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On Politics
INDIA, like Indonesia, was the hero of Western subject countries. India's struggles for independence were keenly and sympathetically
followed and In British Malaya, a Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) was founded on
the model of the I have known three presidents of MIC, Tun V. T. Sambanthan, one of
our founding fathers, Like it or not, he stays on. The Malaysian Indians have had only one leader, the strong man, since then. The time scale among Malaysian Indians and the Bumiputeras is not dissimilar. During the last two decades the Malaysian Indians and MIC members
and supporters in Under Samy Vellu, the MIC has emerged stronger. If the party has become somewhat imperial, it is for the better. I admire Samy Vellu's ability to lead, steer and control his charge. Of course, as a result, he came to be blamed for many things including
the slow Poverty transcends race, creed and colour. Proportionally, there are as many poor Bumiputeras and Chinese which,
as events since Tun Razak lived simply and died a poor man, relatively speak-ing,
but it was he who The remarkable progress achieved after three decades was not only
stymied but suffered Still, we seem to be coping. Samy Vellu has done his best for the Indians under the circumstances
and one needs But many believe that the 'Samy Vellu Era' in MIC and in government
has given The Indian re-presentation in government started in 1952 when the
Indian community General Sir Gerald Templer then reshuffled the "Cabinet"
and brought in a V.M. Menon as The Alliance Party (now BN) began with only the Umno and MCA. The MIC joined the Alliance Party just before the only general election
ever held in British The Indians must not make this fatal political mistake: there is no
substitute for an Indian There are not many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), many of
which are run like In any case, if they are NGOs, their business is not to be spokesmen
for Indians rather The Government will never accept them as representatives of Indians
even if they are They can articulate and shout but it will be the MIC which will be listened to and deliver. The MIC will be relevant for as long as political parties are communally-based
which is Unity must arise from the natural desire of the peoples themselves. There is that desire but no political will to enhance it! We cannot
achieve unity if When one group only wants everything and gives out nothing, bangsa
Malaysia is a For good or worse, the MIC is the only well-tested political instrument
through which One does not throw goodwill and a channel built over 55 years, does
he? The MIC must That can only happen when its political strength remains. Better still, if the party's prestige among the Indians is further enhanced. The best bet for all races is to work together as Malaysians. No one race can progress together without endangering building such
a resentment that it I agree absolutely with Samy Vellu that the Indians, on the whole, are not poor. Of course, they are if one focuses only among the 30 per cent Indian estate workers. The Bumiputeras are deprived if one zeroes in his attention on the squatters. Even the Chinese are poor, many of them, in the new villages. Samy Vellu stated that the Indians' share of the National Wealth amounted
to some Obviously, he has not included Ananda Krishnan's RM10.7 billion, which
makes him the The Indians have done well under Samy Vellu's leadership and more will come through. The Indians have done better in the medical and legal professions
than the Bumiputeras One thing which is easily overlooked, as is the case, is the fact
that under Samy Vellu The Bumiputeras and Indians face the same future. The Chinese economic strength is becoming increasingly powerfully awesome. Neither, nor even together, can they withstand the Chinese economic typhoon. The only sane and smart thing for them to do is to work with the Chinese. You have been fooled if you believe otherwise. This is no time for narrow-minded communal fanaticism. In four years' time, there will be 1.78 million Malaysian Indians. Most will have Indian names for they cannot (which is understandable)
flee from the To non-Malaysians they may even be mistaken as Indian nationals but
they are loyal Malaysian Indians must put the past in its place and open the doors to the future. Let no past hang-ups hobble them; they should look forward with confidence
at what a The challenge facing MIC is not only to develop new talents and take
pride in what the Samy Vellu's equintessence, benevolence and towering no-nonsense leadership
can An Exclusive
Interview With Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu Q: You advised MIC leaders at the recent 55th annual general assembly to reinvent the party to serve society over the next decade. Are you happy with the performance of elected party representatives and division and branch leaders in meeting the needs of the people? A: Elected representatives in all constituencies are working very hard. They have to play a dual role. They have to take care of their constituents and at the same time, take care of the needs of Indians in the whole area. This is where the difficulty lies. That is why I have urged MIC leaders to go forward and look into the needs of the community and try to solve its problems. I know that many of these problems cannot be solved by them. They should then bring them to me. One thing in my case is that I have a direct connection with the public. That is why I interact with them daily. Not less than 100 people come to