http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php Copyright 2012, No Author No Author en-US SPHPBLOG 0.5.1 http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110704-073436
Program Menanam Pokok ‘Cleaner Greener Penang’ bagi kawasan Perai yang dianjurkan oleh Ahli Majlis Visvanathan, adalah permulaan bagi Program ‘Cleaner Greener Penang’ bagi kawasan Perai. Menurut Visvanathan, pokok-pokok yang ditanam adalah bukan sahaja dapat memberikan perteduhan, malah akan mendatangkan satu suasana yang sejuk apabila pokok-pokok tersebut tumbuh besar kelak.

Ramasamy yang telah berucap sebelum melancarkan Program tersebut, telah menyatakan bahawa beliau mempunyai komitmen untuk menjadikan kawasan Perai sebagai kawasan yang bersih dan hijau. Beliau juga memberitahu bahawa pihaknya sentiasa mengambil langkah proaktif supaya penduduk di kawasan Perai hidup sihat dan sejahtera, “Kerana itulah saya telah mengarahkan Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai untuk sentiasa menjaga kebersihan di kawasan Perai. Saya juga telah pasang peralatan senaman di 4 kawasan utama Perai, supaya penduduk Perai dapat bersenam dan hidup dalam keadaan sihat. Dr.Ramasamy juga menambah bahawa pihaknya mempunyai rancangan untuk memperluaskan lagi pemasangan peralatan senaman di kawasan DUN beliau.

Dalam ucapanya, Dr Ramasamy juga telah menegaskan bahawa bukanlah tanggungjawab kerajaan sepenuhnya untuk menjaga kebersihan persekitaran di sesuatu kawasan, malah rakyat juga mempunyai tanggung jawab untuk menjaga kebersihan. “Walaupun saya cuba sedaya upaya saya, masih gagal dalam mengubah rakyat di sesetengah kawasan; Mereka membuang sampah sesuka hati mereka, dan tidak langsung mempedulikan kebersihan mahupun kesihatan. Bagaimana kita dapat mengubah orang-orang sebegini?” kesal beliau.

“Dengan mengadakan Program seperti ini, saya berharap Perai akan menjadi satu kawasan yang Bersih dan Indah seperti Singapura!” tambah beliau. Beliau telah menanam sebatang pokok di hadapan Dewan JKKK Taman Inderawasih, sebagai menandakan perasmian pelancaran Program “Cleaner Greener Penang” di Kawasan Perai. Para penduduk tempatan yang hadir pada program tersebut telah meminta kepada Ramasamy supaya mengadakan program sedemikian lebih kerap di kawasan Perai.
]]> http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110704-073436 No Author Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:34:36 GMT http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/comments.php?y=11&m=07&entry=entry110704-073436 http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110624-112320
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state was identifying a site for the project in Seberang Prai.

“We have identified several sites for the purpose and I am visiting the sites with other relevant officers before selecting the most suitable one for the project,” he said.

Lim said the whole project was at the preliminary stage and they had yet to finalise the other details, including the cost of the project.

The state’s first dialysis centre, which is being built in Balik Pulau at the cost of RM2mil, is expected to be operational by the end of this year, Lim said after visiting the recently restored low-cost flats in Taman Bukit Minyak near Bukit Mertajam.

Also present were Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy , state executive councillors Lim Hock Seng and Phee Boon Poh, Permatang Pasir assemblyman who is state PAS chief Salleh Man, and State Financial Officer Mokthar Jait.

Commenting on the restoration of the flats, Lim said: “We allocated the funds to repair the flats, although it is private property, because we want to help the poor and we do not want to be seen as neglecting them.”

Dr Ramasamy, who is also Batu Kawan MP, said the state had provided RM266,296 to repair the roof, electrical wiring, switch and distribution boards, and the main water tank in the five-storey walk-up flats which was damaged by a freak storm on March 28.

He said the project was undertaken by Penang Development Corporation’s sister company PDC Nusabina Sdn Bhd, and completed in two months.

]]> News http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110624-112320 No Author Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:23:20 GMT http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/comments.php?y=11&m=06&entry=entry110624-112320 http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110617-100653
He noted that the HEB’s move to give RM114,000 in scholarships last year marked the first time the body had disbursed money for education

Despite a provision in the Board’s enactment for it to render assistance in education and welfare, its activities have been limited to overseeing the management and accounts of five major temples in the state, and to help coordinate the annual Thaipusam festival in Penang.

“When these temples contribute their money to the Board, it is supposed to go to education and welfare,” Ramasamy stressed.

