Hopefully, history will be kind to Subra

 

ADUN SPEAKS | Former MIC deputy president and long-time deputy minister S Subramaniam passed away on July 5 after being in a coma for nearly 11 years.

He is survived by his wife and three children - two sons and a daughter.

He was a long-serving MIC deputy president and was an MP for six terms for the Damansara and Segamat constituencies.

He came into MIC with the encouragement of then MIC president V Manickavasagam and was supposed to take over the party after Manickavasagam.

Unfortunately, MIC former president S Samy Vellu eclipsed him in the party election in 1979, thus sealing his fate eventually.

He was eventually dropped from contesting in 2004.

Subra, as he was popularly known, was not aggressive or loud like Samy Vellu.

He was soft-spoken and well-liked by his foes and friends due to his mild manners.

Under the two personalities, the MIC became divided into two camps, either you were with with Samy Vellu or with Subra, there was no middle path.

But unfortunately, by his command of the party and resources, Samy Vellu eventually succeed in weakening the forces that supported Subra.

Different styles of leadership

Both the leaders exhibited different styles of leadership – Samy Vellu was bold and aggressive while Subra was mild-mannered.

Former MIC president S Samy Vellu

Samy Vellu might have emanated from the ranks of grassroots politics, whereas Subra was parachuted into the party by his mentor Manickavasagam.

Of course, there were limits to Samy Vellu’s boldness.

He was aggressive towards Indians, often scolding and berating them.

But he was meek and timid towards Umno leaders in general and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in particular.

This would explain why he could not do much to alleviate the suffering of the Indian community under his leadership. He was subservient to Umno leaders.

Subra, on the other hand, was a likeable leader, but he lacked the party’s resources and command structure to do anything meaningful for Indians.

In fact, he needed the support of Umno leaders to ward off opposition from Samy Vellu and his key supporters.

As a result, the Indian grassroots lacked the space to decide on the best leader for the Indian community.

Samy Vellu ended up running the MIC as he saw fit, denying Subra an opportunity to show his skills in improving the Indian community.

If Subra had the chance, who knows, maybe he could have been a better leader than Samy Vellu.

History was not too kind to Subra or even the former deputy minister and MIC’s vice-president K Padmanaban who passed away some years ago.

Even the other popular vice-president M Pandithan was removed from the party by Samy Vellu on the grounds that he organised a coffin protest at the party headquarters.

Pandithan eventually formed the Indian Progressive Front to mobile caste support but he remained loyal and obsequious to Umno and BN throughout his lifetime.

MIC and BN

Whatever is said about Subra or Samy Vellu, it must be admitted that they engaged in politics at a time when the MIC had the support of the Indian community.

Despite their differences, these leaders were taken seriously by BN, in terms of allocating parliamentary and state seats that were acceptable.

In other words, the MIC had the respect of BN leaders.

Under these two leaders, the MIC was accepted as representing the Indian community, although the support was fast eroding.

Subra might have lost out to Samy Vellu, but he was a giant in MIC politics compared to the present minions and sycophants in the party.

The MIC under the present leadership of WA Vigneswaran is hardly comparable to the MIC under Samy Vellu and Subra.

There is hardly any leadership let alone ponder on what the party can do for the community.

Organising gala nights and festivals seem to be the preoccupation of the leadership rather than forthrightly addressing the sad and tragic state of the Indian community.

Subra might have lost out to Samy Vellu, but he remains one of the respected leaders of the Indian community.

Hopefully, history will be kind to Subra. - Mkini

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P RAMASAMY is Perai assemblyperson and Penang deputy chief minister II.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.