Orang Asli the forgotten people!

Yesterday all the 222 MP’s were sworn in. Later in the evening I and my wife caught up with a family friend for dinner. As I was having dinner a gentleman approached me and gave me a note on orang Asli. The contents of the letter goes like this:

Sir, please forgive if this note is presented to your good self at this place, me by doing so have violated your privacy in thoughts etc…

Please treat this note as a personal greetings on behalf of my family and friends for you having come to serve all Malaysians effectively “ as many Malaysians so seek” While you continue to seek justice for all, please also look into the problems of the “Natives”(“Orang Asli Matters”) long overdue. As an ordinary person, I am doing whatever possible for them, in respect of their land taken away by the Government, due compensation not paid etc. most of this cases involves the state of Selangor i.e. From Mohd. Taib time and thereafter to Toyo. I am preparing a report of the same and hope you can support the move. Thanking You.

For along time the orang Asli’s have been left out from the main stream of development. In fact I can’t understand as to why they cannot even appoint an orang asli to be the Director of the natives in Malaysia? Many a time the Government have stampeded on the natives rights without any due consideration of them.

Lat year a very well known area of the Orang Asli in Bidor was proposed to be developed into a “botanical Garden”. Many NGO’s and citizens spoke up for the Orang Aslis against this project, as the proposed development will eat into the hunting areas of the orang asli. I even raised this matter raised in Parliament. Subsequently the state government scrapped this project.

Recently after the general elections an Orang Asli leader called me to fix an appointment with the Perak state Exco to settle some issues on land. He told me the former state Government have no kept their promise of giving land titles to them. I remarked its the government who must get the Orang Asli consent to alienate land as all land in the country should rightfully belong to the orang Asli and not the other way round as its being practiced now.

TAMILAR THIRUNAAL CELEBRATION

Ipoh, 27/04/08; More than 30 Hindu associations have joint hand together and celebrated the “Ipoh Tamilar Thirunal” on 27/04/08 from 3.30pm up to 10.30 pm. The function was held in Perak State Secretary Grand Ballroom. The function commenced with “Tamil Thai Vaalthu” which later than continued with more meaningful and cultural events.

On this occasion most of the other association’s members and representatives gave their blessing and supports to this Ipoh Tamilar Thirunal event.

I, Tronoh V.Sivakumar and my family members attended the function. We were there at 07.30pm as per the invitation. As we walk in to grand ballroom, Bharatha natiyam dance was going on and after being seated I have enjoyed classical dance.

After the classical dance, Mr.Arul Arumugam gave welcome speech and followed by the Event President Mr.P.K.Kumar. The President in his speech thanked the State Government Exco Member Mr.Sivanesan for the approval given to utilize the SUK Grand ballroom for this event. “This is the first time in the history that the State Government allowed us to use the SUK Grand Ballroom for free of rental. On behalf of the organizing committee I take this great opportunity to thank and wish all the best for the New State Government” add Mr.P.K.Kumar in his speech.

After the speech, all the VIP’s was given a garland honor and thereafter the event continued with another Bharatha Natiyam dance.

The event ended at 10.30pm and I left the grand ballroom with full of happiness and joy.

Event Album

PRESS RELEASE

MBI Full Board Meeting

Press Release on 24/04/08

Don’t talk humanitarianism, show it, practice it…

We must practice humanitarianism not just talk it by immediately releasing the five Hindraf leaders who are being detained illegally without just cause and reason. Yesterday A.Sivanesan and I visited the five - M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar, V.Ganabatirau, R. Kenghadharan and K. Vasanthakumar – at the Kamunting center on Thursday and their physical and mental health is deteriorating to an alarmingly level.

We criticize SUHAKAM, a humanitarian agency, for issuing a statement all is well without visiting the five detainees, in particular Uthayakumar who suffers from diabetics.

Vasanthakumar has lung infection and is not getting adequate health care because the system in Kamunting is outdated, slow and health services are backward.

We condemn SUHAKAM for not visiting the detainees and getting their side of the story. They should practice humanitarianism. The conditions of the detainees must be improved. They must be either charged in court or immediately released.

There is absolutely no reason or justification to hold them any longer as the people have voted and send a clear message to the government that they want the five released without delay. The government must respect the verdict of the people.

In addition one of the detainees is an elected representative.

Manoharan is a state assemblyman Kota Alam Shah and it his duty to serve his constituency. How can he serve when he is incarcerated in a detention camp? For this reason alone he should be released immediately.