“So what has happened to the money collected for the last fifty years?” he asked, adding that it may have been channelled into other activities.

“That must stop. Money meant for education must be given for education. Don’t touch it,” he said.

He noted that in addition, the state government is now also providing a separate annual allocation totalling RM1.75 million to Tamil schools in Penang.

Thanks : The Sun
The Sun Daily



]]> http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110617-100653 No Author Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:06:53 GMT http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/comments.php?y=11&m=06&entry=entry110617-100653 http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110617-084827
Penang Deputy Chief Minister (II) Prof Dr P Ramasamy said a proposal is being considered to carve out the 2ha land for conservation, with added features to highlight the history of the community there.

The cemetery which has more than 1,000 graves was first used in the early 1800s to bury indentured labourers brought in by the British colonial administration.

The numerous estates and plantations from that period exists till today, with many descendants of the original settlers still living there.

Ramasamy pointed out that the land was taken over by the previous state government when the Batu Kawan Stadium was being built about 15 years ago, so that it may be used for the stadium’s future expansion.

Many graves are believed to have been built over by the stadium.

“The current state government has now transferred the cemetery land to the Penang Hindu Endowment Board (HEB) so that it can be protected forever,” he said today.

The area is part of some 150 acres that is going to be gazetted by the state around the stadium.

He also revealed that the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) had previously been approached by a group who proposed to exhume all the bodies for RM1 million.

“I am waiting for a report from PDC on this matter and will expose the individuals,” he said.

Ramasamy, who is also HEB chairman, was speaking at a ceremony to give away cheques to tertiary students at Komtar here.

Thanks :
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/48628]]> http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110617-084827 No Author Fri, 17 Jun 2011 08:48:27 GMT http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/comments.php?y=11&m=06&entry=entry110617-084827 http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110609-120011

Deputy Chief Minister of Penang State of Malaysia, Prof Dr P.Ramasamy has welcomed the resolution which was anonymously adopted by Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly. The resolution condemned Sri Lankan Govt's War Crimes against Eelam Tamils in the brutal war.

Read more in :
www.facebook.com/proframasamy]]> http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110609-120011 No Author Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:00:11 GMT http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/comments.php?y=11&m=06&entry=entry110609-120011 http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110603-042648
According to Ramasamy, there aren't even 807 Indian members in the few constituencies mentioned by MIC. He rebutted that it is probably MIC's fondness of seeking astrologers that plucks this number out.

Checkout video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFSA_zBc ... e=youtu.be]]> News http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110603-042648 No Author Fri, 03 Jun 2011 04:26:48 GMT http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/comments.php?y=11&m=06&entry=entry110603-042648 http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110503-042118
Pls check the house images in http://www.facebook.com/proframasamy]]> News http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110503-042118 No Author Tue, 03 May 2011 04:21:18 GMT http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/comments.php?y=11&m=05&entry=entry110503-042118 http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110426-152705


Poor planning, negligence and ‘not-so-people friendly’ housing projects has caused hardship and loss of property value to the house owners.

The DCM is seen here with the affected residents, PDC & MPSP officers to redress the situation. Also present at the meeting is YB Ong Chin Wen, ADUN for Bukit Tengah]]> Events http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110426-152705 No Author Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:27:05 GMT http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/comments.php?y=11&m=04&entry=entry110426-152705 http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110426-152417 “ACTION ON THE GROUND- SHAPING LOCAL (FINANCE AND ECONOMIC) INSTITUTIONS AND PRACTICES TO PROVIDE THE PUBLIC COMMON GOOD”

The State, Market and Society – The potential for change in Penang

As we consider the topic of State, Market and Society, we are presented with a complex and rich area of analysis for economists, industry analysts and political scientists. This may be beyond the scope of an entire dedicated forum to tackle effectively, let alone within the scope of a speech.

However, let us begin by considering the global developments in the past several decades that have emphasized the importance of economic development as the driving force of growth for many nations around the world, and not just in Asia.

The improvement of society’s material conditions is viewed as paramount, and the major key linking to concrete improvements, which brings an upgraded quality of life and greater wealth accumulation, has been economic growth and expansion.

The race to upgrade and expand economically has featured prominently on the agenda of many developing Asian states in the last few decades. This has led to a frenetic pace of development from rousing giants like India and China to smaller economies like Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Rapid growth was the order of the day; full speed ahead, and little concern on social equity issues.

Even the so-called ‘4 Little Dragons’ or ‘Tiger Economies’ of East Asia (namely Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea) which blueprinted a unique and successful open market model of East Asian-style development, were made famous for their achievements in the sphere of economic restructuring in the upbeat 1980s and 1990s, with a pause during the financial crisis.

