Rusnita Abu Hassan, we Indians WILL get you!

Malaysiakini has featured an article quoting Dato' Seri Samy Vellu urging the Education Ministry to take stern action against the now infamous 'racist teacher'. I reproduce the Malaysiakini article below for reference. In the meantime, my sources tell me Pn. Rusnita Abu Hassan has been tranferred to the smart school SMK Telok Datok, Banting. The students affected have also reiterated that they WILL file a civil suit. Good. Remember... babi balik China, cikgu balik mana?

A little bird also whispered to me that Pn. Rusnita was the recipient of an award for outstanding performance from the Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah Kuala Langat recently. Sigh. Why am I not surprised?

I tried to post a photo of Pn. Rusnita, but it doesn't seem to appear. You can see her smiling mugshot at

http://tamiluyir.blogspot.com/

or at

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyz5Dj4Nw2hG7jnhWOfRcSauZh6ctISEXAP3hKQMDjVsFfBlVHa8jDMaiUS1eQSQCl240BfclQqXyp8wH361Zgoq29g0BnYGz3GG_H0Z7nuadzi-JJN1EuzT0mpr4i27Dzci4g6di_NcaS/s1600-h/rusnita.JPG

From Malaysiakini:

Samy: Take severe action against 'racist' teacher

Aug 13, 08 1:49pm
MIC has urged the Education Ministry to take severe action against a teacher in Banting who uttered seditious and derogatory words against her Indian students recently.

In a statement today, MIC president S Samy Vellu said the party and the Indian community would not accept the teacher to be let off the hook with "a light sentence."

"It looks as if anyone who calls the Indian community with all sorts of unwanted words will not be punished, but instead sent to a better school," he added.

Samy was referring to the ministry's decision to transfer the 35-year-old history teacher to another school, located closer to her house, and attend counseling.

He questioned the decision by the ministry, saying that he regarded the move to transfer her to a smart school as "a form of appreciation."

Samy Vellu said he would write to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to express the party's displeasure over the ministry's lack of stern action against the teacher.

"This sort of people (teacher) will give the government of Barisan Nasional a bad name and may reduce the support of the Indian community," he added.

The veteran politician felt that the ministry should be more sensitive to matters of this kind where an entire community was insulted by a teacher who was a government servant.

He said the director-general of the education department must personally look into the case as such incidents could destroy the basic foundation of cooperation in this country.

Apology not good enough

Early this month, two students from SMK Telok Panglima Garang in Kuala Langat filed police reports against the teacher.

They revealed that the teacher had called Indian students 'keling pariah', 'Negro' and 'black monkeys', amongst other derogatory names.

In their reports, the Form Four and Form Five students said the teacher also told students during class that 'Indians came from dogs', Indians are 'children of prostitutes' and the community is 'stupid'.

She also supposedly stated that the community's youths 'do not have testicles', 'always menstruate' and indulge in 'thuggery and theft'.

Yesterday, MIC Youth's education bureau had also called for stiffer action to be taken against the teacher.

"This is an issue which touches on racial sentiments. It does not involve an individual but refers to a large number of Indian students," said bureau chief M Saravanan.

"The teacher’s apology to the students and parents involved is not the best solution and does not diminish the gravity of her action.

"Transferring (to another school) is not a form of punishment or harsh (enough) punishment for a teacher who crossed the boundaries," he added.

Meanwhile, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang had called on Education Minister Hishamuddin Hussein to explain why no stern action was taken.

Babi balik China, Cikgu balik mana? (2)

Malaysiakini today published the stand of Pemuda MIC on the 'racist teacher issue'. However, it appears that 'action' has already been taken. Malaysian-style. Today's NST, in an article aptly titled Racial abuse teacher gets 'a better deal' details the 'action' that has been taken against the teacher. She has been tranferred to a smart-school, which is supposedly a better school than her previous school, located nearer to her home.

How nice! Why stop there? Why not the education department go a step further and give her a promotion? Perhaps make her a headmistress! State Education director Ashah Samah said she had wanted to transfer the person out of the state but had acceded to a request from the teacher to remain in the district. How thoughtful of Pn. Ashah. This shows just how seriously the authorities are treating this case.

Let me ask you Pn. Ashah, would you have been so thoughtful if an Indian teacher had used deragotary terms against Malay students? No. I'm sure you won't. In fact, nevermind the education department. Pemuda Umno would have organized protests outside the school, keris in hand, demanding for blood. But that is not the case here. The teacher only insulted Indians. No big deal, right?

