Thursday, January 14, 2010

"HAPPY PONGGAL"




WISHING EVERYONE 2010 HAPPY PONGGAL

Monday, January 4, 2010

"Holidaying family swears not to visit Penang again"



Here is a comment that came out in the Star Newspaper on the 4.1.10.
What has Penang became after the last general election? who do we blame?

PENANG is unique among local tourist destinations. It has everything and more – culture, heritage, beach, hills and above all, fabulous food.

For this reason, our family has visited Penang numerous times over the last decade and thoroughly enjoyed each trip.

However, our latest visit during the recent school holidays proved to be a bitter and a thoroughly forgettable experience.

Much to our shock and sadness, we found Penang to have deteriorated so much that it made us swear not to visit the Pearl of the Orient ever again.

The trip from the airport to our hotel took us two hours instead of the usual 30 minutes as we were caught in a massive traffic jam. We later found that this snarl was caused by the closure of several key roads.

There was no notification or any instructions on alternative roads to use.

Only when we finally checked into our hotel did we realise the cause – a motor GP was being held on several busy public roads. The authorities failed to provide the necessary traffic management, thus creating massive traffic congestion and chaos.

Further unpleasant surprises awaited us. Our rental car was issued a ticket for not paying parking fees even though it was a Saturday evening.

Upon checking we were told by the hotel staff that the state had extended the hours for parking fee collection – from morning right up to midnight, even during weekends.

Along Batu Ferringhi we discovered monstrously ugly structures were being built seemingly at breakneck pace and with scant regard to Mother Nature or public safety.

The famed beaches were dirty and badly maintained with the cleaners, who used to be efficient in our previous visits, nowhere to be found.

Downtown, we were dismayed to find frenzied construction work going on at various historical and heritage buildings.

Some of the most valuable buildings were being turned into pubs, individual homes, showrooms, galleries, restaurants and other businesses.

Double and triple parking seems to be the norm. In popular commercial areas such as Pulau Tikus, Weld Quay, and Little India, irresponsible parking and illegal businesses make driving hazardous.

At Little India, our initial joy of seeing road signs in Tamil turned to disappointment on seeing the poor translation.

Unchecked development and poor enforcement were again evident here.

What is so surprising and sad is the rapid rate of decline of Penang within the short space of two years since our last visit in December 2007.

We are unsure what really caused such an alarming deterioration but the Penangites we spoke to pointed their fingers at the new state government under the stewardship of Guan Eng.

We are not sufficiently familiar with the state’s politics to make an assessment or judgment but if the state government does not act quickly to arrest this decline, Penang and Penangites will be the biggest losers.

Tourists like us will give the state a wide berth if nothing is done.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/4/focus/5405999&sec=focus

Friday, January 1, 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010


LETS MAKE THIS YEAR SUPERB..

Saturday, December 5, 2009

New but messy kid on the block

A new political party for working class Tamils – the Malaysia Makkal Sakthi Party – is in peril in the wake of a power struggle by two rival factions.

IN a shocking development and less then 10 weeks after the grand Oct 10 launch of the Malaysia Makkal Sakthi Party (MMSP) by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, a bitter feud has broken out between the party’s two top leaders for control of the party.

Their feud has divided the incipient party into two groups that are going for the jugular, a development that would probably end the Barisan Nasional leaders’ hopes that the new party could win back the support of the Tamil masses.

A faction led by president R.S. Thanenthiran and another led by his deputy A. Vathemurthy are fighting for control of the party, with Vathemurthy, the former Perak Hindraf coordinator, accusing Thanenthiran of numerous failings and demanding his resignation on Wednesday.

Thanenthiran denied all the allegations and instead accused Vathemurthy of creating chaos and destroying the party at the behest of “outsiders” whom he did not name but is understood to be MIC leaders, including party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

Thanenthiran was the former Hindraf national co-ordinator and came into prominence after leading a Hindraf protest in the city in 2008.

Unlike some Hindraf founders who all remain implacably anti-Umno and Barisan, Thanenthiran argued that the Barisan was changing and beginning to give greater attention to long-standing problems faced by the Indians.

“We want to work with the Prime Minister (Najib) to address these issues. That’s why our party is working with and allied to Barisan,” Thanenthiran said in an earlier interview.

His team, including Vathemurthy and others thought along similar lines and were willing to work with Barisan despite their Hindraf background, provided Indian woes were addressed.

Their position was in sharp contrast with other Hindraf leaders who had joined Pakatan political parties and believed that Barisan was beyond redemption.

The new party had a tough time getting off because it was attacked for its pro-Barisan stance by other Hindraf leaders and the Pakatan leaders who all feared that MMSP would reclaim back Indian voter support for the Barisan.

Nevertheless, the party started to make an impact on the ground on the back of the numerous reforms that Najib was introducing under his 1Malaysia concept including direct aid for the Indian community.

Even the MIC, which was reforming and raising numerous issues that previously it had avoided, was worried the MMSP was a growing threat.

The new party while fighting political giants in the contest for the loyalty of the Tamil masses, had two distinct advantages – the name Makkal Sakthi, the Pakatan rallying cry in 2008, and the ears and endorsement of the Prime Minister himself.

Both were precious pillars that can be used to build a formidable political movement for working class Indians but the infighting in the MMSP has thrown a spanner in the works.

It also suffers another major setback – its key leaders are all political novice, inexperienced and unsure of how to negotiate the political landmines.

Vathemurthy told The Star his faction is unhappy with the “arrogant and autocratic” manner Thanenthiran was ruining the party.

“He has brought family, relatives and friends into the top leadership. He has sidelined the Hindraf leaders who fought on the streets and are close to the masses,” Vathemurthy said.

“We need a new leader and it can be anyone in the Hindraf movement who has the credentials,” he said, adding he himself does not aspire to be president.

Thanenthiran, denying all the charges, said a Central Committee (CC) meeting on Dec 16, will discuss the feud and take the appropriate action to resolve all matters.

In the end, the outcome of the feud will be decided by which faction has a majority among the 27 CC members. Both claim to have a majority.

After both side have expressed so much bitterness for each other, it is unlikely the Dec 16 showdown would produce a permanent and lasting solution to the leadership tussle.

Given these circumstances Najib and the Barisan might have to re-evaluate their options and start seeing the old war horses - MIC and PPP - as better bets then the MMSP, the new but messy kid on the block.


Although wounded, the MIC and PPP are increasingly more attractive to the Indian community who are put off by the constant squabbles and bickering among Pakatan leaders and the failure to deliver on election promises.But to win back support both political parties have to be led by a new and invigorating leadership and with a new agenda for change as its driving force.

This is because they have what the MMSP clearly does not - history, organisation and experience.

COMMENT
By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/5/focus/5242577&sec=focus

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

"HAPPY SINGLE MOTHER WITH 5 KIDS"





This single mum is from Lukut and she has 5 children with her whom are still studying in tamil schools. She is working as a cleaner at a nearby home and earns rm400 monthly and needs to use this money wisely to raise up this kids. Besides that, they are living in a "Rumah Papan" that has no water supply and electricity. But from today onwards they have a reason to smile because their problems have been cleared by the help of Putera MIC negeri Sembilan together with Dato T.Rajagopalu. Putera MIC Negeri Sembilan with the help from Dato.T.Rajagopalu have gave them deposit money for a new low cost house nearby and also helped them to get kebajikan monthly rm450 plus another Kebajikan nearly rm600 monthly. We cant do much, but we try to do something rather than just talking or blogging.. -Everyone Happy-

"CHEERING UP DA LESS FORTUNATES"




We were born to this earth to do some deeds. So this is how we do it, with our own style..