Malaysian Indians demand space for temples, crematoriums in KL Draft Plan 2020

Source : MalaysiaNewsNet

After he is lose,he is gone,he is no longer in power,HE is demanding adequate space for temples and for conducting rituals for the deceased in their residential areas from City Hall.

Why now when u had all these last 33 years to demand,to ensure that the needs of the Indian community were addressed. And now only you realised the needs of the Indian community?? When you was in power,you were begging,and now,you are no longer in power,you think they will respond to your demand Mr.Samy Vellu?? You are demanding many things now such as places for Indian students in local unversity. Why you didn’t demand this when u was in power?

Are you trying to be saviour by demanding this things now as the issues are hot?? If you really mean to help,update us with the progress of your demandings. Not just a news in papers the MIC demanding……and thats it. No more updates and what did the related authority respond. It’s like “hangat-hangat tahi ayam” which means a thing that is just hot at the begining only. You are like that. Demand this,demand that and that’s all. It will be a issue in papers and Indians will think,oh,MIC is demanding. Good. Indians can think. They won’t fall to this “sweet demandings”.

You are too late in demanding them now for Indians.U were busy getting things done for urself while u was in power and now,after all gone,you having a look at Indian community to save MIC by demanding. Well,good luck. You should have done this things long ago but you just wake up it seems and that also to gain peoples faith towards MIC so that MIC can survive.

Samy Vellu: We may have lost but we have ’sakthi’

PETALING JAYA: It was vintage MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu at the Selangor MIC annual general meeting yesterday where he fielded questions, sang songs and gave his opinion in his usual sarcastic and jovial manner.

The party might have lost seats in the elections but not its sakthi (power), declared Samy Vellu as he kept the members glued to their seats throughout the three-hour meeting.

“Are we dead because we lost the seats? We have only lost this once. Only we can speak on behalf of the Indian community.

“From those days, we have been asking to uplift the status of the Indian community and to look into Tamil schools. But they didn’t, so is it our fault?”

At this juncture, Samy Vellu turned to secretary-general and Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam and said: “You ask at the cabinet meetings, how many hundreds of times I had brought up the Indian problems.

“If they say no, I will resign as party president tomorrow.”

Samy Vellu said the only mistake the MIC did was not to sing its own praises.

“Today, the young people are scolding us, asking what MIC has done. You cannot sit in your bedroom and scold us all the time.

“If you want to know what we have done, get out of your room and see our work.”

Samy Vellu also commented on the low number of Indians in the civil service and asked if it was because the Indians were not qualified enough for the positions.

At this point, he turned to Dr Subramaniam, who was talking to vice-president Datuk S. Veerasingham, and said: “Subramaniam listen. Veerasingham, don’t talk to him. Always talking stories.”

Selangor MIC passed four resolutions at the AGM: supporting the leadership of Samy Vellu; urging the government to enable the Indian community to own three per cent equity; employ more Indians in the civil service; and form an agency to look into the Selangor Indian community.
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Rubenee says : ‘ The party might have lost seats in the elections but not its sakthi (power) ‘. Are you trying to stick with the “Makkal Sakthi” word to regain peoples trust towards MIC? Never ever u will gain that back Mr.Samy Vellu unless you resign,that also a MAYBE only. You are dead,guess you got your karumathi card too rite?? Enough of you spoke on behalf on Indian community. As being said that our current PM is the failure of BN,you are the failure of MIC.

It’s not the matter how many hundreds of times you had brought up the Indians problems,but have you managed to solve any of it?? You have never put effort to help Indians even when they didn’t entertain you..You should have pressured them..Ok,there is no point of talking back the past.

Regarding the drama of ” Rebranding The Mic “, are you going to waste the money on just changing the logo,uniforms and songs all? You are just wasting the money.Please use up the money for a better purpose and worth it. Only then,maybe,you can regain Indians trust. You gotta work hard for it. And it will be better if you resign. MIC will have a fresh look after that.

Youths are not scolding you all for nothing.We have the reasons.You asked us to get out of our room and see your work. How to see?? And what to see? Well,I’m not saying that you all have not done anything. Now,what’s important is being transparent. We wana know where MAIKA share wents? Show us all necessary documents, minutes-of-meetings, donation receipts, Profit-and-Loss statements etc etc. We want transparency. Only this will be helping you now,not changing the logo,uniforms all…Don’t say we are just sitting and barking at u for nothing.