These basically market-based economic strategies led to explosive growth and development that fundamentally changed the socio-economic polity of these countries in the course of a single generation.

As a result, we’ve seen a successful transformation of some of East Asia’s most vibrant market economies, an exports and trade-oriented development that has tilted these developing nations towards greater openness, creating links with existing global networks, and lucrative access to the demand-driven Western markets.

The Tiger Economies’ blueprint also depended heavily on the inflow of direct foreign investment from the developed economies. In some ways, that chapter of development history may be termed as a sort of ‘happy marriage of convenience’ between the State and the Market.

Western and Japanese investment funds were ready to flow in search of lower cost structures and other production-ready resources. The East Asian economies, led mostly by governments that had a keen acumen for business and economic opportunities had enough to offer at the right price, having local markets rich in trainable labour but rather lacking in natural resources.

That the available opportunities were seized upon, to make possible economic transformation so badly needed by these ‘Little Dragons’ of the East may be credited to the business-savvy leadership shown by the respective governments from Seoul to Singapore.

In other words, the economic miracle stories of these countries would likely never have unfolded in the absence of credible State-led action and State-planned strategic policy implementation and resource allocation.

Now, we see that in the Asian region as elsewhere, the State is obviously a powerful actor in the context of economic development, but as we well know, there is much more beyond steering towards a sustained benchmark of positive economic indicators and numbers.

In the East Asian context particularly, there is a tendency for the government’s economic intervention role to eclipse its other potential or actual roles that could help ensure a more balanced development on the whole.

Why is it that this vital ‘moderator’ role of the State is often sidelined during the development of many Asian countries?

Are the developing Asian economies more culturally-inclined to value material enrichment above all else, thinking that economic development and prosperity alone will provide lasting solutions and answers for all of society’s goals and requirements?

Can rock-solid economic growth provide the Asian societies with everything that they need for long-term socio-economic development?

There are no simple answers to such questions, of course. But you can get a rough idea of what’s really happening in a brief analysis of ‘gaps’ in the developmental approach and perspectives of the rising Asian economies.

As economies prosper and societies get richer, note how the critical ‘social issues component’ of political leadership is sometimes gradually glossed over, resulting in ‘gaps’ that weaken and corrode the substance of leadership in the longer term.

These ‘gaps’ are linked to the loss of a firm ideological vision.

They are an unfortunate development to say the least, because they are symptomatic of a leadership made soft and complacent by the spoils and glitter of economic gains, especially in some countries where corruption and cronyism have set in and become entrenched in the ruling system.

They steer the State and political leadership away from fulfilling the other great duty to society, which goes beyond jobs and economic security. Society becomes blinded by the ambitions of wealth and material comforts.

Something along the way, social welfare concerns get lost in market mayhem, and these are just as, if not more vital than daily, weekly or monthly bread-and-butter concerns, and certainly more profound, if society can ever hope to achieve a lasting, sustainable and well balanced development in the long run.

This other duty of the State, this vital role of government, is the role of preserving the interest and welfare of ordinary citizens, of maintaining a sustainable pace of development that guarantees a greener, fairer and safer physical and social living environment.

How can this be done? And where does the State begin to examine its role in this context?

Let me say that for a start, the State should now reclaim its guiding ideologies, because a return to examining the goals and ideals of social democracy as a starting point will help to clarify its vision of what needs to be done to fulfill the imperatives of a balanced development regime.

This is because in theory the State is empowered to embrace its role as mediator and defender of social and public interests. It is a matter of conscious choice, a choice that can be implemented through a social political awakening, policy formulation and strategic legislation to put it all into action.

This is also because this social guardian role of the State, this mediator role appears to be a role neglected and abdicated by the State over time, and as such, must be reclaimed and restored in strategic steps through due socio-political processes.

Despite the temptations of taking the quickest route to greater economic glory and riches, the State today still has the capacity to choose a balanced middle path between pure material and economic development versus the socio-environmental and human development at the other end of the spectrum.

I firmly believe that this process can be guided by the ideals and practices of social democracy as the main platform for practical implementation of social justice ideals and practices.

That said, I am convinced that a reorientation of the State’s role is necessary, for even as we speak, encroaching market-driven forces eat away at the rights and interests of ordinary citizens in many developing economies around Asia.

We desperately need an awakening in political leadership to see a reorientation of the State’s role, as well as a reorientation of our own priorities. As I’ve said, our development has been narrowly focused on the capitalist pursuit of economic growth and material wealth.

