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I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Malaysians a very Happy New Year. Hope 2009 would be a better year than the previous and grant everyone success in all undertaking.
My new year would be hectic as I have to be in Chennai India, the first week of the year. All in the name of work.
I would certainly wish for a peaceful world with lesser problems in 2009.
A HAPPY NEW YEAR PEOPLE.
The privatisation of Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) has become big news. There is a lot of hue and cry over the privatisation of the Institute, which offers reasonable fees for saving lives due to government subsidies.
The government late last week announced that it had agreed in principle to sell 51 percent of its stake in IJN to conglomerate Sime Darby group. Views of many published in newspapers and the internet shows the public feedback on the matter.
As far as I am concerned, although I am part of the government, the feeling is that the plan should be scrapped altogether.
IJN has proven and continues to prove that it is a premier heart institute in the country. It had produced several firsts in heart transplant and doing fine on its own. It is also reported to have some hundreds of millions in its coffers and this is to be used for future expansion.
I do not really know why the government choose to privatise an organisation which was already making profit, providing aid to the poor and needy and had become a benchmark for other heart institutes in the region.
My stand is that no healthcare services provided by the government should be privatised. This is our (the government's) responsibility and we should live-up to it. We should not in any circumstances leave healthcare to the private sector, as when this happens, our low and medium income group suffers. Let us work for the betterment of the people and not to burden the rakyat.
Although Sime Darby has suggested that it would not burden the needy, there is no guarantee how long they could hold-up to this promise. Companies can suggest various reasons to hike fees and this would be at the expense of the people.
I feel organisations like the IJN should be left alone, just like any government run hospital in the country. Instead of selling stakes, the government should pump in more funds to upgrade these government-run-hospitals to ensure the people enjoy better healthcare services.
Waiting time and scary stories of government hospitals should become something of the past. We should strive for something that could be enjoyed to the fullest by the rakyat.
The saying Health is Wealth is apt for this scenario.
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.
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.
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
