Remembering the great leader Tun S. Samy Vellu

 

THE Indian community remembers the many contributions during the long tenure of the late Tun S. Samy Vellu, whose birthday is celebrated on March 8.

MIC, despite being deprived of its strength since the 2008 electoral debacle, makes it a point to remember its great leader.

The party and the Indian community feel like an orphan without his assuring and re-assuring presence especially during the tough times when the party representing the Indians was subjected to various criticisms of not doing enough for the progress of the community.

MIC appears lost nowadays as times have changed and so have the expectations and support of Indians.The party does not have the confidence to win over the community or the vision to fulfil the aspirations of the present generation mainly the young.

The Indian community is now being bullied, something that would not have happened under Samy Vellu’s watch as he was combative, tough and tactful and defended the community .

The Indian community now rues its loss of power and leaders. It has to regain its unity and electoral clout to ensure the betterment of the community in the future.

Sometimes, the turn of events can take the party and leaders by surprise,Tun and this is what happened to Samy Velu and MIC.

The problems and issues within the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition partners—MCA, UMNO and Gerakan—had affected MIC greatly even though the party was under the strong leadership of Samy Vellu.

MIC depended on other communities for its continuity and electoral sustainability and when voters backing the parties in the BN coalition decided to withdraw their support and the party came crashing down.

Samy Vellu had a tough time fighting for the rights of Indians to ensure they received an equitable share of the economic cake.

Many leaders were criticised for not doing enough for their communities by party members and others for what was essentially a national problem.

A new phase of  politics has dawned in the urban and suburban areas where most of the Indians now live unlike in the plantations decades before.

This generation is educated and more exposed to happenings around them, and winning them over is difficult but not impossible. Different times bring different challenges and the party has to grab the opportunities.

When Samy Vellu took over MIC the party had a small membership and low literacy rates but due to his efforts to rope in the various Indian ethnic communities membership increased manifold and the party felt united and stronger.

Various socio-economic programmes were initiated by both the party and government and the community was making progress slowly but surely.

Indians are a fractious lot and Samy Vellu had to use his strong sometimes dictatorial powers to unite the party, and many were fretting under his leadership.

MIC has to initiate a paradigm shift in its thinking if it wants to remain relevant in the current changing times. The time is ripe looking at the numerous problems affecting the country and the various communities to initiate a third force.

MIC has to take the lead like what it did in 1946. The party will surely have better prospects than what it has at present. The party has to take pragmatic and transformative decisions like what Samy Vellu used to do to face a brave new world. 

 V. Thomas is a Focus Malaysia viewer.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.

- Focus Malaysia.