And for Selangor MIC,you wana support the leadership of Samy Vellu,then forget of getting Indians trust back. His leadership is the main failure of MIC. Look for new capable face. Wana rebrand means rebrand everything from the top till down. Analyse everything. We have lost our trust to MIC because of Samy Vellu. Drop him and you have better future for MIC. Maybe.

We wana see MIC going to all over the Malaysia to help Indians. Implement what you have planned. Start from estates,we have alot of Indians who need help. Use the money to help Indians to uplift their status instead using it for rebranding stuffs. And again,I’m focusing in transparency. Be transparent and do the changes that MIC needs now. Not logo,not song,not uniform but the leadership. There are many of you who are capable to lead MIC. Think about it. Indians have lost their trust towards MIC because of Samy Vellu.

We gonna see what MIC will do for the students who the PSD scholarship is rejected.

Make changes folks!!

Indians will trust BN better without Samy

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak recently called on MIC to reengineer itself to remain relevant to the Indian community. It is a sign that the BN is beginning to realise that the MIC is becoming a liability rather than as asset. He rightly pointed out that Indian community, like the others, is more educated now and their expectations from the leadership are higher than ever before.

The MIC must heed Najib’s call to re-examine and revamp its leadership at all levels and act to regain the confidence of the Indian community. Otherwise there is a real danger that the MIC, which has been the sole representative of the Indians in the government, will soon become irrelevant to them.

Najib has outlined steps the government would take to uplift the socio-economic standing of the Indians. These include increasing the intake of Indians into the civil service; providing more scholarships to Indians entering public universities; sending qualified Indians to foreign universities for tertiary education; increasing the microcredit loans for Indian businessmen; improving the quality of education at Tamil schools and the orderly relocation of Hindu temples. But are these measures genuine or just election promises?

While it is encouraging that the government has suddenly recognised the plight of the Indians in particular, it is lamentable that these problems have been neglected for far too long. The restructuring of society and eradication of poverty did not bring the intended benefits to all communities although the policy was tailored for that.

It is imperative that the government ensure that policies formulated at the highest level are translated into realities on the ground and not sabotaged by the ‘little Napoleons’ at various levels of the administration. Why did the government fail to reprimand these ‘little Napoleans’ who did not toe the line in implementing national policies which were meant to benefit all communities?

The contribution of all communities, however small, is vital to the overall development of the nation. No effort must be spared to tap the potential of all communities to the fullest. No community, however small, should be neglected as the ailments in one will rapidly spread to adversely affect all.

It is election time and the PM and DPM and others top leaders of the BN have promised many goodies for all including for the Indian community. The question in the minds of Indians is, ‘Will the BN keep its promises after 50 years of failing to do so?’

Many believe that to a certain extent, it can be made to honour its promises to the Indian community if there is a change in the leadership of the MIC. The Indians are convinced beyond doubt that as long as the present leaders of the MIC remain at the helm, there can never be any change in the attitude of the BN and the government towards the plight of the Indians.

Unfortunately the leadership of the MIC, under S Samy Vellu, prefers to be blind to the dilemma of community it claims to represents. Unless the MIC leaders come out their denial syndrome, the future of the Indians does not look too bright.

Zip it, critics of MIC told

Critics of MIC and its president S Samy Vellu should stop their incessant attacks and start showing their worth by doing their duty for the community.

"There is no point in them continuing to use MIC as a punching bag for the community’s failure," MIC information chief M Saravanan told Malaysiakini when met recently.

"What have these critics done to elevate the status of the community?"

While conceding that the party has had its failures in helping out the community, Saravanan said its track-record has been "much better than that of critics".

"The critics are either (from) the opposition (ranks) or people within the MIC who have an axe to grind against the leadership.

"As far as the opposition parties are concerned, can they openly list what that they have done for the community? They talk so much about how MIC had failed to upgrade Tamil schools ...well, how many Tamil schools have the opposition upgraded?"

Saravanan, who is also the Federal Territories MIC chief and a former Senator, said the other group of critics comprises those who are currently out of favour with the party leadership.

"Mainly, they are Subramaniam’s supporters and they just want to criticise Samy for the sake of criticising," he claimed.

