voted in as the party president and deputy president respectively at the party polls today after a closely-watched fight.

The official results announced at the MCA headquarters at 9.45pm confirmed that Tee Keat defeated his rival, ex-vice-president Chua Jui Meng through a 512-majority vote. Tee Keat garnered 1,429 votes while Jui Meng polled 917 votes.

This is also the second time that Jui Meng was defeated in his bid for the party presidency after he lost to outgoing MCA chief Ong Ka Ting in the last party polls in 2005.


While Tee Keat’s victory was rather expected, the ‘underdog’ for the No 2 post, Dr Chua Soi Lek emerged as the surprise winner in the poll following a close fight where he won with a wafer-thin 114-vote majority, defeating three other candidates, including current secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan.

Ka Chuan, who is widely seen as Tee Keat’s running mate, polled the second highest votes among the four candidates, with 1,001 votes.

There is no immediate clear indication on the plan of the new party leadership under the Tee Keat-Soi Lek pair as the duo engaged in a war of words in the run-up to the party election.

The election results also showed what was claimed by party critics as the end to the ‘Ong dynasty’, with outgoing MCA chief Ong Ka Ting and elder brother Ka Chuan no longer in the main party leadership line-up.


The brothers have consistently denied they were intending to create an ‘Ong dynasty’.

For the four vice-president slots, Deputy Finance Minister Kong Cho Ha, outgoing Youth chief Liow Tiong Lai, outgoing Wanita chief Dr Ng Yen Yen and the party’s Johor deputy chief Tan Kok Hong have been voted in.

MCA poll - the vote count timeline

Below are the earlier ‘live’ reports brought by Malaysiakini from the MCA headquarters.

9.45pm The official announcement confirms the new president as Ong Tee Keat (1,429 votes), defeating Chua Jui Meng (917 votes).

The new deputy president is Dr Chua Soi Lek (1,115 votes), defeating Ong Ka Chuan (1,001 votes), Donald Lim Siang Chai (209 votes) and Lee Hack Teik (10 votes).

The four new vice-presidents are Kong Cho Ha (1,798 votes), Liow Tiong Lai (1,725 votes), Dr Ng Yen Yen (1,659 votes) and Tan Kok Hong (1,329 votes).


The 25 newly-elected central committee members are - Lee Wei Kiat, Wong Foon Meng, Tan Chai Ho, Tan Cheng Liang, Dr Hou Kok Chung, Lee Chee Leong, Gan Ping Sieu, Yu Chok Tow, Wong Nai Chee, Lee Sing Chooi, Wee Jeck Seng, Gan Tian Loo, Dr Yeow Chai Thiam, Chong Itt Chew, Hoh Khai Mun, Ti Lian Ker, Liew Yuen Keong, Wong Mook Leong, Paul Kong Sing Chu, Edward Khoo Keong Hai, Teh Siew Kiong, Loh Seng Kok, Wong Siong Hwee, Dr Por Choo Chor and Loke Yuen Yow.

9.38pm Official announcement underway now.

9.30pm The vote-count for the party president is closed. Unofficial results show Tee Keat has won the party president's post after defeating Jui Meng.

9.20pm: Yen Yen nods her head when asked to confirm whether she has been voted in but declines to confirm news that she garnered the highest number of votes among the four elected vice-presidents. She is the first woman in the party to contest for such a high post.

9.05pm As vote-counting for party president is mid-way, Jui Meng is trailing closely behind Tee Keat.

9pm: 'Save MCA campaign' spokesperson Theng Book has claimed victory in the campaign to oust the Ong brothers - outgoing MCA chief Ka Ting and deputy president candidate, Ka Chuan. He says: "This is necessary in order to re-brand and rejuvenate the party. They are responsible for causing defeat during the general election."

8.53pm: Unofficial results show that the fourth spot for the vice-presidency has been won by Johor MCA deputy chief Tan Kok Hong after defeating Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung.

8.38pm: The official counting for the No 1 post is now underway.

