Exhuming Maika’s can of worms

PETALING JAYA, July 30 — The MIC’s failed investment arm Maika Holdings has emerged once again as a hot-button issue in the lead up to the party elections.

The Malay Mail’s editor Frankie D’Cruz asked S. Vell Paari, the chief executive officer of Maika from 1999 till mid 2010, to explain intense matters that party treasurer Datuk Jaspal Singh raised last week in the Dewan Negara.

FD: How fatal has Maika’s failure been to the MIC?

VP: I have always admitted that Maika’s failure was a contributing factor that weakened the support of the Indian community for the MIC and Barisan Nasional.  This was despite Maika paying out RM41 million in dividends.

And even though we returned the original RM100 million investments by shareholders, it was nothing to be proud of because the inflationary effects since the early 1980s — when Maika was set up — caused them losses on their outlay.

FD: Were you part of the G Team Resources management team that took control of Maika?

VP: No, I was not. After I resigned in mid-2010, G Team took control of Maika and I was never involved.

I suspect Datuk Jaspal keeps saying “G Team and Maika management” to implicate me as being responsible in effecting the sale of insurance company Oriental Capital to the Tune Group.

I feel there’s a hidden political agenda.

FD: Explain the sale of Oriental Capital, Maika’s prized asset?

VP: Being an insurance company, Oriental Capital Berhad is governed by the Banking and Financial Institutions Act. Only on obtaining Bank Negara’s approval can the potential buyer open negotiation with a financial institution.

Bank Negara has a say on the price. If you recall the case of People’s Insurance where although the board had agreed to sell at a certain price, Bank Negara intervened to say the purchase price was too high and told them to reduce it.

Hence, Bank Negara would and should have played the role to ensure the Oriental Capital transaction was above board.

The Malaysian Indian curse

The Indian leadership in Malaysia has always been a subject of criticism. The Indian leadership has not seen a leader with capability to steer the community for socio-economic growth.

To date Malaysian Indians are still plagued with fundamental issues of identity card issues, job opportunities, Tamil schools, poverty, displaced estate workers,university seats, alcoholism, gangsterism, etc.

The resolution for most of the issues are political in nature and merely window dressing. The outcomes are usually temporary and the issues continues to haunt Indians.

In a nutshell, the Indian leadership in Malaysia has failed to resolve the issues plaguing the community for years.

The MIC) has been the forerunner championing Indian issues for years.

MIC has launched various programmes and initiatives to uplift the community with National Land Finance Cooperative Society (NLFCS), MIC Education Fund, Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED), Special secretariat for Empowerment of  Indian Entrepreneurs (SEED), Yayasan Strategik Social (YSS), AIMST University, TAFE College, Yayasan Pemulihan Sosial (YPS), Putera MIC, Puteri MIC, Pemuda MIC and Wanita MIC.

These MIC arms have failed to achieve the objectives to uplift the Indian community. MIC leaders have been under heavy criticism and the failure of MIC has paved way for new political parties and activists to champion for Indian rights. Hindraf, HRP, IPF, PPP, etc. are result of MIC’s leadership failure.

Don't pay taxes if ministry fails to act, non-Muslims told

A MIC leader suggested that non-Muslims stop paying taxes if the Education Ministry fails to act against the school authorities who allegedly made their non-Muslim students eat in a shower room during Ramadan.

"This is ridiculous!" said party strategy director S Vell Paari in a statement. "Is this what the children of non-Muslims have been reduced to? Having to hide in washrooms to eat."

"To be honest, I am at a loss for words. The future of this country appears bleak and I fear for the future of our children which such school authorities and teachers around," he added.

Vell Paari called on the Education Ministry to launch an immediate probe and act against those responsible.

"It should not simply be a slap on the wrist, such as transferring the teacher or teachers responsible," he said.

Failing which, Vell Paari suggested that non-Muslims refrain from paying taxes.
                  
"Our tax money is used to pay the salaries of the civil service and if this is the kind of people (civil servants) we get, then we might as well stop paying," he said.

Photographs emerged online allegedly showing non-Muslim students of SK Seri Pristina in Sungai Buloh being made to eat in a shower room during fasting month.

The photographs were supposedly uploaded on Facebook by a parent.

It is alleged that school authorities made the students eat in the makeshift room, located next to the toilets.

Kisah Viratam

Dalam kalangan masyarakat India-Hindu di Malaysia, istilah "viratam" (Bahasa Tamil) lazimnya digunakan untuk membawa maksud "puasa". Misalnya, seseorang mungkin berkata "Saya viratham pada hari ini".

Namun begitu, seorang individu beragama Hindu tidak digalakkan - serta tidak akan - mempublisitikan serta menghebohkan kepada seluruh dunia bahawa dia sedang berpuasa.