S Subramaniam (photo) was deputy MIC president until he was defeated by G Palanivel in the 2006 party elections. Samy Vellu and Subramaniam have a long-standing animosity, resulting in different camps being created in the party - Palanivel was, for instance, backed by Samy Vellu.

"Subra’s supporters are saying that the root cause of the Indian problem is Samy Vellu. How shallow can they be?

"Are they saying that by removing Samy Vellu, everything will be fine with the community? What have they done when they had power in the party to help the community?"

‘There are failures’

Saravanan, widely acknowledged as a rising star in the party, acknowledged the issues affecting the community and said the MIC had "failed in some cases".

"We are working within a system. We have to follow the established rules of the game. We just can’t jump up and start asking for everything.

"And yet we have asked a lot from the government. I agree we have not been given everything that we have asked for but we have somewhat received what we wanted."

He said that even the government has acknowledged that the Indian Malaysian community has some legitimate grievances and is now looking into these.

"The community must understand one thing. They are represented in the government by MIC, not the opposition. Only MIC is in a position to get them concessions from the government to elevate their status," said Saravanan.

"The critics can only talk. They won’t be able to do anything. They can’t get a single thing done. Not the opposition. Not Subra and his supporters."

He said that the community members should not be taken in by the rhetoric of detractors.

"They are shouting for political gains only. They are in no position to help - don’t let these critics kill off MIC.

"It will make things much difficult for the community if we (MIC) don’t get support in the coming elections. We all need the MIC (to uphold the interests) of the community. We know our shortfalls and we are in the midst of overcoming these."

Erosion of popular vote

He further said the party is working with the government to uplift the community’s status, as reflected in the promises by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at a special MIC meeting last Sunday.

On claims that the party looks set to lose some support among Indian voters, Saravanan admitted that leaders in some states are faring badly in certain areas.

He said the community is venting its anger on MIC, especially over economic issues, and that this has been spurred by the impact of activities organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).

"Okay, we understand that there is anger after Hindraf leaders were detained under the ISA. But why blame MIC for that? What did we do? We are doing our best to serve the community," he said.

"We are now trying to explain the real situation to the people and to explain what MIC has done for the community, as well as the limitations under which we work in the Barisan Nasional system.

"Our explanations are being well received except in some pockets where the opposition has control. Also our task is made difficult by people within MIC who spread false information."

Nonetheless, he said, the party is confident of retaining all the seats it will contest in the next general election, increasingly anticipated to be called by next month.

"However, we must admit that we will lose some votes due to prevailing sentiments on the ground. but we are not at risk of being whitewashed," he added.

"Members of the community do realise that only MIC can bring development to them. They may be angry or disappointed now but we are sure they will continue to back us."

Indian votes will swing unless...

Source:M'kini

Barisan Nasional (BN) risks losing Indian votes in the coming general election unless it employs drastic measures, warned a veteran MIC leader.The first step in untangling this political quagmire is for party president S Samy Vellu to step down.

Without mincing his words, the former MIC central working committee (CWC) member declared that Samy Vellu has become a liability to the ruling coalition.

"Is one man more important than the community?" This is the question posed by KP Samy during an interview with Malaysiakini recently.

"If the government feels it needs the community and is concerned about the community, then please talk to this leader. Enough, he has already been there for 28 years."

"The Indians were loyal supporters of BN. The government could not question our sincerity, so why did the government leave us in the hands of this leadership?" he asked further.

While the Nov 25 rally - which drew some 30,000 Indian Malaysians to the streets - was organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), Samy suggested that MIC also played a major role.According to the Shah Bandaraya MIC branch chairperson, vexed Indian Malaysians swarmed the heart of Kuala Lumpur on that day because of the "total failure of the MIC leadership.

" Samy, who is a strong supporter of the MIC president's ex-deputy turned nemesis S Subramaniam, said: "Many Indians on the street feel that Samy Vellu has failed the community."

"We expected him to resign after Nov 25 by accepting that Indians came to the street because they were fed-up, disappointed and frustrated."Ninety percent of the people took to the streets because their expectations and requests were not fulfilled, the government gave us (aid) to a certain extent, but (this) never reached the poor," he added.