The manner in which SUHAKAM conducted its purported inquiry is deplorable and has brought shame to the organization.

Their conclusions are very wrong, and deprive Uthayakumar and his family’s fundamental right to be heard and participate in any inquiry.

The five are victims of a draconian law that allows for detention without trial - where there is no right to defend oneself; no right to a fair and open trial; and no right to even go for judicial review of the alleged reasons for detaining him.

As such, the manner in which Datuk Siva Subramanian and SUHAKAM conducted themselves in this case makes it completely unacceptable.

Press Release

Time to give disabled like Leong Shir Ley a new begining……

On April 23 night while attending to the needs of my constituents at the Bercham Service Center, I had a shock to see young woman being assisting to climb up the 1st floor office.

She was only 24 years old and almost blind and had gradually become blind because of neglect and also being poor she could not afford the medical cost. Her story is really shocking and shows how we need to redirect public resources to help people like Leong Shir Ley.

Leong told me she was only 24 years old and was having eyesight problem from very young. She had attended school but because her parents could not afford the cost she could not see specialist doctors. The financial burden only worsened as the years progressed and she began to loose her eye sight

After finishing school she started work at a pharmacy outlet in Bercham but by then she had lost sight on both eyes. She was referred to the Gleneagles Medical Centre for treatment and the medical report of the hospital states as follows: “The patient had suffered retinal detachment in both eyes previously and had undergone surgery to both eyes for this condition. Presently, she has very limited vision in both eyes (counting figures only) Her vision CANNOT be improved further with any other treatment and she is unable to continue working as a clerical staff."

The life story and the her sufferings as a blind brought tears to my eyes.

She has now stop working and is waiting SOSCO to assist her on financial benefits.

However Leong said she does not want to be on welfare but want to work for her bread. She is determined to work although blind and I was taken aback by her tenacity.
She has forwarded her application to be retrained as a IT assistant with the Pusat Latihan Gurney but has not received any reply from the pusat. I am taking up the matter.

Next week when parliament opens I will find out what happened to her application to the Pusat Gurney. I will follow up until I get a proper answer because Leong was very concerned that being a Chinese she may not be able to get training at the Pusat Latihan. I promised her this is not the case and I will help her get the training she needs.

A story in the New Straits Times today is heartening. It says the government is creating more jobs for the disabled from 400 to 10,000 jobs. This is good and I have raised the issue of disabled people numerous times in Parliament but little has changed, little has been done.

I had even suggested that at toll collections on the highway should be reserved for disabled people where they can work as clerical staff.

The time has come for change, for society and the government to recognize people like Leong are normal people with some disabilities and should be treated with respect and dignity and a good portion of the national resources used to asset them live a meaningful life.

Lets change now!

Pollution in Tasek-Ipoh

23/4/08

The residents in around Ipoh have been complaining that the too much dust is emitted by Tasek cement and it has become unbearable in the last few weeks.

The local residents made representations to the State Exco member YB A.Sivanesan on the local environment problem and he immediately asked for a meeting with the CEO of Tasek Cement to sort out the resident’s grievance. Today the Department of Environment (DEO), Tasek Cement operators and we, met at their factory to discuss the pollution issue.

We are given to understand Tasek Cement has been operating its factory since 1964 and there were no residents residing around this factory then. But this has changed in the last 40 years where residents are now staying just a stone throw away from the factory.

The complaint of the local residents is that frequently in the night cement duct seems to cover all over ones house and cars. It seems this happens in the evenings and during the weekend. But the pollution is getting from bad to worse as it’s a daily occurrence now.

To this the CEO said that they have installed measures to arrest pollution which is worth millions of ringgit. The residents assert if that is so, how come the cement dust is all over ones house! To this the CEO said that it may be a case where other factories contributing to the pollution. The DEO on the other hand mentioned that although they have received many complaints from the locals but the pollution level is within the permitted level. In one instance last year this factory was fined the maximum permitted under the law that is Rm2000!

The discussion was held in the presence of the residents numbering 20 of them and a committee was formed and they will all meet at the State Exco office next Tuesday to ascertain what else can be done. In the mean time the DEO officers and the health authorities have been asked to analyze the dust materials to see the danger it poses to the public.

I mentioned that the maximum fine of RM2000 is ricdulous and i will raise the matter in Parliament for the present maximum fine to be reviewed.

Also letters have been written to me asking the factory to be relocated elsewhere as its hazardous to the wellbeing of local residents. It’s hoped the relevant authorities will look into this matter carefully.

