|
(The Sun) KUALA LUMPUR (March 30, 2008): "I’m still very alive, I’m not dead, you understand? I’m alive! I’m alive! I’m a workaholic and I will work for the community all the time," said MIC president Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu.
He made the more than 160 grassroots leaders from all over the country sit up in their seats while delivering his keynote address to a MIC Divisional Leaders' Workshop titled “Rebranding the MIC” on the party’s headquarters today. Samy Vellu also issued advice and pointers for the party’s new journey at all levels – branches, divisions, for state executive councillors, and even for the three leaders who were appointed to the new cabinet. He said among the people’s concerns were employment issues involving the Social Security Organisation, youth training, the welfare of estate workers, the lack of employment for Indians in the government and micro-businesses finding it hard to manage. “In squatter housing areas, there will be 10 Indian shops but once they are relocated to flats or new houses, there is only one shop, if they are lucky.
“How are businesses to grow this way?” Samy Vellu cited an example. Reminding the participants that the party is “guardian for the Indian community and only we can voice for the Indians,” Samy Vellu said the MIC will establish an Implementation Coordination Committee (ICC) to review and analyse community needs and requests through divisional leaders’ submissions. He said the ICC will meet on a bi-monthly basis and MIC will continue its ‘Meet-The-People Session’ on Tuesdays from April to listen to the concerns of the people. “MIC recognises that there are many unresolved community concerns and it is in addressing these concerns that MIC launched ‘An Agenda for Action to Address the Socio-Economic Disadvantages of Malaysian Indians’ which is comprehensive and will be implemented with the Federal Government’s assistance,” he said. At a press conference later, Samy Vellu revealed his plans of going on a nationwide roadshow “from state to state and district to district” and expressed confidence of working with former deputy MIC president Datuk S. Subramaniam despite their supporters having disagreements amongst each other. “Just because two or three people cannot see eye-to-eye, it doesn’t mean all of them cannot agree. “I’m very confident that we will do well and if you want, I can call the whole membership in. You just give me a few months after I visit state to state,” he said. Asked when he would hand the party reins over, he replied: “I will lead the party until I die. People want me to die earlier but because of you, I will not die”.
“If the opposition doesn’t care about race issues, why are they going back to what BN is doing? “Why only one Indian (state exco) in Perak, only one in Penang and one in Selangor? There must be three fellows! “In one month (since the elections), I learnt a lot about how to tell lies to people and attract them but we do not do that,” Samy Vellu added.
 |