Temple demolition
Samy also blamed the MIC president for the incident, which many see as the catalyst behind the Hindraf rally - the demolition of a temple in Kampung Rimba Jaya in Padang Jawa, Shah Alam.A clash erupted between local residents and enforcement authorities when the latter moved in on Oct 30 to tear down the 100-year-old temple.The demolition which took place just a week before the Hindu festival of Deepavali was viewed as an insensitive act and riled up the community.

"We felt that what the (state) government did (the demolition) was wrong, but (Selangor) MB (Dr Mohd Khir Toyo) later explained that the root problem was MIC.

"The MB said 'we allocated the land and gave RM40,000' (for the temple's relocation)," said Samy, adding that a state MIC leader appointed by the party president had allegedly "failed" and this paved the way for the crisis.

(This state leader allegedly did not inform the temple committee regarding the land and allocation for the relocation)"So who do we blame?" asked Samy.

"Can Samy Vellu run away and say he is not answerable. You selected (the leader), (he is) your leader, and he failed.

"Samy also said the government should be thankful to the five Hindraf leaders, who have since been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), and the protesters for bringing the plight of the Indians to its attention.Until the Nov 25 rally, he added, the government was under the impression that the Indian community is well taken care of.

"Now the government is worried about Indian votes, the government is to be blamed because they listened to Samy Vellu who said that Indian votes are in his pocket.

"By keeping him, protecting him and saying that he has done his duty, the losers will be the government and the Indian community," he stressed.

In view of this, Samy called on the MIC president to step down or at least set a retirement date.The party veteran felt this will assuage the anger of the Indian community to a certain extent and help BN regain some lost ground.

'Not allowed to work'
On the MIC front, the branch leader accused the president of not allowing capable leaders to perform because of political differences.Citing himself as an example, Samy claimed that he was 'victimised' because of his close ties to Subramaniam.

"Another sad part about MIC is that its leaders are not created but controlled, the president endorses candidates right from the deputy president to CWC.

"Proposing is one thing, but he goes to the field and threatens the delegates and insists that his line-up should win," he said.

"So this created a vacuum, we cannot identify any capable leader after Samy Vellu," he said, adding that deputy president G Palanivel and vice-president S Sothinathan lack support from the grassroots.On that note, Samy stressed that Subramaniam, who lost to Palanivel during the 2006 party elections, is a competent leader. The MIC leadership should recognise this and consider bringing him and his supporters back into the fold, he said.

"Though he is not in a position of taking over at this time, I believe Subramaniam is the best leader at this point to lead the community"Even if he sits in office for a short term, he can manage things well for the community," he added.

Samy claimed that since the MIC president "did not allow others, including Subramaniam, to work" he should stop blaming branch leaders for the party's woes. He challenged Samy Vellu to reveal how effectively the party's CWC sub-committees - involving leaders of his choice - have performed or contributed.

"Do you have the records, can you show it to the press?" he asked.

Maika's failure
Samy also criticised MIC's investment arm Maika Holdings for failing to uplift the economic status of the Indian community despite the government giving it 'quality stocks'.

"If managed well, Maika should have become a billion dollar company. Now his (Samy Vellu's) son (Vel Paari) is the CEO, when we went to (the recent AGM) to ask questions, we were blocked by gangsters.

"Now we ask the government, you are making a lot of noise saying that the (Nov 25) protestors are gangsters but what about the endorsed gangsters (at the Maika meet)?

"Samy was also unimpressed with the recent MIC gathering themed 'An evening with the prime minister' which drew thousands of Indian Malaysians which the party proclaimed demonstrated the community's undivided support for BN.

"If the authorities give a permit, we can bring 50,000 people without spending a single sen," he said, alleging that college students were among those roped in by MIC to make up the numbers.

Meanwhile, Samy disagreed with the suggestion that the sentiments generated by Hindraf are waning.He pointed out that even when Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced a public holiday for Thaipusam at the MIC gathering, immediately the credit for this went to Hindraf.

Apart from this, he said the poor turnout at the Batu Caves temple for Thaipusam on Jan 23 also revealed that the community is still seeing red.Asked about the criticism by certain quarters regarding the Batu Caves boycott on the grounds that it is wrong to mix politics with religion, Samy said that he too felt sad.

"Batu Caves is a symbolic place. But how else could we get the message across?" he added.

Subra loyal to BN
Samy, who describes himself as a sympathiser of the Hindraf cause, explained that there are some issues which he disagrees with such as the movement's claim that the Indians here are subjected to state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing.