Of building mighty financial and economic empires to parade in front of the rest of the world, while the foundation of these empires, made up of the common man on the street, the humble wage earner and salaried worker, the ordinary citizen and small-time entrepreneur who struggles with inflation and declining work opportunities, the senior citizen struggling with poor and deteriorating public health and public transportation systems, languishes in neglect.

These are the real effects in the lives of real people who make up the majority, the grassroots of society, who will suffer as the State and Government drift further from realizing its role as defender of the public interests.

We have advanced tremendously in the last several decades in economic terms, and that is something we should be proud of. But it’s a terrible shame that it has to come at the expense of social development. There is no good or moral reason for any country not to have a balanced and socially-responsible development.

We have the same problem too in Penang, in Malaysia. Our leaders trumpet endlessly every time they spend millions to build the tallest buildings, the largest shopping malls, the longest bridge, and this or that. They boast about spending tens of millions of taxpayers’ money to send a glorified Malaysian tourist to space and claiming that beginning of Malaysia’s entry to the space age. But it’s like as if the higher they go, the more they forget the people left on the ground. Once again, the welfare of the basic building block, the ordinary man on the street, is forgotten.

We neglect thousands of our own citizens who are living in poverty, or who are handicapped or jobless, or senior citizens who are left in old folks’ homes and hospices to be forgotten while the rest of the country moves on.

Crime and various other forms of political discontent had skyrocketed to unprecedented levels, and the government was unable or unwilling to do anything about these things, lulled by the belief that they could never be removed from power.

Ultimately, things got so bad that the people made their voices heard in our general election last year – in the historic March 2008 political awakening for Malaysia and Penang, as some of you may have heard. The ruling coalition, the Barisan Nasional, which had ruled for 50 years, lost 5 of the 13 states of Malaysia to the opposition coalition. This was unprecedented in Malaysia’s history. Of course, things weren’t so bad that the existing regime was actually thrown right out of the federal government, but many believe it came close to that.

The state of Penang, in particular, went to the opposition since the 1960s. We saw a phenomenal development, a historic development in that real change in the politics of the country became possible. Even the Socialist Party won a parliamentary seat and an state assembly seat for the first time in 50 years. I would hesitate to call it a “social revolution”, because the word “revolution” tends to have unfortunate negative connotations, especially when it comes to socialism and other leftist ideals.

But we saw social and grassroots democracy in action. A “revolution” (there’s that word again) through democratic means, parliamentary means. Completely bloodless, and one hundred percent democratic, and following the institutions of due process.

But really, as much as my personal background may be steeped in socialism and so forth, this new regime in Penang, isn’t really all that different than the previous one, in ideological terms I mean.

Penang didn’t suddenly turn into a socialist state in the classic sense of the term; we’ve never, in the past year, or even in past decades, ever been associated with socialist ideology which had been a taboo topic because of the communist led insurgency euphemistically called the “Emergency” in Malaysia of the 1950s and 1960.

But that does not mean we cannot draw inspiration from good radical ideas such as social and economic justice for all people. The most radical idea in the present context we’ve proposed is the removal of racial employment quotas from government departments. Under the guise of redressing the economic imbalance of the different races in Malaysia, the Barisan Nasional coalition had implemented the “New Economic policy’ which consisted of a series of affirmative action programs for economically disadvantaged majority ethnic group. However, over the last 40 years, the policy had been abused and perverted so that it serves mainly the interest of ruling clique and their cronies. Much of the composition of the government departments have become mono-ethnic even though Malaysia is a multi-racial nation. For proposing that employment of government posts should not be based on a racial quota but based on qualification and merit, I have had a slew of police reports lodged against me by the supporters of the status quo for daring to ‘rock the boat.’

The Penang State Government is still based largely on the capitalist model, for now at least. But where we differ from the previous administration is that the previous regime was steeped in a neo-liberal ideology to governance and economic development.

Gradually, it seemed like every single public enterprise was being privatized. We have seen the privatization or proposed privatization of water, of public utilities, of healthcare, education, toll roads, public transport and even of the public waste disposal system. These are privatized to cronies of the ruling groups without any transparency and accountability.

It was said that running many of these public-service orientated departments like proper businesses would improve efficiency via competition, and ultimately service quality and even pricing.

But all that is only theory, preached from the pulpit of capitalist and free-market ideology.

