Subra vows to fight for MIED

By Lee Yuk Peng and A. Letchumanan, The Star

PETALING JAYA: Former MIC deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam has vowed to fight to ensure that Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED) will remain within the party and not hijacked by any individual.

Subramaniam, who is the founding member of the MIC educational arm which came under the AIMST university, said he would get in touch with the trustees and members of the MIED to discuss the issue.

“There is a provision to call for an extraordinary general assembly and I have told lawyers to look into it,’’ he told a press conference here yesterday.

He was responding to a statement by MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, who, in an interview with news portal Malaysiakini, was quoted to have said that both MIED and AIMST were non-governmental organisations set up in his personal capacity.

“Just because I happened to be the MIC president, it does not mean that MIED and AIMST belong to MIC,” he was quoted as saying.

Calling Samy Vellu’s statement a blatant lie, Subramaniam said it only confirmed rumours that the MIC president was planning to hijack the immensely valuable organisations held in trust for the party.

“Various police and MACC reports had been lodged against MIED and Samy Vellu pertaining to contracts awarded at allegedly inflated value.

“The recent development of detaching MIED from MIC is a desperate move to avoid prosecution by the authorities,” he said.

The government, he said, had to date disbursed a total of RM300mil for the institute’s various programmes, including in the form of direct and matching grants and land for Tafe College and AIMST at a nominal premium.

In an immediate response, Samy Vellu said Subramaniam has appeared to have lost his mind after being defeated by Datuk G. Palanivel for MIC deputy president’s post last month.

“As for the allegations against me and the MIC, I have already instructed my lawyer to file a case against Subramaniam for defaming me,” he said in a statement.