Press Release

New era for local councils in Malaysia

I was the representative for the sate government of Perak and spoke at the Forum orgainsed by the Ipoh City Watch.

My speech is as follows.

A new era is beginning for local councils in Malaysia, at least in five states won by the opposition in

the March 8 general election. It is an era where the arrogance of power and the lack of transparency and accountability in local councils under the BN government will be erased and a new ethics of sharing with the people and community leaders will be inculcated.

It is also a new era because the councilors will be picked for their expertise, knowledge and level of commitment for the community.

Gone are the days when just political loyalties were the only criteria. Today’s society is more knowledgeable and demanding and to succeed we must deliver high quality local council decisions based on society’s needs.

Local council are virtually government’s in itself and in today’s world of decentralization of political authority, local councils is where the people have their biggest say in how to manage their affairs.

It is in local government where political parties and their agendas are made or broken. The people and watching and they will make or break any political parties that fails to deliver.

That is why the Peoples Alliance face a daunting task make local council work. Before we criticised, protested, demanded and condemned. But now we have to deliver, it is a heavy burden.

The task now is to:

# review and reassess all service, organisation and methods of local council activities in all Pakatan ruled states.

# set up new best principles to speed up delivery, efficient and curb waste and improve quality.

# get local communities, NGOs, civil society involved in the activities of local councils.

A totally new approach to local government is needed in the light of the peoples verdict that showed their anger and dissatisfaction with the BN methods. We cannot use BN methods anymore, these have been discredited and rejected by the people.

My views on possible changes to be brought in the interim until direct elections to local councils are as follows:

1) all meetings of the local council should be held after office hours as the common complain is that local government officers are difficult to get because they are perpetually "in meetings."

All local councilors meetings should be held after office hours and the meetings be open to all citizens. Also attire at these meetings by rate payers should be relaxed to allow an informal atmosphere.3) All sub-committee meetings to be open to public. All this meeting be recorded and put on the Internet to get feed back from the rate payers.

The address and contact telephone numbers of local councilors should be easily made available in addition to having a mobile office at the markets. In fact notices must be put in zones for which the local councilors are responsible and all meetings with the rate payers should be recorded and put in the website which has to be up dated every 15 days5) All meetings must be notified to the public with sufficient notice so that they can attend and the witness the deliberations.

Sufficient notice and information should be provided to enable the public to have a say in the decision making process in particular the Local Agenda 21 process.7) All road signages must be in Bahasa, Mandrin and in Tamil.

All tender awards and appointment of officers in charge of tender must be transparent.9) All senior officers must publicly declare their assets

From now on it is not that we lord on you but you and we together are partners to better manage our local government. We are partners with local community, leaders and NGOs who all play an important role in local society.

Ultimately the future of local government is best left in then hands of the people themselves, not political parties appointing local councilors.

A true workable and viable local government is one that is elected, not appointed. Until local government councilors are elected by the rate payers themselves we will not have a local government that is truly representative of the peoples will.

We look forward to that day.

Press Release : 24 years old women manhandled by Police Officer

China Press - 17/04/08 (Evening Edition)

The Star - 18/04/08

24 YEARS OLD WOMEN WAS MANHANDLED BY POLICE OFFICER

Ipoh 17/04/08 – A young girl launched police report against a Police Officer and other Police Personnel’s on the complaint that she was manhandled, usage of vulgar words and sexual harassed while she under investigation at the Police Station at Ipoh.

The 24 years old women stated in her report that the police picked up her from Balai Police Menglembu on the 02/04/08 at 02.00am after she made a Police report stating her motorbike no: AGJ 102 was missing. Mariammah who is home and a mother of 2 was remanded for 2 weeks to help on a murder case on which, usage of the missing motorbike in the murder case.

The Policeman who came with other male officers arrested her and took her with police car with male police officers only. Absence of Female Police office officers is any body’s guess. She was remanded till 13/04/08 and the Police officers started to torture her since 05/04/08 till 08/04/08 for no reason.

Mariamah also alleged that the Policeman also kicked her back and hips several times and blindfolded her when this beating was taking place. Also she says the police forced her to admit that her husband was involved in the murder case which happens few days earlier before her arrestments. The Police arrested and force her to agree with the accusation. After few hours another policeman came and tortured her verbally and told her she would be striped naked if did not agree she was involved.

Soon after she was released on 13/04/08 she came to Ipoh Barat office to inform the incident and asked us to help her. There after at 2.45 today together with my secretary we took her to lodge a police report and at that material time the computers were all down!