see me from various destinations daily. Even from Johor Baru, they come to see me for just five minutes. And when one comes all the way, I must give him the satisfaction of a few minutes at least for the trouble he has taken. Q: The MIC expects to expand its membership to 660,000 with the creation of another 1,100 branches. Is this a response to a need within the community? A: The MIC always receives applications for new branches. Every month about 50 to 60 applications are received. We vet them properly before opening branches. We have vetted about 1,100 and they have all been registered with the Registrar of Societies. People feel that the MIC is a machine that can work and that by being part and parcel of it, they can enhance the effectiveness of the party vehicle. All of them know that there are only few opportunities in the MIC to become State Assemblymen, MPs and such. They are not coming for that. They want to serve and work. If elected, they will serve. Q: In view of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad's statement that Chinese who were formerly members of Angkatan Keadilan Rakyat (Akar) - which has been dissolved - could join Umno, do you see a day when Indians may also be part of Umno? A: I think the day will come when there is only one party known as Umno, if things work well. It will stand for the United Malaysian National Organisation. I think Umno can play a very strong role by providing equal opportunities for all races. I anticipate this happening one day. The Prime Minister's move actually points to that attitude. Q: How far down the road do you see this happening? Will it happen during our lifetime? A: I think we Indians have no objection as we like to work with other
communities. To us, working together and enjoying benefits together
and serving the country to make it together is a good idea. I think
the Prime Minister's time is when such Q: The MIC is one of several Indian parties that is going for Indian support. Do you see the MIC working closer with parties within the Barisan Nasional like the People's Progressive Party and Gerakan to ensure Indians have a solid platform for representation? A: There is nothing shameful for me to say that the MIC is a racial party. We joined with two other racial parties (Umno and MCA) to create the Alliance (in the 1950s). But as and when multi-communal parties came into the picture, it did not mean an erosion of the MIC's base. The Indian base has kept on increasing, that is to say, the MICis vested with the special interests of the community. The party takes care of their interests, represents their voice and presents their aspirations. A multi-racial party cannot do that. Multi-communal parties cannot speak for the Indians. If they talk only about the needs of Indians, the other communities they represent would be upset. The MIC can represent the aspirations of the Indian community through
a single voice all the time. That's the reason why the MIC has such
a large structure. We run the organisation in a very organised manner.
We have a good administration, records, Q: You have indicated that you want young leaders to play a more important role in the party as branch chairmen. Have you succeeded in this respect? A: Younger leaders are coming in now but unfortunately, they don't
know what to do. There are no proper guidelines for them. What we are
now doing is providing them with administrative knowlege and political
knowhow and information on how they can really perform. All this is
indicated to them and I am happy to say that there are about 500 graduates
who have agreed to join, but want to meet me first. I will fix a date
and then we will decide. We will distribute them State by State and
division by division and ask them to act as a think tank at every level.
They will have an important role to play and I will make it official
that Q: Datuk Seri, following the defeat of the MIC candidate in the Lunas by-election last year, the question of the MIC's relevance in national politics has been raised. How do you see this? A: I don't think the Lunas defeat is a very historial one. We have previously been defeated in Perai twice, but I feel the reason for the (Lunas) defeat was the timing and, secondly, there were lots of things that went against the Government at that time. The Chinese were upset and angry. That was the reason for our loss. Now, however, I get a lot of calls from people in Lunas asking us to come back. The people know they cannot get anything done through the Opposition. I am confident that in the next general election we will be able to win back the Lunas seat. Q: You have expressed concern that non-governmental bodies and civil action groups have become more vocal in championing disadvantaged groups among the Indians. Do you see this as a challenge to the MIC's traditional role? A: I think it can be taken as a challenge. But the MIC has broad-based political influence. Through its interaction with the Government, it might be able to do more than the NGOs. The NGOs can raise problems. But my idea is that we can work with them in order to see that the community benefits. Many people can raise problems but to plan and provide a solution can only be done by the MIC. I want MIC leaders to buck up and act like the NGOs. They must take it as a challenge where they go around and see the condition of the people. They must then come back and plan how to overcome the problem. That is the attitude I want them to have. In the past, what was the MIC Youth section? They had football games and sports and leadership courses. Now I want the leadership course to be put to good use. The Yayasan Strategik Sosial is an intermediary that sits between the party and the people. I see the YSS as a very strong body looking into a variety of research and providing details on why certain things happen. It would also suggest the best way to resolve issue. It can become a strong advisory body for the MIC and the Government. When they go to an area for research, it can adopt a non-communal approach. We can help all three communities. The Government has lately recognised statistics from YSS. Q: The poor economic position of Indians has