8.35pm: Vote count for deputy president post is over. Soi Lek, who was seen thanking his supporters, is said to have emerged as winner for the No 2 post with a small majority. His supporters are cheering and celebrating his victory outside the counting hall.

7.50pm: The unofficial result for the vice-president race is not clear as yet as it involves eight candidates for the four slots available. However, sources say that Liow Tiong Lai, Kong Cho Ha and Dr Ng Yen Yen have been voted in while the last slot is a fight between Johor MCA deputy chief Tan Kok Hong and Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung.

7.45pm: Soi Lek, accompanied by his son, Labis MP Tee Yong, and a group of supporters enter the San Choon Hall to observe the counting proceedings. He appears to be in a jovial mood.

7.40pm: The counting of votes for the deputy president's post is still underway but unofficial results show that Dr Chua Soi Lek is leading, closely followed by Ong Ka Chuan. It appears to be quite clear that two other candidates Donald Lim and Lee Hack Teik have lost the race.

Polling went smoothly

Earlier, the counting of ballots for the hotly-contested MCA triennial party election is currently underway after a two-hour polling closed at about 3pm today.

At the time of writing, the counting is going on in the San Choon Hall at the MCA headquarters in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. The polling and counting went on smoothly with no untoward incident reported.

A high attendance of 99.04 percent, or 2,378 delegates, turned up to cast their votes today. The election results are expected to be known after 7pm.

According to seasoned party observers, there appeared to be mixed signals from the delegates so far but the question on everyone’s lips now is whether there will be any major upset in the contest for top posts.

All eyes are focus on the tussle for the presidency which is a straight fight between former vice-president Chua Jui Meng and incumbent vice-president Ong Tee Keat.

Favourite Tee Keat is said to be still having an edge over his rival although Jui Meng’s camp said they are confident to garner more than 40 percent votes based on the exit polls.

In his previous bid for the presidency in 2005, Jui Meng was defeated by the current president Ong Ka Ting. He garnered 37 percent of votes then.

Tough task for new leadership

As for the four-cornered fight for the deputy presidency, the race is said to be between another former vice-president Dr Chua Soi Lek and secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan.

The two other candidates are incumbent vice-president Donald Lim and former Penang state assemblyperson Lee Hack Teik.

Ka Chuan, aligned to the mainstream faction of the party leadership, was initially seen to be leading the race but Soi Lek was said to have picked up steam in the final push for votes.

During the introduction of the candidates at noon just now, Soi Lek was given a louder applause as compared to the scattered response received by Ka Chuan, also the elder brother of Ka Ting.

For the vice-president's posts, eight candidates are vying for the four slots - incumbent vice-president Dr Fong Chan Onn, ex-vice-president Yap Pian Hon, outgoing MCA Youth chief Liow Tiong Lai, outgoing MCA Wanita chief Dr Ng Yen Yen, Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung, Kuala Langat MCA division vice-chairperson Lim Teck Chong, Johor deputy chief Tan Kok Hong and Deputy Finance Minister Kong Cho Ha.

It is believed that Liow and Kong are the front runners and the remaining two positions are narrowed down to Ng, Tan and Chor.

A total of 63 candidates, the biggest field in MCA's electoral histroy, are vying for the 25 slots in the powerful central committee, the party’s highest decision-making body.

Ka Ting and his deputy Chan Kong Choy are not defending their posts.

MCA is trying to regain the hearts and minds of the Chinese community following its humiliating defeat in the March general election.

At the national polls, the party only managed to win 46 state and parliamentary seats compared to the 106 it had secured at the 2004 polls.

The new batch of leaders will have a tough task in regaining the support of the community.

UNOFFICIAL RESULT : BERNAMA : DATO ONG TEE KIAT WON THE PRESIDENT POST.

The counting of votes for the hotly-contested MCA triennial election is entering into the final lap and Malaysiakini is bringing you live reports from the MCA headquarters at Jalan Ampang.


7.50pm: The unofficial result for the vice-president race is not clear as yet as it involves eight candidates for the four slots available. However, sources say that Liow Tiong Lai, Kong Cho Ha and Dr Ng Yen Yen have been voted in while the last slot is a fight between Johor MCA deputy chief Tan Kok Hong and Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung.