In reality and practice, Malaysia and Penang’s experiment and experience with privatization has only brought inflated pricing for public services, from water bills to bus fares as lucrative contracts were doled out to inefficient cronies of the entrenched ruling elites.

The supposed fair and competitive allocation of the capitalist market’s ‘invisible hand’ was nowhere to be seen or felt; at least, if there was a fair measure of true free-market dynamics in action. There would have been visible signs of efficiency and positive competitive effects, but these remained elusive in the real world economy and political setup of Malaysia.

Sadly, cronyism runs deep in Malaysia, where we see a culture of paying off our friends and political allies at the expense of the public good.

Of course, State-sponsored privatization drives could very well be driven directly and indirectly by Federal and State-level government rivalries in countries like Malaysia.

Federalization of functions and services, together with Federal government-sponsored privatization chemes and projects should be treated with extreme caution and skepticism, for it could be nothing more than Federal government empowerment and power centralization drives at the expense of State and Local governmental authority, in the guise of increasing competition and efficiency.

A deeper analysis and elaboration of this trend in the Malaysian / Penang context may be a full paper topic for another time and forum, but suffice it to say that this systematic encroachment upon state and local government authority and functions, greatly impair the individual state government’s ability to defend and preserve public interests.

In the Malaysian experience, with rapidly increasing federalization of powers, what we got in the end was the state governments having fewer and fewer roles to play (including the role of regulating and supplying public goods and services for the welfare of society), not to mention less and less state-level legislative and administrative powers, with policy control and legislative authority increasingly concentrated in the hands of the Federal Government ensconced in the nation’s capital.

But as the duly elected state-level Government, we can still work with what we have. We can work towards halting further encroachment of federal powers, and our actions can still engender change. Even at the most limited local or state level, this change will then make a difference where it matters most to society.

What this shows us is that despite the realities and complications of political power arrangements and structures, the State, whether embodied or expressed as a government at the federal, state or local municipal level, has an active, legitimate role, however great of small, to regulate and monitor the manner in which public goods and services are distributed among its citizens.

This is a role that demands protection from unregulated privatization projects that may be a cover for sinister schemes of entrenched elites to further the economic interests of their crony networks.

There is an ideological assumption hidden deeply within our idea of how society works. This is a flawed assumption that the capitalist approach of treating public goods and necessities as a money-making enterprise is the most efficient and profitable way to go. We should beware that this is only textbook capitalist theory.

In reality, a very different story unfolds. If the State blindly surrenders its regulatory functions to the market and other encroaching agents of institutionalized authority, and market forces are distorted and exploited by powerful vested political interests, we see the appearance of ‘gaps’, expressed in declining public services and products that are rightfully supplied for the public good.

An appropriate time for the State to reclaim this moderator role, of balancing the allocations functions of public goods for the welfare of society, is when institutional processes available in a democratic society presents a golden opportunity, when a government that fails to look after social welfare is kicked out, and a more enlightened government voted in.

The electoral democratic process, that is fortunately still alive and functioning well in many developing Asian countries today. This can be utilized as a means then, for an elected government to redeem this legitimate role of the state of providing for and defending society’s interests, particularly of the welfare of ordinary citizens.

This is an agenda of utmost importance as we are living in an age where pure economic “rationalism” and material benefits are ruthlessly valued above all, but when acquired, are often unequally shared, primarily benefiting only the elite and the powerful, and their network of associates.

In the case of Penang, the State’s citizens, man and woman on the street who had through electoral means initiated the process for change, are now waiting for us to live up to our promises to make a difference, because they may have nowhere else to turn. Yes, we all live in troubled times, but we count ourselves fortunate that we’ve been entrusted with this timely agenda for change.

And so it is time now for theory to move on to practice, for only then can a sound theory or good ideology provide a credible answer to the electorate and society, some proof that finally, change has come, and change for the better is at hand.

It matters not that as the Government of only the lower local and state levels, we grapple with higher level government structures, policy frameworks, institutional and legislative barriers and a minefield of political networks that may at times prove too powerful for us to defeat, with too many wrenches thrown into the works.

We have been given a historic opportunity, and so we will make that choice to establish the role of a government which looks after the basic welfare of all its citizens, with a special attention to society’s most humble and needy members.

What matters is that we rise to the occasion of being a government with a conscience, and with a heart for the people, to increase the benefits without fear or favour for all levels of the society we have been elected to govern.

If we can do that task well, even as a Government at the local or state level, we would have scored a great moral victory. We will be lauded as having successfully reclaimed the role of the State as a moderator to restore equilibrium between Market and Society, even if it’s only within the framework and purview of our individual local limitations.