been highlighted recently with the Government promising to help Indians
own three per cent of national equity by 2010. Why have Indians failed
to own more of national wealth despite the nation A: Last time, there was no affirmative action programme, particularly
for Indians. As far as non-Bumiputeras were concerned, Q: Where will Indians find the funds to double their share of equity ownership? A: Indian businessmen are working fast. Everyday, I get about 20 people coming up with new ideas for business. The only problem is that we (the Government) do not have enough money to lend them. That is why I asked the Government to open a window to lend money to Indians to carry out small businesses. I have arranged for them to get small business loans of up to RM20,000 from the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia. AIM has been asked to offer these loans to about 1,000 Indian businessmen. We have about 50,000 businesses registered to Indians. Of this, about 20,000 are small businesses. There are 2,000 to 3,000 van operators, 1,500 to 2,000 small lorry and other transport transport operators and 9,500 restaurants owned by Indians. In the metal business, there are 125 to 200 companies. This a RM4 billion business with exports of about RM2 billion per year. Indian goldsmiths have overtaken the Chinese in their own way although the Chinese are well-established and have bigger shops. But Indians operate throughout the country with about 200 to 300 main operators. They export gold to Dubai, India, and other areas. That is why the Government has decided that a street in Penang will specifically serve Indian goldsmiths. In the mini-market business, there are 500 operators throughout the country. There are nearly 600 to 700 family businesses. In textiles, we are next to the Chinese. We are still leading in the hair dressing trade. But more Chinese are coming in now with Chinese girls taking over. Indian hairdressers are facing a labour shortage. All these are not represented under the 1.5 per cent of equity owned by Indians. All these business would be worth about RM6 to RM7 billion. The equity owned by Indians of about RM9 billion is in shares in companies listed on the stock exchange. In short, the Indian share of national wealth is about RM16 billion. Q: Why is it then that critics often say that the average Indian is poor. What do they use to measure the economic status of Indians? A: Often the economic status of Indians is measured by looking at Indian estate workers. The workers are poor and so they say the whole commmunity is poor. The critics refuse to see how Indians have improved. The critics take a blinkered view, refusing to look left or right but only at the estate workers. They don't recognise that many Indians are doing business and that much growth has been achieved so far. There are lots of small businessmen in the community. But the critics are like electronic cameras. They take one picture and use that to measure the progress of the entire community. They use estate workers as the yardstick. What they don't realise is that estate workers only make up about 30 per cent of the entire estate workforce. In another 10 years, there will be only a handful of Indians in estates. Estate workers are easy to assess. One just has to go to an estate home and see how poor they are. But to measure the economic status of the urban Indian, you have a lot of work to do. You have to go house to house. Lately, someone carried out an assessment of Indian and Chinese household income taking 300 families in the sample. They found that the Indians had a higher household income than the Chinese. It actually turned out that this was so because the Indians were salaried workers and their income could be readily identified while most of the Chinese were in business and not in when the assessors came to their homes. So the figures were actually not quite right. Q: The MIC is planning a Malaysian Indian Economic Congress. How is this going to help increase Indian participation in business? A: We have planned it for the first week of October or November. It
will lay out plans for the next 10 years on what Indians Q. Datuk Seri, the debate on Tamil schools is a perennial one with detractors charging that Tamil schools have not helped improve educational standards among rural Indians. What role do you see for Tamil schools in future? A: I can tell you that all the high achievers in public examinations, about 80 per cent, are from Tamil schools. All are Tamil-speaking children from Tamil schools. You cannot blame the Tamil schools for the condition of Indians in the country. The critics are playing the same tune over and again. They have not gone into or seen Tamil schools lately. They do not know the quality of teachers. They have also not understood the dedication of Tamil school teachers. Tamil schools do not close at 1pm nowadays. The children are taken to another class and coached by teachers. The critics have never come close to Tamil schools and are harping on a historical view of Tamil