Hal ini adalah demikian kerana dalam ajaran agama Hindu, berpuasa adalah niat yang melibatkan individu terbabit dengan Tuhan. Sikap menunjuk-nunjuk dan bermegah-megah dengan memberitahu (baca:
menghebohkan kepada) orang ramai bahawa seseorang sedang berpuasa boleh membatalkan "niat" puasa itu sendiri.

Makalah ini bertujuan memberikan sedikit maklumat umum mengenai puasa yang diamalkan oleh penganut agama Hindu tanpa menyentuh - apatah lagi mempersenda - amalan puasa dalam mana-mana tradisi atau agama lain.

Atas sebab itulah juga saya tidak menggunakan istilah "noonbu" (Bahasa Tamil) yang lazimnya digunakan apabila merujuk kepada ibadat puasa dalam kalangan penganut agama Islam.

Menurut Kamus Bahasa Tamil - Bahasa Melayu - Bahasa Inggeris (Fajar Bakti,1997), "noonbu" juga disebut "tavam" yang membawa makna "penebusan dosa" (penance) dan "pertapaan berdasarkan peraturan agama yang ketat" (meditation with religious austerities).

Mahabharata – Bahagian 41

Hari sudah petang tetapi kelibat Kacha belum kelihatan. Devayani, iaitu anak gadis Maharishi Sukracharya, mula risau.

Biasanya, menjelang petang begini, pemuda bertubuh sasa itu akan pulang bersama-sama beberapa lembu yang dibawa ke padang ragut.

“Mungkinkah sesuatu perkara buruk telah menimpa kekasihku?” fikir gadis itu dengan penuh kerisauan dan asyik mundar-mandir di ashram (asrama) milik Sukracharya di Vrishaparva.

Hari sudah senja tetapi Kacha, anak Maharishi Brihaspati yang datang berguru dengan Sukracharya, tetap belum pulang. Kebimbangan Devayani sudah tidak tertahan.

“Ayah! Saya bimbang memikirkan kemungkinan sesuatu yang buruk sudah menimpa Kacha,” kata gadis itu kepada bapanya yang merupakan penasihat kepada golongan asura.

Sukracharya termenung seketika memikirkan apa yang mungkin telah berlaku kepada anak muridnya iaitu anak kepada Maharishi Brihaspati, penasihat golongan vasu (dewa).

Maharishi itu memejamkan mata dan membaca beberapa baris mantra (mantera) dalam Bahasa Sanskrit. Gambaran sekumpulan asura membunuh Kacha dan mengerat mayatnya menjadi ketulan kecil muncul dalam minda.

Vaali: The reasons he will be missed by the Tamils

Vaali, the great poet-lyricist-actor-writer needs no introduction. An active member of Tamil film industry for five decades, Vaali wrote some 10,000 Tamil songs in his career.

As an actor, Vaali appeared in Hey Ram, Sathya and Paarthale Parvasam. He has also scripted for Tamil upcoming Thillu Mullu, which is scheduled to release this year.

Vaali had also penned the biographies of Rama, Krishna and Ramanuja. He even wrote an autobiography titled "Naanum Indha Nootrandum".

Born as T.S Rangarajan, he rechristened himself as Vaali, since he was a devoted fan of artist Mali.

Before picking up the pen to write, he worked with All India Radio (AIR) for a brief period of time. He was also actively involved in Tamil theatre and even directed few plays.

He came to Chennai in 1950 and struggled for many years. He wrote his first song in 1958 for the film "Azhagarmalai Kalla", but his much needed recognition came in 1963 with the song "Idaythil Nee" from the film "Karpagam".

In 1964, Vaali penned the lyrics for the song "Thottal Poo Malurum" from the film "Padagotti" featuring late Tamil Nadu chief minister M.G Ramachandran (MGR). The song went on to be a chartbuster, and subsequently he wrote for almost all films of MGR.

Kingdom on fire but battle rages for the throne

COMMENT The kingdom is on fire and there is a battle raging for the throne. This is a Tamil adage which best describes the conundrum in MIC.

It was once a thriving kingdom, replete with power and riches. It served as the route for Indian Malaysians, with brains or brawn, to become political titans and amass fortunes.

But this changed in 2008. The kingdom's knights and court officials suffered near obliteration while the king himself was dethroned after ruling for three decades.

Then a new king was installed amid much pomp and pageantry, with his loyal subjects hailing his ascension as a new dawn, where transparency and good governance would prevail.

But he, too, was unable to restore the kingdom's former glory.

On the contrary, the party fared even worse in the last general election under his stewardship, with the king himself scraping his elbows and knees in an uphill attempt to conquer Cameron Highlands, once considered a safe haven for MIC.

The party only won four of the nine parliament seats and five out of the 18 state seats it contested.

And whatever upward trend witnessed in the community's voting pattern for the ruling coalition was attributed to Prime Minister Najib Razak as opposed to MIC and its leaders.