In time to come, we want to be remembered as a political leadership of a humane government that had the common citizen’s best interests at heart that did its best to apply and defend the ideals of social democracy for the good and benefit of society.]]> News http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110426-152417 No Author Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:24:17 GMT http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/comments.php?y=11&m=04&entry=entry110426-152417 http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110426-152215
For years he was known as a maverick professor. As an international mediator, he helped to broker a peace deal in Aceh. On March 8, last year, Prof Dr P. Ramasamy won state and parliamentary seats in Penang, and was appointed a deputy chief minister. Himanshu Bhatt talks to Ramasamy on the challenges he faces.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


AFTER serving more than 25 years as a university professor, how does it feel being an administrator in government?

As an academic I had the kind of freedom which I really envy right now. At times, I wish I could operate in that context again. When I contested the elections and won, I was thrust into the mainstream of political governance. So I suppose I had to take on a responsibility that I never had before.

It’s not that we academicians are not responsible. But this was a responsibility that you have to deal with, in terms of not only managing the state with your colleagues, but also in terms of implementing policy decisions.

We had to find our bearings and anchor ourselves before we started seriously translating those things we had made pronouncements about in the past. Against corruption, for example. We needed to be more accountable, we needed to be more responsive to the concerns of the ordinary people.

When I was an academic, and when I joined DAP in 2005, we could lash out at the regime. Now suddenly here you have been given the responsibility, given a mandate. Now how are you going to translate all these into practice?

And to me that is the most formidable question. It’s also not so much about putting this into practice, but about how you really dismantle a system. You are dealing with a system that has been there for over 50 years. A system that has been put in place for various interests.

At least you have to provide an opening. If not, it would be difficult to address some serious concerns like corruption, lack of accountability, lack of efficiency, and address various concerns of the ordinary people.

Is the civil service part of this opening up?

We have been given this political mandate and people are expecting to see change, especially in the civil service. I touched on this in the state assembly; that the civil service employment is skewed in favour of one group. We are not against that group but we are concerned about the policies that brought about that situation, especially the dominance of Umno. We are not blaming the Malays, Chinese or Indians. That’s not my concern. My concern is to reverse some of the hegemonic policies that were put in place and actually gave rise to a lopsided aspect of employment, especially in the public sector.

How do you think the civil service has reacted?

So far, I don’t think the civil service has reacted. I think that nationally there is a concern that obviously there is something seriously wrong with the civil service. We have a civil service with 1.3 million people. And today the Malaysian civil service is very much a bloated civil service. When we had a (civil service) population of about 800,000 – we thought the civil service was big enough. Now it’s gone to 1.3 million. And with 1.3 million, if you look at the statistics, it seems to be skewed in favour of one group.

This has also been raised by others. The earlier Penang government never took up this issue. And I don’t need to explore why they did not take it up, but obviously they were not in a position to criticise or even to request for change. So I think now we are saying: "Look here, we are not beholden to anybody."

I did a lot of interviews much earlier and my colleagues themselves told me how departmental heads dealt with application forms. And the applicants were never even called for interview.

What inspired you to go into politics and join DAP?

I was always a political person. I was a professor of political science. I didn’t join any political party, I was involved in NGOs. When I came back from Canada after graduating in 1981, we organised ourselves to form Insan (Institute of Social Analysis). We were all these idealists coming back from overseas, having gone through all kinds of radical literature. We read about Che Guevara, we read about Ho Chi Minh, we read about Marx, we read about Mao, the Vietnam War. And we were engaged in polemics inside and outside the university on various issues, such as those on developing countries. So when I came back to do my fieldwork in 1981, I got a job and decided I would not do my PhD at McGill. I then completed my PhD at Universiti Malaya in 1990. Throughout my university years, I had one foot in the outside world. While I was a lecturer, I was organising plantation workers, I was organising strikes. We were concerned with the upliftment of workers and peasants. There was an ideological basis for that. While I was at UKM, I was spending most of my time outside, basically championing the cause of the working class. We had a purist approach to things. It was basically a non-ethnic approach to the question of politics and political empowerment.

Was there any experience that you particularly remember from this period?

I exposed the Selanchar labour camp, where the workers were treated like near slaves in 1983. It was big national news. It was in a Felda scheme in Pahang. We had many press conferences against the use of child labour, against plantation workers, housing for the poor, and also for urban workers.

Academia is one thing, but at the same time you have to be on the ground. Workers would come and see me in UKM. Most of the time you could see estate workers and kampung people coming to see me. They even told their employers: "If you are not going to resolve it, we are going to see the bearded man." Because I had a big black beard (laughs).