schools. I can take them and show them the true condition of Tamil schools. Q: The MIC recently asked that 10 per cent of all seats at Government institutions of higher learning be allocated to Indians. However, this came in for criticism from some quarters. What is the rationale behind this request? A: Among the Bumiputeras and Indians, there has been an increase in the number of school-going children. But both these communities cannot touch the Chinese when it comes to education. The Chinese cannot be beaten. We cannot stand near them. That is why we are a little behind them when it comes to education. Education within the Indian community is worse. Some children in estates study only up to Std 6. After that, only three-quarters of Tamil school students go to secondary school. If there were no Tamil schools, then the number of educated Indians would be much lower. The 10 per cent quota we are asking for is necessary. Just as the Government is insisting on giving Bumiputeras tertiary education and taking steps in this direction, similar steps must be taken for the Indians. There is no difference between the sufferings of the Malays and Indians. Both have suffered. Q: The MIC has been arguing the case for housing for estate and mining workers. How do you justify this call and what has been achieved in this regard so far? A: Estates and mines are considered temporary employment. You can work for 30 years and still not own a house. They die and go to the cemetery at the estate. That is the only home they are assured of. Now with the Government programme to build 232,000 houses, we are asking that schemes be carried out on the outskirts of towns where there a lot of kampungs and estates. This will allow the kampung people to buy houses besides those working in estates. You will find that many Indians have left estates for the cities. By building houses on the periphery of towns and cities near estates, we will not only be helping Indians but also other races. Estate workers should be provided a house and they should be assisted to buy houses. Q: The percentage of Indians in the civil service is very low as indicated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently. How is the MIC helping to overcome the problem? A: I brought it up in Cabinet on Wednesday. It is not good enough to say under the Outline Perspective Plan that Indians can apply or are encouraged to apply. You don't have to encourage them. The minute they feel confident they can apply and get a job, they would all apply. They have not applied so far because they are not confident that they can get the job. Over the last 30 years, the number of Indians in the civil service has come down to a bare minimum. I am asking the Government to direct the Public Service Commission to ensure a quota for Indians in every intake into the civil service to correct the racial imbalance. This should also apply to local authorities, other Government bodies and the private sector.I will also be looking into the PSC's employment list and the number of Indians employed in the civil service. We also do not have an Indian representative in the PSC which is something which should be looked into. We do not get any feedback on what is happening. Appoint somebody who is neutral and who can represent the aspirations of the community. In the old days, we had membership on the board of several Government agencies. Now we have lost everything. Like Felda before, we had a representative on the board. This is one reason we are expanding the YSS as a body to monitor developments within the Indian community. I will then present the shortfalls to the Cabinet. Also, some of the universities are not at all kind to us. There is one local university which has for the last 10 to 15 years not given us more than five seats for medical studies. I do not want to say which one. The university authorities concerned know who they are. Their only excuse is that the number of Indian doctors in the country is high. But we must know that no one assisted them to become doctors. They sold houses and property to send their children for medical training and paid up to US$100,000 (RM380,000) to get them a place in universities in India. There is no point letting it drop to three per cent and then start initiatives to revive it all over again. Q: Among Indians, including those in the IPF and PPP, you are seen as the most senior leader. Why is it difficult for you to accept Pandithan into the party? A: I never said it was difficult to work with him (Datuk M.G. Pandithan, Indian Progressive Front president and former MIC vicepresident). I had opened the door to him before asking him to come back, but instead of looking at it as a generous gesture, he shamed us. I gave him my hand but he spat at it after which we felt there was no point talking to him anymore. His policy is that he wants another representative for the Indians in the Barisan Nasional. We will not agree to this. The Indians cannot have two voices in the BN. Malays and Chinese have only one voice each while Gerakan is a multi-racial party. Q: On the relationship between the MIC, IPF and the PPP, how is this "disunity" within the community going to affect the Barisan Nasional's chances in the next general election? It looks like personality clashes override the interest of the Indian community when one views the relationship between the three parties. A: There are no personality clashes among us. We have lots of work to do and while the MIC is doing its best to bring the Indians into the BN, it also welcomes the contributions of the other parties. We are willing to