7.45pm: Soi Lek, accompanied by his son, Labis MP Tee Yong, and a group of supporters enter the San Choon Hall to observe the counting proceedings. He appears to be in a jovial mood.

7.40pm: The counting of votes for the deputy president's post is still underway but unofficial results show that Dr Chua Soi Lek is leading, closely followed by Ong Ka Chuan. It appears to be quite clear that two other candidates Donald Lim and Lee Hack Teik have lost the race.

Earlier, the counting of ballots for the hotly-contested MCA triennial party election is currently underway after a two-hour polling closed at about 3pm today.

At press time, the counting is going on in the San Choon Hall at the MCA headquarters in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. The polling and counting went on smoothly with no untoward incident reported.

A high attendance of 99.04 percent, or 2,378 delegates, turned up to cast their votes today. The election results are expected to be known after 7pm.

According to seasoned party observers, there appeared to be mixed signals from the delegates so far but the question on everyone’s lips now is whether there will be any major upset in the contest for top posts.

All eyes are focus on the tussle for the presidency which is a straight fight between former vice-president Chua Jui Meng and incumbent vice-president Ong Tee Keat.

Favourite Tee Keat is said to be still having an edge over his rival although Jui Meng’s camp said they are confident to garner more than 40 percent votes based on the exit polls.

In his previous bid for the presidency in 2005, Jui Meng was defeated by the current president Ong Ka Ting. He garnered 37 percent of votes then.

Tough task for new leadership

As for the four-cornered fight for the deputy presidency, the race is said to be between another former vice-president Dr Chua Soi Lek and secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan.

The two other candidates are incumbent vice-president Donald Lim and former Penang state assemblyperson Lee Hack Teik.

Ka Chuan, aligned to the mainstream faction of the party leadership, was initially seen to be leading the race but Soi Lek was said to have picked up steam in the final push for votes.

During the introduction of the candidates at noon just now, Soi Lek was given a louder applause as compared to the scattered response received by Ka Chuan, also the elder brother of Ka Ting.

For the vice-president's posts, eight candidates are vying for the four slots - incumbent vice-president Dr Fong Chan Onn, ex-vice-president Yap Pian Hon, outgoing MCA Youth chief Liow Tiong Lai, outgoing MCA Wanita chief Dr Ng Yen Yen, Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung, Kuala Langat MCA division vice-chairperson Lim Teck Chong, Johor deputy chief Tan Kok Hong and Deputy Finance Minister Kong Cho Ha.

It is believed that Liow and Kong are the front runners and the remaining two positions are narrowed down to Ng, Tan and Chor.

A total of 63 candidates, the biggest field in MCA's electoral histroy, are vying for the 25 slots in the powerful central committee, the party’s highest decision-making body.

Ka Ting and his deputy Chan Kong Choy are not defending their posts.

MCA is trying to regain the hearts and minds of the Chinese community following its humiliating defeat in the March general election.

At the national polls, the party only managed to win 46 state and parliamentary seats compared to the 106 it had secured at the 2004 polls.

The new batch of leaders will have a tough task in regaining the support of the community.

Dear all,

I have always had the perception only "some" of are being racist and Malaysia has a vast difference between other multi racial county. Today, I’m blogging this topic with such hatred and depression.

I have added this particular nick " MataHati Bangsa" in my Facebook Profile. I added him because of his status which keep on updating regarding our latest political status. When i read the comments on his latest update "MULA2 MINTA TIMB. PENGERUSI 2 BN - LAMA2 NAK MINTA TIMB. PM PULA", I was speechless.

WTF? I 'm proud to be Malaysian. In fact i sent a reply to all the ppl whom commented on the status. I stressed even expressed my shocking feeling reading .. which i could thought i was hallucinating.

Dear Malaysians,

Yes, MCA asked for Timbalan post, not the chief post . BN comprises many parties. They know what to ask and where is the limit. Oh yeah, i'm not gonna elaborate or express my opinion on their request but wtf, when some moron mention about this issue, certain people must bring race issue and judge by race?