These were the times in Insan until 1987 when we had Operasi Lallang, and some of our members were taken under ISA. And Insan’s activities basically came to an end. Some joined the Socialist Party. I felt I should keep my independence. But I did work closely with some of the DAP members like Kit Siang, (P) Patto, and V. David.

I didn’t join any organisation until August 2005 when I joined DAP. And this happened when I was told to leave the university. In May 2005, I reached 56 and had to retire. Normally the practice is if they need your services, they give you a two-year contract.

By then I had already received a number of warning letters (for activism) from the university, but they never took any action.

How did you get involved in the Sri Lankan peace process?

The issue about the Tamils was incidental. I read about the Sri Lankan situation and I started writing a lot on the ethnic question until they had a ceasefire brokered by the Norwegians in 2002. After that the leadership invited me to give training to their top cadres on politics.

The Tamil Tigers?

Tamil Tigers, yes. I accepted because at that time they were opening up, they wanted to explore federalism, decentralisation and all these things. The training was on politics, the constitution and different models of federalism. So I gave their political cadres a 10-day course in Killinochi. I also drafted the interim administration proposal to kick-start the peace process. But the Sri Lankan government rejected that proposal, and today there is open conflict.

At the same time I was developing contacts with the Acehnese. I had many Acehnese students working for their PhDs and Masters. And I took a particular interest in this.

When no Malay Muslim dared to support the cause, I supported it in Malaysia. They were asking me to get a mediator for the peace process. So I approached the Norwegians. They were ready but they were a bit slow. And after the tsunami, a Finnish NGO approached them and also saw me. I was adviser to GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka or Free Aceh Movement) in the Helsinki peace talks from January to August 2005. I was still in UKM at that time.

Six rounds of peace talks and they clinched the MOU in August 2005. Finally, it was working. The killings stopped, and the Acehnese are happy. Today, the peace deal is working in their favour. They have got their autonomy.

There were horrific killings during the civil war. I developed a good relationship with the Acehnese and I now have developed a very good relationship with the Indonesians. They consult me on peace issues. I was also in Mindanao, and became consultant to the organisation UK Aids, on peace issues, on how to resolve ethnic strife.

You have been a political scientist, an academic, an activist and a part of an international mediating team. Now you are a political administrator. What is your vision of society?

All these are related. I think there is an underlying vision among all these. In the case of Malaysia, we have always fought for a genuine multiracial society where all the races are respected, where there is human equality. Where a person would not be discriminated on the basis of race or religion. To me this is an idealistic concern, this is a position we move towards. To me idealism is important. Without this sense of idealism, I don’t think I would be able to function. And this was the idealism that guided me when I was fighting for the workers in the 80s. This is the idealism that guides me in championing international peace issues.

I believe that a political solution is important to resolve the conflicts. There is no such thing as resolving conflict through armed struggle.

When you see movements like these that represent individuals who have been waylaid, and then you see similar movements in Malaysia, like Hindraf, do you see any similarities?

To put in a historical perspective, the Indian community had undergone this kind of movement before. The first movement of Indians was in Klang in 1941 when hundreds and thousands of Tamil labourers went on strike, on the eve of World War II. Many were deported to India. They fought for better wages, better living conditions against the European capitalists. After the war, after the collapse of the INA (Indian National Army) campaign, that was a phenomenal movement of Indians.

Subash Chandra Bose (INA leader) was in Malaysia?

Chandra Bose was able to unite Indians across class, across the ethnic divide, to mobilise the effort to liberate India from British rule. To me that was a phenomenal movement. I don’t think you can reproduce such a movement. Muslims, Christians, Hindus… It was the most interesting episode in the history of this country. Hundreds of thousands, they gave jewellery, all in the name of liberating India. That liberation never took place, Chandra Bose died in an accident, but it sped up Indian independence in 1947. Without INA you cannot explain Indian independence in 1947. Without INA you cannot explain why Indians joined the left-wing movement, why Indians joined the communist party in this country. In the fifties, there was a struggle by the socialist parties. In 1967 you had the historic march of Bukit Asahan workers from Malacca to Kuala Lumpur because they lost their jobs to agitate against exploitation in the plantations. After that, you have Hindraf. And there will be future movements.

There have been other groups that have also been marginalised – orang asli and many others. What about them? Do you see them coming up like the Indians?

The orang asli is a very sad aspect of the Malaysian picture.