However, he feels that a majority of the points raised are fair and the government should pay attention to them.He also dismissed Samy Vellu's allegation that Subramaniam is behind Hindraf, asking if the MIC president is indirectly saying that the latter can mobilise 30,000 people to take to the streets.

"Even when I got involved in bailing the Hindraf protestors, there was talk that Subramaniam's key man was involved. But I told Subramaniam that I was only involved on humane grounds.

"According to him, Subramaniam also disagreed with some of the controversial points raised by Hindraf."He told me that he had explained to PM that not all who went to the streets agreed with all the points, but most of the points, the community felt are fair.

"Subramaniam has always been a loyal supporter of BN, there were times when he was offered seats by the opposition, but he turned this down," he added.

Not asking for much
On what the Indian Malaysian community wants, Samy stressed that educational and economic opportunities - and not public holidays - are of topmost priority.

He said the government should listen to the fair and reasonable requests, and give an undertaking that these will be implemented even after the general election.

"The Indian community is not asking for much. Education, equity, aid for tamil schools, temple issue. Calm us down, ensure that nothing goes wrong. If the government does not take care of us, who is going to take care of us?"

The government knows we are poor, take away (business tycoons) Ananda Krishnan and Tony Fernandes...our equity is below one percent. When are we going to reach three percent?"As PM promised, in the Ninth Malaysia Plan, he is going to give and implement.

Where's the indication?

Is there any proof, has anything been implemented? Nothing.

"You are going to call us and ask us to vote. After elections what is going to happen? BN and the opposition are going to leave us in the dark.

Background, Datuk S. Krishnasamy a violent man?

Attack On M. Kulasegaran By Johor MIC Assemblyman An Attempt To Cover Up Improprieties In Maika Holdings And Silence Voices Of Shareholders Seeking The Truth.

Media Statement; by Lim Guan Eng; (01/11/2006)(Petaling Jaya, Wednesday):

DAP unreservedly condemns the irresponsible, illegal and violently unacceptable behaviour of Johor State Assemblyman for Tenggarah Datuk S. Krishnasamy in attacking DAP National Vice-Chair and MP for Ipoh Barat M. Kulasegaran yesterday during the Maika Holdings Bhd(Maika) Annual General Meeting(AGM).

In his police report yesterday, Kula asked police to act against the Johor ADUN for elbowing Kula and pushing Kula away from the mike when Kula was speaking to the Maika AGM at Legend Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Clearly this attack on Kula by Krishnasmy is an attempt to cover up improprieties in Maika Holdings and silence voices of shareholders seeking the truth and why their investment has not resulted in promised returns.

According to the report by Kula, “70% of the over 500 shareholders of Maika who attended the AGM had voted against the first agenda ‘to receive and adopt the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2005 together with reports of the directors and Auditors’. Realising that they were defeated the Chairman presiding the meeting refused to declare the results.

This caused great unhappiness and dissatisfaction. In trying to stifle the outcry and shut up the debate without revealing the outcome of the voting, Kula was attacked and the meeting was taken over by those displaying hooligan-like behaviour” DAP expresses disgust at the gangster politics employed by BN parties.

Apparently UMNO is not the only one to use threats to silence truth-seekers when they can not explain or justify their actions. Recently such threats were employed against Professor Dr Lim Teck Ghee for being seditious in making conclusions from his academic research that the NEP 30% target for corporate bumi equity has been exceeded based on calculation of market value.
Similar violent tactics were employed by supporters of Port Klang ADUN and Majlis Perbandaran Klang Councillor Datuk Zakaria Md Deros when the public went to his palatial mansion on 29.10.2006.

As Kulasegaran said, such violent tactics has no place in our Malaysia political culture. Further violence would not silence ordinary Indians who demand answers why their hard-earned money invested in Maika has not generated returns. MIC President Datuk S. Samy Vellu has a moral obligation and duty to the Indian community to explain the Maika shareholders the value of the investments.

He must also condemn and disassociate MIC and himself from the gangster tactics employed by Datuk Krishnasmy as not only shameful to MIC but also to all Malaysians. Any failure to condemn Krishnasamy and explain to Maika shareholders would only confirm suspicions that MIC is trying to cover up the real truth of what has gone wrong in investments in Maika Holdings.