work with them for the sake of the community. The MIC is the mainstay of the Indian community. We will protect its rights and welfare. We will also accept what the other parties can do for them on the side. Q: The Indian community has a rigid following based on the caste system. The MIC is seen as being no different. Will we see the MIC championing efforts to get rid of the caste system? How far and how high can lower caste Indians in the party rise? Will you make a special effort to promote an Indian leader of the lower caste into the top echelon of the MIC heirarchy? A: We hate caste politics and and do not practise it. We also do not like people to talk about it. Since I took over the leadership, caste is no longer an issue in MIC and no one raises anything about it. We look into the needs of the Indians and do not entertain anything with regard to caste. We do not put anything in front of our names and only believe that all men are created equally. Some people elsewhere place names like Dalit in front of their names to show they are untouchables. We do not practise that here. In fact, we do not know who is from a higher caste and who is from a lower caste. They are all the same to us. I will only know if someone is from a higher caste if you point him or her out to me. Q: Can you you identify a few young leaders in the party who have shown potential to be national leaders in the future? A: There are many young leaders in the party like Datuk S. Subramaniam,
Datuk G. Palanivel, S. Sothinathan, S.A. They all have great potential to take over the party at a later stage and I am very happy with their leadership qualities. Q: A number of MIC leaders have privately indicated that you have a tendency to discourage potential leaders unless they are aligned with you. A: This is not true. Even Subramaniam was not aligned with me. Today, we are best friends and comfortably working together. Neither was Tan Sri M. Mahalingam, Datuk G. Vadiveloo or Datuk K. Sivalingam. We have been at loggerheads some time or other. But we are working well together and that is what is important. Q: You have been MIC chief for 22 years. How long do you see yourself playing that role? Will Datuk S. Subramaniam take over from you? A: There are several people in line to take over. When I go, and if Subramaniam takes over and he goes, then there are already people to take over the position. He is the deputy and he should be the succesor. He should also allow others to succeed him when it is time for him to leave. Q: How do you see the Indian community in 2020 when Vision 2020 is supposed to be realised? A: It will be very progressive. We are working out a system where it will take a quantum leap and be on par with the Bumiputeras and Chinese. There are still lots of things to be done. There will come a time for me to stop. I am already tired at 64, and ultimately there will be signs for me to stop. There will be time for me to go out and do something else. Q: How do you rate your achievements to date? A: I planned a lot of things. In education, we achieved about 35 per
cent of our target while in service to the community, In economics, we have failed in some attempts, for example the setting up of Maika Holdings. We failed because we started when others were going down and when others came up, we were already down. However, our co-operative societies have done well. We have built more than 1,000 houses for the Indians and our Koperatif Didik is in its infancy with RM10 million in funds. Our target is RM100 million. I am happy with the Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED) which has provided loans to more than 8,000 students. Those who came to MIED were always assured of getting something, even the Bumiputera and Chinese students. Q: Do you have any regrets in your long political career? A: I have lots, especially when we could not achieve what we planned. Sometimes, the community does not act according to our expectation. We also feel regret when we see the way the younger generation is going and regret when people fail to understand that they have a duty to help the next citizen. Many of them are still indulging in gangsterism, and while we take 20 steps forward, they take us 10 steps backwards. Q: How do you want to be remembered in history? A: I want my name to be erased and I don't want anybody to know there
was a person called Samy Vellu before. I also tell Raw intensity keeps the fire burning
strong in Samy Vellu MALAYSIAN Indian Congress president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu often
comes across It is probably these traits that have made him what he is today -
a senior Barisan He has faced many ups and downs in his 22-year term as party chief,
which often saw In a candid 75-minute interview on Thursday, the colourful leader,
who is also Works Dressed in an immaculate grey long-sleeved bush jacket with gleaming
black shoes for a Flashes of irritation crossed his face when discussing certain episodes
in MIC history Despite a hectic schedule which began at 5am that morning and that
saw him Passionate when asked about poverty or the lack of educational and
business Speaking mostly in English with some Tamil thrown in for emphasis
and occasional Samy Vellu is a photographer's delight as could be seen at the interview
where his His off-beat and pithy statements are also a scribe's joy, like in:
"I gave him my hand but He was also quick with figures when asked about Indian participation
in the economy or Always a pragmatist, he envisioned a single party - the United Malaysian
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