HINDRAF - A shameful Act

Are we still under British rules?Don't we have DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Dipertuan Agong?








Sub Inspector Chew


Cop hurt trying to control crowd

KUALA LUMPUR: A police officer was injured when he was hit on the head with stones and broken bottles during The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) street protest yesterday.
The attack on Dang Wangi CID sub-inspector Chew Choon Peng has left him with two gashes on his head with 12 stitches.
He is also suffering from bruises on his arms, shoulders and legs.
Chew was given outpatient treatment at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital. He is recuperating at his home in Cheras.
In agony: Sub-inspector Chew screaming in pain after being hurt during the protest in Kuala Lumpur.
An exhausted Chew revealed that he was caught off guard by the attack.
“A fellow officer was attempting to arrest a rowdy protester who was making derogatory remarks at our squad of 15 officers stationed in Jalan Hampshire.
“All hell broke loose when the protestor resisted arrest and I stepped in to help. The next thing I knew there was a sharp stinging pain on my head, and then I fell down,” he said.

He commended his colleagues for quickly controlling the situation and dragging him away from the 200-odd protesters who had begun hurling motorcycle helmets and bricks at the retreating team of policemen.
But the violence fizzled out as quickly as it had started and the protesters, too, retreated in the opposite direction towards Jalan Semarak.
Several of Chew’s colleagues were also seen limping, and others clutching their arms in pain after the short attack.
They then bandaged Chew’s head as he was bleeding profusely.

Change must come from within ourselves

At the end of the day, it is in the hands of the Indians whether they want to do better for themselves and their future generations. Street protests are definitely not the answer.
I DO not profess to know everything that is ailing the Indian community, but it has to be admitted that all is not well.
Some will argue that the community, which makes up about 8% of the population, has a decent, even an enviable, share of the economic pie in Malaysia.
But it has to be remembered that this is due to the fact that a few Indians have managed to do well in business as well as in professions such as medicine, law, engineering and accountancy.
The majority of Indians in the country are not as well off as their counterparts from the other communities. But this does not mean that Indians have to take to the streets to right what they perceive to be injustices done to them in the country.
Malaysia is a country that prides itself in achieving peace and harmony among the various races. As a matter of fact it is a success model of how people of various races and religions can work and live together to bring prosperity and success to themselves and the nation.
The MIC, which represents Indians in the Barisan Nasional coalition, says it is aware of the issues and problems confronting the community in the country,
“We believe in working from within the (government) system,” party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said, referring to the illegal gathering organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
One must understand that the MIC faces an uphill task in uplifting the standards of many in the Indian community, whose roots are linked to the rubber and oil palm estates in the country.
Many Indians are either still in the estates or working as labourers and holding menial jobs to earn a living.
Many, however, have also wrangled free of the clutches of poverty due to their business acumen and education excellence. These Indians live a quality of life equivalent or even higher than their counterparts in the other communities.
Chances are their children and their children’s children will continue to do well in life due to the solid foundation provided by their successful parents.
The challenge that faces the community now is to emulate these success stories while the task before the MIC and other Indian social and economic organisations is to continue and further intensify efforts towards this ideal.
One needs to only look at the Chinese in Malaysia to realise what a good education can do. Ever insistent on quality education for their children, the community has become an economic powerhouse in Malaysia.
The Chinese have achieved this despite most of them also coming to the then Malaya as labourers and odd-job workers.
There must be a strong will among Malaysian Indians to emulate this and for the MIC and the Government to continue facilitating this endeavour.
For a start, the 25 leading Indian associations that rightly urged Hindraf to call off its illegal march to the British High Commission should perhaps come forward to help the MIC and the Government to help uplift the standard of living of the Indian community.
It would also be great for successful Indians to individually take the effort to sponsor or help the needy in the community.
Such good work may already be taking place but it will not hurt to double or even triple such efforts.
Parents must also ensure their children are serious about their studies and do well in school.
But at the end of the day, it is in the hands of the Indians whether they want to do better for themselves and their future generations. This, I know, is easier said than done but it is achievable.
Street protests like the one in Kuala Lumpur yesterday are definitely not the answer.
Such protests only seek to point out problems but do not strive to provide answers or solutions.
As an Indian, I believe we have the ability within ourselves to do better in life.
But the push should start from us, the Indians in Malaysia, with help from our friends from the other races, the MIC and the Government.


Muhyiddin: Other races have poor too

MUAR: Umno vice-president Tan Seri Muhyiddin Yassin warned yesterday that the country could collapse if the people carry their grievances to the streets.
“To me, the group just wanted to create instability and cause problems, especially to the people in Kuala Lumpur,” he said, when commenting on the Hindraf protest yesterday.
Muhyiddin, who is Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister, said there were poor people among the Malays and Chinese as well and poverty was not just among the Indians.
He said if Malaysia had treated the Indian community unfairly, as claimed by the organisers of the Hindraf demonstration, the group leader would not have obtained a good education and become a lawyer.
In Penang, Deputy Information Minister Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye said there was no need for Hindraf to stage a street demonstration merely to hand over a memorandum to the British High Com-mission.
Speaking to reporters after laun-ching a health campaign at SK Padang Tembak, he said things could be solved more effectively through dialogues and other proper channels.
He said the Government and Barisan Nasional leaders were concerned and would listen to the views proposed by any quarter.

Batu Caves temple property damaged, 69 protesters held

KUALA LUMPUR: Demonstrators broke into the Batu Caves temple compound and destroyed temple property early yesterday morning, Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said.
He said the crowd that had gathered there swelled from a mere 200 people just after midnight to more than 1,000 by about 2am.
“The demonstrators forced open the locked gates and started breaking temple property, prompting the temple committee to lodge a police report,” he said.
Minutes later several trucks of policemen, including those in plainclothes and members of the Light Strike Force unit, arrived at the temple and told the demonstrators to disperse.
However, they refused and instead fled into the temple premises, when police gave them a last warning.
When policemen pursued them, the demonstrators pelted and attacked them with stones and inter-locking bricks, resulting in several policemen being injured.
The demonstrators also threw a Molotov cocktail at a tourist charter bus, setting in on fire. They also shattered the windscreens and windows of several passing cars by throwing stones and bricks at the vehicles.
Musa said no tear gas or water cannons were used at the demonstrators during the incident.
“By about 4am, 69 people had been arrested,” he added.
As at press time, police were keeping a close watch on the area.