I have encountered racist issues but this is the one of a kind where i came across many ppl whom i thought "educated and respected" directly commenting which implicated racism.

Dear certain Melayu's,

Jgn judge us berdasrkan sejarah atau segelintir individu. Kami ada hak di malaysia sebagaimana setiap rakyat msia. All we ask is for peace n harmony. Is that too much? Adakah salah jikalau Bangsa Cina ,India dan lain -lain meminta Kaum Melayu merealisasikan impian mereka untuk Semua hanya bergelar Rayat Malaysia tanpa mengira agama,kaum dan bangsa?

Below are the comments Matahati received since he updated his status:


Matahati bangsa :

Taktik yang biasa digunakan oleh Belanda... semua kena berhati-hati dengan taktik Belanda ini.

Safri Zohodan at 11:04am October 17
semua nk ambik kesempatan je ngan kelemahan kita skarang nie

Mohd Hafiz Mahmudin at 11:44am October 17
ni dh lebih...

Khairil Anwar at 11:52am October 17
errmmmm

Dis Crypt at 11:57am October 17
parang je kepala cina ni, sesape melayu yg sokong die pon pancung je kepala...bila nak jadi racial riot lagi?meluap2 plak darah melayu aku hari2 cina2 ni nak itu nak ini.

Khairil Anwar at 12:01pm October 17
relax bro... sabar2

Dis Crypt at 12:35pm October 17
kita melayu tak lemah, kita kuat, antara sebab kita tak bole kaya sebab kita tak mkn duit haram, tak jual pmpn dari china, tak judi dan tak simpan duit2 haram entah dari mana asal-usulnya..sebilangan kecil dr kita ada berjudi. tp bukan untuk jadi kaya raya.itu dosa mereka, cerita lain.soalnya, melayu semua nak kaya, tapi kit dan kita tak bole jadi cm cina semua sumber duit haram bole bagi makan anak bini.

Shahwana Hamid at 12:42pm October 17
after timbalan presiden then what??? presiden lah?? they think we cannot think is it? diaorang ni memang macam ni, dah kasi betis nak peha.

Azlan M. Ramly at 12:45pm October 17
Apa lagi nak di kata? semuanya atas kesilapan pak lah sendiri.....skrg ni hari2 benda yang sama jer di pertikaikan bangsa lain....woi ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI!!!!!!!!! KAMU TIDO KER????.......@#$#&*@$#% malas la layan si lembab ni....lepas ni mintak PM punya pos la! tak pun gi la bertanding kerusi presiden umno atau pak lah lepas ni lantik semua ... mentri2 bukan islam dok kat biro agama tu....hampeh jer...semua nak jadi cam pembangkang la ni minta semua pos yg umno pegang....lepas ni jumpa sultan mintak la 1 state ada 3 sultan, melayu, cina, india.......elok lah pak lah dok jer la jadi boneka tunggal ika!

Dis Crypt at 12:58pm October 17
betis aku pon takkan dapat apa lagi peha...parang kat kepala boleh la...hambek ni! blurp blurpp..darah yang dibuat dari daging khinzir dan duit2 haram hasil melacurkan wanita cina dan monggolia akan membasahi bumi melayu.....

Dura Zaman at 2:28pm October 17
Tak payah dilayan bangsa yang dulu terlibat dengan komunis ni... Dulu dan sekarang masih sama... Cuma komunis sekarang kat bandar dah.

Nizam Zuhry at 2:39pm October 17
nie cina bdoh nie,,,smua nie tktik nk twan malaysia,,,lpas dpat twan tkar plak nme dr malaysia jd cinasia