Actually, I don't give two hoots what action the education department takes. We'll deal with them eventually. What about the police? Police reports have been lodged. What is the outcome of the police investigations? When can I expect charges to be filed? I want to see that teacher pay the FULL price of her actions. No, I'm not willing to forgive and forget. Why must Indians always be the ones to forgive and forget. Charge her! Let her rot behind bars. Once she is convicted of a crime, the education department will have to sack her.

If all else fails, I hope we can get the affected students to file civil lawsuits. I will get my lawyer friends to represent them. For free. I hope the students are willing to see this through. I definitely am! Cikgu, you want to know if Indians have testicles? I'll show you.

Babi balik China, Cikgu balik mana?

First, I apologize for the long absence. I was unwell.

What a week it has been. First there was this extremely capable teacher unnecessarily troubled when some of her ungrateful Indian students lodged police reports against her simply because she uttered some harmless words about their race. To think that the Deputy Education Minister threatened to sack her over such a small matter. Luckily our very own Indian Deputy Minister visited the school, 'solved' the problem by getting them to shake hands, and reduced her punishment to a transfer. Our savior! Long live! While the Malay politicians fight for the Malay cause and the Chinese politicians fight for the Chinese cause, only the Indians fight for all races.

Then we had some towering Malays forced to protest outside the Bar Council office. It was because this irresponsible association of lawyers had the audacity to organize a forum to discuss conversion to Islam. How seditious of them! A forum! Lucky they were stopped within an hour by shouts of "Babi, balik China" and threats to storm the venue. If not, I dread to think what the forum could have achieved. I must thank the police for protecting the protesters and harassing the forum organizers. On an unrelated matter, I wish to duly inform you all that the police water cannons have been sent for repairs, so they are currently unavailable. The police hope to have them back by the 25th of November.

Well, a lot of people have already commented on both the above topics, so as much as I have a lot to say, I'll just let you read between the lines.

Heads you lose, Tails I win!

Malaysiakini has featured an interesting article written by Mr. S. Murugesan, my fellow brother in the MIC. He has hailed Datuk Seri Wan Azizah as the true hero, the brave woman that held the fort for her beloved husband. I do not disagree. Wan Azizah always struck me as a reluctant politician. A politician who was thrown into the ring out of situation, not choice. She has kept the fort well, indeed.

However, it is the other segment of Mr. Murugesan's article that struck a chord with my view on this by-election saga. Why now? Who not in April as soon as Datuk Seri Anwar was eligible. Why not later, after the sodomy allegation is dealt with, one way or the other? Murugesan summed it perfectly with the term 'heads you lose, tails I win' analogy.

Anwar Ibrahim is as shrewd a politician as they come by. A master manipulator of public sympathy and perception. By announcing his candidacy now, he is seeking the upper hand. If he is charged for sodomy, he will claim that this is just to stop him from coming to power. If he is not charged after all the hoo-haa, the government will be seen as having harassed him without basis. Smart.

The Prime Minister said today that the due process of law will go on. If and when Anwar is charged, I hope the evidence will be concrete, and not leave the public in doubt. The sodomy allegation may be a legal issue. But public perception is a national issue. In politics, perception is stronger than the truth. The government simply cannot afford a botched trial.

The EC has sixty days to have a by-election. Let's see how all the timelines play out.

Sigh... In the meantime, it's going to be more days of politicking ahead. From the time the General Election results were announced in March, it has been non-stop politicking, and as a result, the nation seems to be on autocruise. I wish we can put all the politicking behind us and get to work. BN or PR, they both have governments to run and people to serve!

Anwar makes his move

First it was speculated that Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim will contest in Bandar Tun Razak, then it was Bandar Baru Kulim. Now, he has finally announced that he will contest in his old seat, Permatang Pauh, which was held by his wife until her resignation today.

Well, looks like it's going to be election fever again soon. The Election Commission has to announce a by-election in the constituency within 60 days.

Stay tuned folks.

UMNO, Please don't betray Barisan Nasional!

First, I must thank Malaysiakini for including my last post in their 'Malaysiakini in Blogs' section. A quarter of the total visitors to this blog as of now, visited yesterday.

I want to say my piece on the recent PAS-UMNO discussions. Initially, it was reported that the discussions were regarding 'Malay issues'. Then it became 'Malay unity'. Now there seem to be outright political negotiations.

