Elect P. Ramasamy as MP For Batu Kawan
February 28, 2008
[This post dedicated to a friend who shares the same surname as Koh Tsu Koon]
As the elections draw ever closer, let’s focus our attention on one ‘hot’ Parliament seat, the Batu Kawan seat in Penang. This seat is ‘hot’ due to the participation of Koh Tsu Koon, the outgoing Gerakan Chief Minister of Penang. Taking on Koh will be Professor P. Ramasamy, who is a former political science lecturer in UKM, and currently DAP’s International Secretary.
Look, I’m no Penangite, but when I talk to Penangites, or read Penangite’s blogs, I get the feeling that Koh isn’t exactly the most popular guy around. For every positive thing someone says about Koh Tsu Koon, his detractors will have 2 negative things to cancel out the positive. This post is not about criticizing Koh Tsu Koon. There are tons of blogs already doing that.
If you really, really want to find reasons not to vote for Koh, there is no harm in reading MageP’s 7 reasons to reject Koh Tsu Koon.
Let’s talk a little about Ramasamy. If elected, what type of MP would he be in Parliament? Since he has never been there, we can only guess, so let’s make a few guesses based on past history.
I first heard of the existence of Professor P. Ramasamy back in 2005, when his 20+ years of service to UKM as a political science lecturer was terminated abruptly upon retirement. No reason for the termination was given, but Ramasamy said: (Malaysiakini, August 5th 2005):
“In a more precise sense, I speculate that my public role in writing and speaking on political and social issues such as the lack of democratic space, the plight of the Indian community, the exploitation of labour and more recently my statements on the controversial role of the Malaysian Medical Council on the Crimea Medical State University could have provided the overall context in which the decision was taken against me.
“Academic excellence is judged not by sound teaching and academic or intellectual output, but how well lecturers and administrators cultivate personal friendships and ties to seek promotion and extension of contracts.”
Here is a man, who did not even hold public office then, but was already concerned with national issues like the stifling of democracy, the sufferings of the Indian community, and also government policies that were not beneficial to the people as a whole. I think he would make a good MP as he is familiar with national issues, and Parliament would be a good place for him to air his views.
Therefore, based on past history, if P. Ramasamy is elected as the MP for Batu Kawan, there is a great possibility that he will champion the causes of the voters in his constituency, while also speaking out on national issues that affect every Malaysian.
Thus, if I were a Batu Kawan voter, I would certainly give my vote to P. Ramasamy because I know he has the potential to be a good MP, as compared to the other candidate from Gerakan who already stale and has a track record of kow-towing to the demands of his big brothers in UMNO.
Is it that hard a choice? Batu Kawan or Penang voters, what do you think?
Those readers who have more information on Prof. P. Ramasamy, please share the links in the comments as well.
Parliament Seat Info for Batu Kawan (P46)
You Might Find These Interesting
- PKR And DAP Seat Talks In Perak Still Pending An Outcome
- Consulting A Psychic In Kelana Jaya Seat
- The Strength Of Ong Ka Chuan’s Political Clout
- Bring Fong Po Kuan Back To Parliament!
- Vote for MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, and you vote for UMNO
Thank you for reading Malaysians Say The Darndest Things! If you like what you just read, you should consider subscribing to this blog in a feedreader. Alternatively, you could also subscribe via email, and you will get a daily digest of the day's posts. Your email is strictly protected and will never be used for spam or marketing purposes.
7 Responses to “Elect P. Ramasamy as MP For Batu Kawan”
Add your comment
I agree with you. P.Ramasamy MUST BE a BETTER MP than anyone from gerakan. Well, maybe there is still a big number of Chinese Penangites worried about the “chinese ketua menteri”. For it is nonsense at all. There is only a set of rules to distinguish Malaysians, and this set of rules is not race for fure, but is the set of moral values instead. People worried about “races” because they dont understand what the other “races” are thinking about. Again this is nonsense. Because even someone from the “same race”, we can NEVER UNDERSTAND him/her if there is no communication between us. For example, can a KL malay understand what a kampung malay (say from johor) think about? NO WAY!
So, if we want to understand, we have to communicate. To communicate, then, we can commhnicate with anyone from Malaysia regardless of their races. Hence public consensus are formed.
February 28, 2008 at 3:19 pm
STOP any racial mode of thinking, that is nonsense! Look at Taiwan, all chinese, so what? There are full of LIES, INJUSTICE and so on there! look at Switzerland, various races, so what? It is one of the best civilized country in the world!
February 28, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Xian Yang,
So are you saying, we should first get rid of our own racist mindset, and stop voting in the race-based political parties? If that’s the case, and if more people start to think like you, then the country is in the right track.
February 29, 2008 at 2:31 am
In any place on earth, we have a fair share of both good & bad people. Do u think there is peace in our body? Think hard B4 u answer me. There is war going on inside our body every second of the hour. Luckily the good triumph over the bad most of the time & that is why we are healthy. Then who is helping the ‘good’? It is our brain. In normal circumstances, our brain rule. If we think of good things & good ways, & act positively we will most likely remain healthy. That applies to an individual, a family, a company, a corporation, a country and to a larger extent tne world. So if we fall sick we blame our brain(will power in the head) for lax lifestyle. And if a country falls sick we blame the government(political power base) if not blame who? Blame GOD or SATAN? Some say S’pore is a small nation don’t compare. Then what about Communist China, they r huge and they were very poor 50 years ago. Now their China $ is even more valuable than HK $ could u imagine that 50 years ago? What has happened to our Beloved Ringgit now? It is all very sad for Malaysia. We are not supposed to be poorer if to be compared to S’pore. Even for a grape, one tastes sweet while the other taste..ahem..to be nice to “them” terribly not-so-sweet.
February 29, 2008 at 6:37 pm
pls visit http://profpramasamy.blogspot.com/
March 2, 2008 at 12:30 am
So what if the CM of Penang is Indian or Malay ? If everything is transparent, eg. open tenders, proper planning, consideration for the environment, etc then it doesn’t matter. Tranparency, accountability and responsibilty are the keys.
Whoever it is must be able to make Penang globally competitive. Intel does not have to locate in Penang and there are lovely beaches in many parts of the world. The CM has to subscribe to an international agenda and not a local one.
March 2, 2008 at 9:51 am
I think what a lot of non-Chinese residents in Penang feel is that the requirement that the CM needs to be fluent in Mandarin (to attract foreign businessmen) is quite shallow, and probably quite racist.
So, I agree with chauncey gardener that transparency, accountability and responsibility are more important than language skill.
March 2, 2008 at 12:12 pm