MataHati Bangsa at 3:44pm October 17
Sudah tiba masanya untuk kaji semula struktur BN, kata Chan17/10/2008 2:55pmKUALA LUMPUR 17 Okt. — Masanya sudah tiba untuk Barisan Nasional (BN) mengkaji semula struktur kepimpinannya bagi mencerminkan komposisi parti campuran pemerintah pelbagai bangsa yang lebih baik, kata Timbalan Presiden MCA, Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy hari ini.Beliau ... berkata, tidak ada peraturan muktamad dalam BN bahawa pengerusi dan timbalan pengerusi campuran 13 parti mestilah dipegang oleh presiden dan timbalan presiden Umno.“Cadangan mengenai timbalan ketua BN adalah cadangan yang wajar...jika diimbau kembali sejarah Barisan Nasional, tidak ada peraturan muktamad bahawa pemimpin Umno mestilah menduduki jawatan kanan tertentu dalam BN.“Saya masih ingat apabila BN mula ditubuhkan pada 1974, setiausaha agungnya daripada MCA...iaitu Tan Sri Michael Chen.“Tidak ada bahawa pemimpin kanan Umno secara automatik dilantik mengisi jawatan utama BN,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan Perhimpunan Agung Pemuda MCA di ibu pejabat parti itu di sini.Chan dan Presiden MCA, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting tidak mempertahankan jawatannya pada pemilihan parti esok.Timbalan presiden MCA itu diminta mengulas saranan Ketua Pemuda yang akan melepaskan jawatan itu Datuk Liow Tiong Lai, yang juga Menteri Kesihatan bahawa BN wujudkan jawatan timbalan pengerusi kedua untuk memberi ruang kepada pemimpin MCA.“Sesungguhnya cadangan Liow itu sudah tiba masanya dan bukan tidak berasas...lihat pada sejarah. Pemimpin BN hendaklah serius dengan cadangan ini terutamanya ketika kita bercakap mengenai perkongsian kuasa dan perubahan dalam BN,” tambah beliau.- Bernama

Dura Zaman at 3:51pm October 17
Bolayan la...

Shahwana Hamid at 4:03pm October 17
another tsunami from a component party? dah lah si cina ni ada dua parti, tamak betul diaorang ni.

Dura Zaman at 4:38pm October 17
Tulah pasal... Melayu sesama Melayu bergaduh, Cina dan India tepuk tangan. Melayu dalam PAS dan PKR tak sedar diri.

Shahwana Hamid at 4:54pm October 17
Melayu dalam PAS dan PKR semuanya CONFUSED PEOPLE. Ingatlah, terutamanya yang ada anak-anak yang masih kecil, pastikan wang di tabung kalian penuh buat persediaan anak-anak ke sekolah nanti. Pada masa itu, mungkin tiada lagi PTPTN untuk membantu wang sekolah ya. Dan sediakan mental kalian untuk tidak bekerja dengan kerajaan kerana jawatan-... Read Morejawatan tersebut bakal disandang dengan orang cina dan india jika pertukaran kerajaan berlaku.

Rohsdi Hamid at 5:04pm October 17
ni padahnya bl melayu berpecah.kaum bangsa lain akan ambk peluang kelemahan kita org melayu.kpda kepimpinan umno dan pas,tolong lah berdamai fikirkan ape yg terbaik utk org melayu semua yg berugama islam.kaum lain akan cuba memecahbelahkan perpaduan yg selama ini ayahanda2 kita perjuangkan dulu.bknkah kita ini semua bangsa melayu dan berugama islam... Read More.tak bolehkah kita bersatu dan mempertahankan hak hak org melayu d tanah air melayu.....?knpkah sebab ideologi politik berbeza kita tak boleh bersatu.buang yg keruh dan ambk yg jernih

Dis Crypt at 5:52pm October 17
betol tuh...aku sokong...

Ahmad Arifyanto B Yunus at 7:01pm October 17
belagak betul mamat nih...zaman che det tarak pulak mcm nih..nasib baik skil sniper aku tak berapa bagus...kalau tak, sekali ngan aku masuk jel..

Azlan M. Ramly at 7:10pm October 17
zaman che det mana depa brani...semua bangsa lain ni takutttttt...nak mampus cuba la cari pasal ngan che det...ISA jawabnya...baru ada akal...la ni zaman dollah cantik...depa besaq kepala la....