Let's get one thing straight. UMNO is the main party in Barisan Nasional. UMNO is NOT Barisan Nasional. The BN's very backbone is multi-racial representation. BN simply MUST move in the direction of Malaysian unity, not Malay unity. Forming an alliance with PAS in the interest of 'keeping control in the hands of the Malays' is unacceptable.

When 100,000 Indians took to the streets, our hearts were with them. They voiced out on the streets in one day, what the MIC has been fighting for within closed doors for the last 50 years. We could have easily done that. It would not have taken the MIC too long to mobilize 100,000 people on the streets. But we did not. Because we respected the BN spirit. We even tried in futility to defend the BN against those people. We paid dearly for it.

Now some people claim the MIC did nothing at all for the last 50 years. We may have not done enough, but we definitely tried. Unfortunately, we tried within closed doors. We tried within the BN framework. We did not get all that we asked for. Within the give and take spirit of the BN, we did our best. We worked quietly.

After ALL this, after all that the other partners in the BN have sacrificed in the last election, in the name of Barisan Nasional, if UMNO tries to team up with PAS, there will be no bigger act of betrayal to the Barisan Nasional spirit. There will be no greater damper to the quest for Malaysian unity.

There are simply no short cuts to unity. There can only be unity when there is equality. There can only be unity when there is respect. There can only be unity when UMNO does not go out of its way to enforce 'Ketuanan Melayu'!

Indians Fed Up Says Malaysiakini

Malaysiakini has run an article quoting Hindraf alligned groups stating their frustration at the Pakatan Rakyat run governments. Well, I expected this sooner or later. In fact, I expect more of such statements in the not too distant future. the Anwar Ibrahim led opposition election campaign was quick to make full use of the genuine frustration felt by Indians and being the shrewd manipulator Anwar is, he made the most out of the Indians. But now, after winning unprecedented support from the Indian community, they are left to rot. Of course, opposition supporters would be quick to point out that we have a first Indian Deputy Chief Minister and Speaker, but this is eyewash. The average Indian out there gains nothing. The Indian community has been taken for a ride.

I reproduce here, the article from Malaysiakini...

Indian groups fed up with Pakatan gov'ts

Athi Veeranggan Jul 29, 08 4:12pm

Several Indian civil movements are fed up with the indifferent attitude of Pakatan Rakyat governments.

Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), Penang Makkal Sakti Welfare Association (Pemaswa) and newly formed Hindu Action Network (Han) want the new Pakatan governments to form state Indian councils led by the menteri besar or chief minister.

The suggested councils will plan and implement beneficial programmes for the Indian community, with short, medium and long term goals.

According to Hindraf national coordinator TS Thanenthiran, the Pakatan governments have failed to fulfill their promises.

He said during the elections, Pakatan used the Hindraf tagline Makkal Sakti but since winning they have not unveiled any policy to benefit the community.

"Pakatan Rakyat ruling parties, be it DAP in Penang, PAS in Kedah and Perak and PKR in Selangor, seemed to have made empty electoral promises to the Indians," he added.

He stressed Hindraf would continue to fight along the movement’s 18-point memorandum submitted to the federal government last year.

Temple demolitions, non-existence of kindergartens in Tamil schools, private and public sector marginalisation and high suicide rates, are some of the issues the memorandum covers.

'Reps betrayed the community'

Meanwhile, Pemaswa president G Asoghan claimed that Indian leaders in the Pakatan government have "betrayed the Indian community’s trust in them" to deliver the goods.

"Until today, the state governments, particularly Indian leaders, are resting on their laurels," he said.

He claimed that more from MIC, PPP and IPF have benefited from the DAP government in Penang than genuine Hindraf supporters.

Han coordinator G Mugunthan (left) criticised Penang’s elected Indian assemblypersons of protecting their chronic self-interests when they rejected a previous DAP proposal for a state council.

Though DAP members were keen for a one-stop council, the DAP Indian assemblypersons rejected it as "it will put undue pressure on them to deliver."

"Now they are freely doing anything according to their whims and fancies," he said, adding that the appointment of an Indian as Penang deputy chief minister has been more "a curse than a blessing" to the community.

"It has only helped some chronic characters from BN."

Hindraf, Han and Pemaswa plan to organise a joint dialogue session with all relevant Pakatan Rakyat heads of state governments over the issue.