DAP views this incident seriously and expects the police not to be affected by any politicial interference in investigating this incident. Should the police fail to take action then the matter would be pursued further for no one is above the law and even State Assemblyman do not have the right to assault people.

MIC leader shot dead in Johor

MIC Johor deputy chief and Tenggaroh state assemblyperson S Krishnasamy was gunned down by unidentified assailants at the MIC Johor headquarters this afternoon.

When contacted, his staff confirmed that Krishnasamy, 58, died shortly after the 2pm incident. The politician was shot twice at close range.

Unconfirmed reports claimed that the three-term assemblyperson was shot after two men approached him near a lift in the party headquarters, where Krishnasamy was supposed to attend a meeting.

According to Bernama, Johor deputy police chief Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Sharif said Krishnasamy's body was discovered lying in a pool of blood by Johor Puteri MIC chief R Vithayamohan at about 2.10pm.

Krishnasamy, a contractor, leaves behind widow Sornavalli and four children.

He was also elected as a member of MIC's powerful central working committee in 2000, 2003 and 2006.

Krishnasamy is the second MIC politician to have been shot dead in recent years. In 2000, then Kedah state assemblyperson for Lunas Dr Joe Fernandez was shot dead in Bukit Mertajam by unidentified men.

Contacted later, Kahang (Johor) state assemblyperson S Ramis described Krishnasamy's death as a great loss to the party.

"He was a bold and daring man who worked hard for his constituents and the Indian community. This is a big loss. He was one of the potential leaders to lead the state MIC," he said.

Samy 'shocked and saddened'
In a statement issued later, MIC president S Samy Vellu also expressed sadness and shock over the incident, which he said should not have happened.

“I wish to state that MIC has lost a fighter for the people. Krishnasamy was a leader who was dedicated and had integrity,” he added.Samy Vellu said he had personally informed Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi about the matter.

According to him, Abdullah too expressed “shock and sadness”.

He said it is now up to the police to investigate matter. He also expressed his condolences to Krishnasamy’s widow and four children.

WILL SAMY VELLU RESIGN???

Some 50 disgruntled shareholders of MIC’s troubled investment arm Maika Holdings held a brief but noisy protest outside the Kuala Lumpur Court complex calling for MIC president S Samy Vellu’s resignation.

“Step aside! Step aside! Samy Vellu, step aside!” they chanted. The group also held banners denouncing the veteran politician’s alleged failure to uplift the Indian community.

Leading them was opposition party PKR’s national integration committee chief N Gobalakrishnan.

“Former health minister and deputy MCA chief Chua Soi Lek recently resigned from his party and government posts. We urge Samy (Vellu) to follow suit.

“Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should appoint in his place someone who is really capable of leading the Indian community,” he told Malaysiakini.

The protest took place just as Maika lawyers wrapped up their submissions in the chambers of Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Kang Hwee Gee to set aside an injunction obtained against it by a shareholding company.

Koperasi Nesa Pelbagai Bhd, a company which has 625,000 shares in Maika, applied to stop the sale of Maika’s insurance subsidiary Oriental Capital Assurance Bhd (OCAB).

The injunction is part of a suit filed by Nesa to declare Maika’s Aug 30, 2007 annual general meeting (AGM) and the resolutions passed in it as null and void and to be set aside.

The suit is being heard together with a similar one by eight individuals against Maika Holdings and four others.

Justice Kang fixed Jan 15 for for the plaintiffs’s lawyers to make their submissions. They claim Maika’s shareholders had been obstructed from exercising their right to freely debate the motions at the AGM, the main agenda of which was the disposal of OCAB.

No dividends, statements of accounts
Maika executives said the RM129 million sale of OCAB would ensure that its shareholders - who have long waited for a return on their investments - get their money back as well as ensure the survival of Maika itself.

Some shareholders, however, believe the sale of OCAB - considered as Maika’s only ‘golden goose’ - would sound the death knell for the investment arm.

They have also demanded that an independent party look into the impact of OCAB’s disposal and advise accordingly.

Most of those who were at court today were Maika shareholders from Klang who had withdrawn substantial amounts of their life savings to invest in the company, headed by Samy Vellu’s son Vel Paari.

The company, however, has been a spectacular failure with many of its business ventures failing to take-off.

“Since Maika began, until today, we haven’t seen any dividends or statement of accounts,” said a shareholder, who only identified herself as Reckana, when met outside the court.