After half an hour when a senior police office came the system was on again.

Police report was accepted which is as follows:

Saya ingin membuat laporan Polis terhadap pegawai polis yang memukul dan menyeksa diri saya semasa siasatan dijalankan terhadap laporan Polis saya No Repot: MENGELEMBU/001055/08.

Pada 02/04/08 saya pergi ke Balai Polis Menglembu untuk buat laporan mengenai kehilangan motorsikal saya yang bernombor AGJ 102. Tanpa-tanpa apa-apa siasatan awal saya telah pun didakwa oleh pihak Polis bahawa motorsikal itu terlibat dalam kes pembunuhan.

Kemudian datangnya pegawai dari D7 yang bernama Tuan.Vijay yang saya kenali dan boleh cam rupanya. Kemudian saya digari dan dibawa ke Balai Polis Ipoh dan semasa perjalanan pada waktu malam itu tidak ada pegawai Polis wanita bersama saya.

Semasa siasatan itu, saya diseksa dan dianiayai oleh pegawai tersebut. Pegawai tersebut ada tendang pada pinggang belakang saya berulang kali dan memukul saya sehingga ada kesan lebam pada bahagian tangan dan kepala.

Pada masa yang sama, pegawai-pegawai lain yang boleh saya cam turut mengeluarkan perkataan-perkataan yang tidak senonoh (lucah) dan memaksa saya untuk mengakui segala tuduhan mereka terhadap diri saya. Mereka juga mengugut akan telanjangkan diri saya dan gangguan seksual jikalau saya gagal patuh kepada permintaan mereka.

Tujuan saya ke Balai adalah untuk membuat laporan Polis terhadap sikap pegawai-pegawai

Polis yang terlibat dalam siasatan kes saya. Harap tindakan susulan diambil terhaap pegawai-pegawai polis tersebut diatas demi keadilan.

Ini laporan saya.

Sekian terima kasih.

Mariammah A/P Murugayah

830621-01-6586

No : 49, Persiaran Rishah Selatan 1/3,

Taman Buntong Ria,

30100 Ipoh

Tarikh : 17/04/08

Repot Polis no : 2270/08

We hope the police will conduct an independent investigation the soonest possible. I will raise this matter in Parliament. The Government must introduce the IPCMC as many feel uncomfortable to lodge report against the police and expect the police to them to investigate the case

Ban of Makkal Osai is an anti- people move…

The ban on Makkal Osai, a leading Tamil daily is shocking not only because Home Ministry bureaucrats arrogantly refused to give a reason for the ban, but it comes at a time when the people have clearly indicated through the March 8 polls, that they want a new Malaysia where press freedom is a central pillar. The banning of the paper indicates the Umnoputras who dominate the federal government and bureaucracy have not learnt a lesson from Makkal Shakthi or People Power shown on March 8.

The ban is also unacceptable because it is against fundamental liberties guaranteed under the Federal Constitution.

The officials who made this unfair and unjust decision must be made accountable for their action. They must either defend their decision or be sacked.

All democracy lovers in Malaysia are shocked by the ban. The newspapers had given fair and free coverage to all political parties – opposition and government in a manner that had won praise from its readers and the Indian community at large.

I urge the government to immediately restore the publishing license of Makkal Osai not just because the future of 107 employees are at stake but also to tell the world that we are civilized nation and practice freedom of the press.

With this ban i feel worse things are awaiting to happen like further crackdown by the government? I will vocally raise this matter in parliament to ensure the papers license is restored without delay.

I will also campaign for the abolition of the need for newspapers to have publishing licenses.

The Printing Press and Publication law is undemocratic and against the interest of the people and has been used by the ruling Umno party to instill fear and curb freedom of the press.

It must be abolished.Worst for Malaysia this anti-press freedom action comes when Malaysia is at the bottom rank of the World Press Freedom Index.

In the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index 20072007 Malaysia plunged 32 notches, a sad indication of the repressive atmosphere under the administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

Among 169 countries surveyed, Malaysia plunged 32 notches from 92nd in 2006 to 124th in 2007. It’s Malaysia ’s worst ranking since the annual Press Freedom Index was started in 2002. Today it is the most respected indicator of the level of a nations press freedom.

Malaysia was ranked 113th in 2005 and 122nd in 2004, respectively, out of 167 countries surveyed then. Malaysia was ranked 110th in 2002 and 104th in 2003, respectively.

The drop is the single-most severe deterioration in press freedom index ranking since Abdullah took over the government in 2003.