NEED FOR HILLSLIDE DEVELOPMENT RULES

Let me apologise for the long silence. There had been a few incidents over the last month and this took up time. I have not abandoned the blog, or my correspondence with netizens.
Over the last two weeks the whole country had been abuzz with the landslide in Bkt Antarabangsa, which claimed four innocent lives. This is a tragedy, and the finger pointing began. The Works Ministry has come out to say that this was a man-made accident and something must be done to prevent more such occurrence. Although, Bkt Antarabangsa does not fall under Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur, I visited the area and it was shocking.
Now in Kuala Lumpur itself, we have a few hillside development and this includes the controversial Medan Damansara hillside development. We in the Federal Territory Ministry have decided to release a guideline on hillside developments soon, to be drafted by the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Environment Ministry.
The Federal Territory Ministry has asked the two Ministries to study all aspects of hillside development. The guideline would be applicable in Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.
Apart from that, the Ministry has also decided to freeze all hillside development as we are very serious of the damage and especially the loss of lives from landslides.

I had also received several feedback on the demolition of a temple at Old Klang Road last month. Yes, the temple was demolished! The City Hall (Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur) had on several occasion sent various notice to the said temple but to my dismay, the temple management took it lightly and did not act on it.
Had I been notified of the notices, I would have done all in my power to ensure that events did not come to this. But, what is done is done. I have spoken to the Minister about the temple and it was decided that the temple, which was located at a former Kampung area which had been relocated, to be given a piece of land. The construction of a new temple is on the way being arranged.
My plea to all Hindus in Kuala Lumpur, if the temple you go to is unregistered, please ask, request the temple management to get the temple or temples registered as soon as possible.
If the face any trouble from City Hall, get in touch with my office at Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur. We have to safeguard all places of worship, not only Hindu temples but also that of all religion. I also very much hope that places of worship are not demolished blindly in this nation. This becomes very sensitive and has various implications. Lets hope for the best.

MIC ELECTIONS

By now, many would have known what is happening in the MIC, politically I mean. The presidential election would be held in late Feb or March, while election for other positions would be in September.
Party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu would seek re-election. Datuk Muthupalaniappan from Seremban has voiced his intention to fight the president's post.
No other leader has announced their intention to contest for posts and that includes myself. Three days ago, Tamil Nesan ran a front page story saying that I could be going for the party number two post -- deputy president -- in September and I issued a denial the very next day.
I have not even thought of what post to contest as I find that the party polls are still ten months away and it is not time to start talking about politics or positions.
The bigger task at hand is getting work done. There are so many things to do and this is my priority presently. Let positions come to me rather than me fighting for positions, just eight months after winning a parliamentary seat and becoming a deputy minister.
Some might say that a politician has to be ambitious and criticise me for taking this stand.
The people, or rather in this case, MIC members and delegates should be my judge and jury. If they find me to be a worthwhile leader then by all means, I would take their advice and support. Only after this can I decide what I want to do with my political career.
My mission for now is to serve the people and let them decide what and where I should sit. I would not lobby for posts and if the public think I am not worth-the-while then it is better for me not to contest. I do not want to be known as someone, who just warms a particular seat in the party.
I want to be known as someone who brought change to the community and Malaysians at large.