And when i rebuked , A FACEBOOK MEMBER BY THE NICK "DIS CRYPT" REPLIED"

Dis Crypt (Malaysia) wroteat 3:02am
malaysia hak pribumi dan bumiputra sahaja.end.
Report

Dis Crypt (Malaysia) wroteat 3:07am
jgn layan si Kap Lam Alif Ya Nga Ba Wau Dal Wau Ha ni...hahahahahaka'au ngati ka'au ni'i roang paer ka'at Malaysia ni'e? Ka'au tu'i Leking ngebap...gepi tami la'a bi'cai!

Will ANYONE CHARGE HIM UNDER SEDITION?

A MCA Youth delegate today called on the authorities to detain Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for making racist remarks.


MCPX
He also wanted the security law to be invoked against suspended Umno Penang leader Ahmad Ismail who courted controversy recently by describing the Chinese in Malaysia as squatters.

Perak delegate Ting Tai Fook (right) made the call during the debates at the MCA Youth annual general meeting held at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Khairy was among the invited VIPs present.

Ting took Khairy, who is also the son-in-law of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, to task over his remarks concerning the ratio of the bumiputera and non-bumiputera quota on scholarships.

He said such remarks were not only condoned by the Umno leadership but also paved the way for Ahmad to make similar offensive remarks.

At this juncture, Ting said the ISA should not be used against civilians as seen in a crackdown last month.

“If we want to use ISA, let’s use ISA against these few people first [...] I also believe Khairy, this irresponsible leader will be defeated badly in the coming Umno Youth chief elections,” he said to applause from the delegates.

The Perak MCA Youth delegate stressed that the ethnic Chinese were not second-class citizens or the servants in this country.

Ting also hit out at Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and accused him of being a liar for consistently claiming that he has the numbers to form government.

Resolution targets Khairy, Ahmad

Meanwhile, a majority of the MCA Youth delegates also echoed the dissatisfaction concerning the remarks made by Khairy and Ahmad.

Replying to Ting in the winding-up later, MCA Youth legal bureau chief Gan Ping Sieu said the wing is against the use of ISA against any civilian.

Apart from coming under heavy fire during the debates, one of the resolutions adopted at the meeting was also made in reference to Khairy and Ahmad. The resolution condemned several “narrow-minded leaders.”

“Their action will jeopardise the racial ties in this multi-racial country which is formed based on different ethnicity, cultures and religions.

“Therefore, MCA Youth urges the relevant quarters to take immediate action to avoid these extremists from affecting the harmony in the country,” read the resolution.

Although the resolution did not name Khairy and Ahmad directly, it however stated that the reason for this resolution was due to the duo’s recent statements.

“Khairy made a statement in Parliament that the non-bumiputeras have taken away the bumiputeras’ privileges and their quota for the (government’s) JPA scholarship. His statement is against the cabinet decision.

“Ahmad also made a statement filled with racist elements to the extent that it caused unhappiness in the society. Therefore, serious action should be taken against these racist leaders,” read the document.

Other than this, the other resolutions which were passed included calling on the government to review the ISA and Printing Presses and Publications Act 1948 to make it relevant with the current times.

The Youth wing also expressed support for the government’s move to set up the Malaysian Commission of Anti-Corruption, which is a special complaints commission on the reforms of the police force and judicial appointment commission.

Election results

In another development, the MCA Youth election results announced at 7pm revealed that those seen to be aligned to the new Youth chief Dr Wee Ka Siong had made a near clean sweep.

Except for the newly-elected deputy secretary-general Loh Chew June, the rest were those whose names had appeared on the cai dan (list of preferred candidates) that was widely circulated today.

As expected, Perak MCA Youth chief Dr Mah Han Soon won the No 2 post. He garnered 1,152 votes to beat his opponent Song Kee Chai, who polled 394 votes.

Wee, who was the wing’s secretary-general, won the top post uncontested on Monday.

Met by reporters later, Loh thanked the delegates for their support despite him not being on the cai dan. He said this had spurred him to work harder in order to get support from the delegates.

Those who were elected into the wing’s top posts include vice-chairpersons Yong Chen Leong, Yoo Wei How, Dr Chin Tung Leong and Yit Lee Kok. The new secretary-general is Chai Kim Seng.