Polling Online

Read an intersting article in Bernama today. Some of us Netizens have set-up several polling sites for Malaysian Indians to vote, who they think would be the best candidate to hold positions in the party. This is a good move to allow some of us to see how the leaders are being evaluate.
These sites can be viewed at: www.micelection2009.com, www.micpolls2009.com, www.micelections2009.com and micfuture2009.blogspot.com.
Thank You and God Bless.

MERDEKA WISHES

I had just returned from the annual National Day celebrations. It was a very low key affair compared to the previous years. It was held at the Parliament square and attended by some 2,000 people.

It was a bit nostalgic for me to witness this event after watching parades of years gone-by. The previous National Day parades were held at Dataran Merdeka or state capitals with so much pomp and splendour.

This year's celebration was scaled down due to the Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic which has swept around the globe claiming hundreds if not thousands of lives. This is the price we have to pay living in a border less world, where travel had become a norm rather than an exception.

However small the celebration, it is a day for us to ponder and think of the nation's independence. This comes at the right time when there are numerous people taking a racial and religious slant on issues that crop-up from time to time.

The 1Malaysia concept propounded by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is another reminder that we Malaysians must live our lives as Malaysians and not as Malay, Chinese and Indian.

While our race may differ, but our nationality is one -- Malaysian. No citizens of this nation should ever forget that. We are Malaysian first and only then are we Malay, Chinese or Indian.

We may be in a racially slanted political party but that party should operate in the context of 1Malaysia. It is my Merdeka wish that all of us Malaysians do away with the habit of branding people using their race, religion or even colour. We are Malaysians and Malaysians we would be, whatever come may.

Thank You and God Bless.

MIC Elections

I am back...to blogging that is. As many would know the MIC would hold it's party election on Sept 12. This is regarded by many as a water shed election for the party to pick the next line of leaders, to take MIC to a higher plane in the future.

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, who was elected unopposed at the MIC presidential election in March this year, has picked his own line-up of leaders for the party polls.

The 1,464 delegates to the MIC assembly on March 12 would pick a deputy president, three vice presidents and 23 central working committee (CWC) members.
Incumbent deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel is the president's choice to retain the post.

The president's men for the three veep seats are Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk S. K. Devamany and myself.

A total 27 candidates have been named by the president to fill in the 23 CWC seats.

As for the deputy presidency, Datuk Palanivel would be challenged by vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan and former deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam.

While this looks like a tough fight, Datuk Palanivel seems to have the edge over the other two candidates based on his support from Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu. Another factor is the track record of the deputy president, in this case Datuk Palanivel.

In the veep race, all three of us -- Datuk Dr Subramaniam, Datuk Devamany and myself -- seem to be leading the seven cornered race. The other candidates here are Datuk S. Balakishnan of Johor, Datuk V.K.K. Teagarajan of Kuala Lumpur, P. Subramaniam of Selangor and Mariyayee of Negeri Sembilan.

I do not intend to offend any of the other candidates but delegates that I have met, have openly declared their support for the presidential trio. Some say that we would win.

However, I am cautious. Politics is not something that is taken for granted. There are still 12 days to go before delegates to go the polls and in politics 12-days is a very long time, especially when things can change overnight.

In the meantime, I am currently on a nationwide campaign tour to ensure delegates voted for the right people.

This is all for now. I would be updating this blog from time to time on issues that crop-up in this party election. However, I would refrain from naming people in my articles as this could jeopardise their chances.

Please bear with me as the last few months had been hectic and this had prevented me from blogging actively. I am enclosing a Bernama article released today. It can be viewed at http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newspolitic.php?id=436994

Thank You and God Bless.

Sorry For The Absence

I would like to express my apologies to all who had been following this blog over the past year. I have not blogged for about a month now. This is because there had been numerous engagements, meetings and now the Parliament session. I would be back soon with more thoughts. Thank you for your attention.

COA RULES FOR ZAMBRY

Below are two news stories, which would make headlines tomorrow, picked-up from Bernama due to their magnitude. The Court of Appeal has ruled that BN's Zambry is the rightful Menteri Besar of Perak.
The second is the death of a state assemblyman in Kelantan. This would pave way for another by-election. The BN, I feel, should participate in this by-election as it was due to natural causes.

PUTRAJAYA, May 22 -- A three-man bench of the Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision, today declared Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir as the rightful menteri besar of Perak.
The court held that the order made by the High Court on May 11, in declaring Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as the legitimate menteri besar, was wrong and set aside that decision.
"The learned High Court judge had failed to properly and adequately appreciate the entire evidence before him, and that rendered the decision as wrong," said Justice Datuk Md Raus Shariff, who sat with Justices Datuk Zainun Ali and Datuk Ahmad Maarop.
Both Mohammad Nizar and Zambry were not present in court today.

KOTA BAHARU, May 22 -- Manik Urai state assemblyman Ismail Yaacob died early today of a heart attack. He was 60.
Ismail, one of the longest-serving PAS elected representatives in Kelantan, died at 5.55am at the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital here. He was admitted to the hospital in April.
Ismail leaves a wife, Siti Zaharah Ibrahim, and 10 children. The burial will be held after the Friday prayers today.
Ismail, who was deputy head of the PAS Kuala Krai Division, won the Manik Urai state seat in the general election in 1985 and had been the elected representative there for five terms.
He did not contest the seat in the general election in 2004, paving the way for Zamzuri Mat Lazim to be the elected representative.
Ismail contested the seat again in the general election last year and defeated Mohamed Zulkifli Omar of the Barisan Nasional (BN) with a majority of 1,352 votes.