FALSE SMS ON TEMPLE DEMOLITION

Yesterday, I was shocked and dismayed over a sms text, which was making its rounds in the Klang Valley alleging that Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur had demolished a temple at Jalan Masjid India. The sms was incorrect and I think was just to provoke the community into reacting. I held a press conference at the site of the said temple to clarify the issue. I did this in my capacity of the Federal Territories deputy minister. Below is a Bernama story on the matter.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- Federal Territories Deputy Minister Datuk M. Saravanan today urged Hindus not to fall for an SMS text in circulation, stating that Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) had demolished a Hindu temple located near Masjid India, here.
He said DBKL's enforcement unit had only demolished the old structure of the Arulmigu Sri Bathrakaliaman temple today, after allocating a piece of land to enable the temple authorities to carry out the relocation exercise.
"The new temple is just beside the old one and all the deities have been
moved to the new temple.
"DBKL today only demolished the empty structure of the old temple which was not utilised by the temple authorities. So, accusing DBKL of demolishing a temple is totally wrong. They only tore down the structure of the old temple, without any deities inside," he told reporters after visiting the site here, today.
Saravanan, who is also MIC information chief, said DBKL, which came under the ministry' purview, had on several occasions given notice to the temple management on the demolition exercise to make way for a road widening project in Jalan Masjid India.
The temple management chairman, Kanmani Undalam, through a letter to DBKL
had asked the authority not to demolish the old temple before Oct 31 and promised to vacate the premises on or before the said date.
Copies of the letter was furnished to the media during Saravanan's visit.
Following the request from the temple management, DBKL security and enforcement director Rolan Abd Rahman, in a letter replied that DBKL had agreed to the terms of the temple management and would not demolish the temple before Oct 31.
Saravanan said Rolan's letter also specifically stated that the old temple
structure would be demolished today, Nov 3.
"Spreading the SMS saying that DBKL had demolished a temple is a total distortion of truth. It is the work of irresponsible people. Notice had been given. A new temple is just beside the old one and furthermore only the structure of the old temple was demolished. That is the truth," he added.
Saravanan said the ministry would keep to its assurance that no place of worship in the federal capital would be demolished without proper relocation.
-- BERNAMA

Indians Need a Sense of Belonging

From my observation over the last eight months since taking office as deputy minister, I realise that Malaysian Indians do not have a sense of belonging towards the government of the day, in this case the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN). We used to feel that we belonged to the BN, but this is not the case anymore. This is not because the community has changed it's mind overnight or that it has been influenced by the Opposition.
It has more to do in the way in which the BN has operated in the last decade or so. BN leaders at their meetings do not sense this because the comradeship is strong. The feeling of belonging is even stronger at this level. Meetings are conducted in an open manner. Leaders are more open minded when issues are discussed. There is no Indian, Malay or Chinese distinction. That is good and well.
But if one is to go down further, the spirit of togetherness deteriotes. The case in point is the civil sector. When an Indian walks into a government office, immediately he or she gets hostile based on the surroundings. Whatever the leaders are promoting gets lost down the line. The spirit of togetherness, that we are all Malaysian regardless of race and religion, is lost at government offices. All we see is that the offices of public service being dominated by a single race.
This results in Indians and other races to feel detached from the government. The sense of belonging is lost. Whatever, we do outside as politicians, whatever we promote, whatever slogans we come-up with becomes totally useless. When a person, may he be Indian, Chinese or any other race walks into a government office, he or she should feel welcome. The person must feel that he or she had walked into a place that could offer help. The feeling that their problems would be solved must be there.
As a first step to remedy the situation, I suggest that each govenment department has a director or deputy director who is an Indian. This way, even if the lower rung staff are unable to offer sincere help, Indians can always look up to the said director or deputy director to solve their woes. This would also enable the government to have a true picture of Indians on the ground. These directors or deputy directors would be able to bring-up problems and issues confronting Indians at the department level and higher-up.
It could also be part of the government to increase Indian participation in the civil sector, especially in the higher category. Creating the post of director or deputy director at important government departments would not be a huge task for the powers that be and the cost mininal. But the returns would be huge, in this case, the support of Indians, which deserted the ruling coalition at the March 8 General Election, as they would feel that they belong to the system.

Deepavali Is Over and It's Back To Work

First and foremost, let me say that the DPM's visit to Brickfields the other day was a success. He promised to look into the problem of Indians without birth certs and ICs. Najib also promised to look into the grouses of the Indian community, which he admitted had several unresolved problems. I look at this development in a positive manner, since it came from a man who is going to be Prime Minister in March. He has also taken interest to our suggestion that Brickfields be developed into a Little India. The cabinet has given approval for this to take-off.
On another front, Deepavali is over and it is back to work. There is lots to be done. Not only in my Ministry but also in the MIC. Will blog soon. Take care and be safe on the roads please.