When I was in UKM, I used to have dialogues with the orang asli groups. I had two orang asli students. They would narrate to me things that they went through. And these are supposed to be pri-bumi. They have been neglected, pushed to the margins. And when talking about marginalisation, the Malays are also marginalised. In many places, Malays are extremely poor. At some places they can’t have three decent meals a day. So the issue of exploitation is not just an ethnic issue; it’s ethnic as well as a class issue. We cannot simply dismiss this. That’s why I argued there is always a political-economic approach towards understanding the poor. And exploitation knows no ethnicity, religion, or creed. Pakatan Rakyat has no magical solution. But one important thing is that it tries to go beyond the ethnic formula.

How did you get into political science?

I was supposed to do my basic degree in the US. I was a student of Indian nationalism even when I was 16 or 17. I read books by Indian historians in the wee hours of the morning, on Indian nationalism, on the Indian Mutiny, and I’d read this magazine Mother India. What a grand history India had, this anti-white, anti-British sentiments were already there. And in Form 5, I had a history teacher who would come and teach on the Indian Mutiny and call it "sepoy mutiny". I used to stand up and say: "You’re wrong, it’s not a sepoy mutiny, it’s the first war of independence." She used to get very angry with me (laughs). Then I did my Form 6 in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar where some of the Johor politicians graduated. Most of the time I played rugby rather than study (laughs). I didn’t do well in my Form 6. I became a temporary teacher for a while. I went to New Zealand and did a course in magazine journalism. I didn’t like it, came back in 1974 and got a place in Indiana University to do political science. I was interested in politics and journalism. And then I found journalism was boring. When I graduated in 1977, I got a scholarship to go to McGill to do my Master’s in political science. Then I joined UKM, and later got a four-year leave to do my PhD at Universiti Malaya.

And what about your induction into the DAP? You said you were active with Patto and Kit Siang.

In 2005, they (UKM) refused to extend my tenure. I was a professor of political science. When I applied for my extension contract, they refused. I gave a press conference. I whacked the university. Anyway, I decided it was time for me to go. The reason I wanted to stay was that so many students came to my department to work under me.

I got a short-term visiting professorship in Germany, at University of Kassel, on global labour issues. When I came back, I was basically unemployed.

When did you come back from Germany?

I came back in December 2005. I had joined DAP and was made the international secretary. DAP was a party no one wanted to join at that time. Some of my friends told me, I don’t mind telling you, "Hey Rama, why so stupid join the DAP? (Before this) Even the private institutions might give you a job. Now no one will touch you." I said it didn’t matter to me. I said I was sick and tired. And then I got a call from Isis (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies), Singapore. Then they gave me senior visiting research fellow. I helped edit a book on Rising India and Indians in East Asia. Then the elections were coming. (Lim) Guan Eng called me: "Prof, come and let’s contest."

I was not sure. Joining an opposition party is one thing, and contesting is another thing. In December, I came for a DAP meeting in Penang. At first I was supposed to contest in Taiping or Bruas because it (Perak) was my home state. Then Guan Eng told me: "We’ll go to Penang." We had no idea we were going to capture Penang. Frankly, I didn’t know I would win Batu Kawan. And neither was I sure I would win Prai (state seat). I thought I would take my chance. If I lose, I would go back to my work.

So after all the grievances you have seen, all the solutions you have talked about, you are now in a position, to a certain extent, to implement them?

Obviously now, I’m a member of the executive council, and a deputy chief minister. I have certain responsibilities. I want to do certain things. But it’s not just blind implementation. You have to look also at the constraints. You are operating under terrible constraints. You have federal constraints, you have ethnic constraints. You have all kinds of constraints. But I am treading very carefully. I think one has to be sensitive. One has to be careful. But at the same time I believe we must not forget our original mission. Why I am here and why my people voted me. Because people voted for change, and they want not just superficial changes, they want concrete and substantive changes. And I think we should not forget that.

The commitment to social justice, the commitment for the environment, the commitment to ethnic equality are fundamental in me. Even if I am helping in Indian issues, it is not because they are Indians, it is because they are an aggrieved community.

To me my role in Parliament is not simply to ask questions. It is basically also to demolish the myth perpetrated for years about the dominance of one race, and that certain things cannot be questioned. The difference is basically this. Me and Guan Eng, we struggled first and then came in (to active politics)… And I am not enamoured by power. When the time comes, I’ll leave.]]> News http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/index.php?entry=entry110426-152215 No Author Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:22:15 GMT http://www.pramasamy.org/sphpblog/comments.php?y=11&m=04&entry=entry110426-152215