So who’s telling the truth — deputy minister or headmaster? The Seri Pristana saga continues …
From The Malaysian Insider today, an article by Ravinder Singh:
<Quote>
“By insisting that the canteen was under renovation (now said to be since May, earlier said to be since March), the HM of Seri Pristana is in effect saying that Deputy Education Minister Kamalanathan lied when he said there were no renovations to the canteen, and the only repairs were the replacement of the wooden door to the teachers’ room in a corner of the canteen with a glass door. He had said this after visiting the school and seeing the canteen with his own eyes.
Why all this beating around the bush? Now that the HM has cast aspersions on the honesty of Kamalanathan, the latter should either confirm or deny the story about the renovations.
If he stays silent, then he is agreeing with the HM’s version about the renovations, and his own untruthful statement about there being no renovations to the canteen.
As the issue hinges on the truth or otherwise of the ‘renovations’ story, the matter can be resolved and put to rest very easily by producing photographs of the canteen under renovation.
Details of the renovation works should also be made public. What was the nature of the renovations: enlarging the floor area? Repairing the roof? Re-doing of the flooring? Building additional food stalls?
Who was the contractor and what was the contract sum? What are the dates on which the work actually commenced and ended?
There is no need to bring in any other matters and excuses into the unholy affair. If renovations were being carried out, whether since March or May, there must be facts and photographs concerning the renovations. Why are these being kept secret?
When the matter can be settled so easily by showing proof of the claim that the canteen was under renovation, why is it not being done? There must definitely be photographs as these are required to show progress of work to claim payments from the party that awarded the contract for the job.
Since Kamalanathan’s credibility has been questioned, it behoves that he act to put the matter to rest. Show photographs of the renovation works or pull up the HM for telling a lie about the renovations and continuing to repeat the lie.” […]
<Unquote>
To read the rest of Ravinder’s article, please go to TMI.
From the news reports that I’ve read on the Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Pristana controversy so far, none of the reporters who had visited the canteen said that they saw any evidence of the renovation works.
Helen Ang 
Kalau you jumpa kamalanathan dan ular.. pada siapa u nak percaya?
Of course the snake. Why ? Because the snake is more convincing when it comes to arguing his case while the guy is not.
Now let me ask you. Between a Jew and a Muslim, who can articulate his views in a more convincing manner ? You know the answer right ?
The reason why some people win while others lose is not because they lacked the facts and figures to help them articulate their point of view. Its because some people know how to use the facts and figures to tell the stories that they want people to believe in.
I have said it many times. The GE14 is going to be the ruling coalition’s last stand. I m amazed that after the GE13, the ruling coalition is still mired in the politics of the previous century. the so called bread and butter issues.
We’re in the 21 century my dear. The age of the celebrity. People expect their representatives to communicate with them. People expect their representatives to be savvy.
Look at the representatives from the ruling coalition. How many of them are young and savvy ? How many of them use social media to get close to their constituents ? The numbers are not encouraging.
The Obama moment is coming. 2018.
Dah la tu. Si Singh dgn Nathan tu sama macam ular.
Bila nk selesai cerita ni? Kritikal sangat ke? Rakyat dah jemu dan meluat dengar cerita yg dah senyap diungkit tak sudah2.
Kami rakyat biasa dah penat dan letih mendengarnya lah!
Bebal, tongong punya Singh n Nathan!!
Melambak-lambak laporan polis sudah dibuat tentang pertelingkahan ni. Saya rasa kes boleh ditutup sekiranya pihak polis membuat sidang akhbar untuk mendedahkan hasil siasatan mereka.
Ini bersangkut maruah seorang timbalan menteri yang telah dicemar. YB Kamalanathan ialah seorang wakil KERAJAAN BN yang dipilih dan dilantik oleh YAB Perdana Menteri sendiri.
Beliau juga seorang ahli jemaah menteri anggota parti senior MIC yang sudah duduk dalam BN sejak 1955 lagi, yakni 58 tahun bersama mengharungi liku-liku politik Perikatan, BN dan Umno.
Kalau bersikap anti-India yang menebal sekalipun, sila hormatilah jawatannya sebagai seorang Timbalan Menteri karena beliau adalah sebahagian daripada The Establsihment.
Re Saya rasa kes boleh ditutup sekiranya pihak polis membuat sidang akhbar untuk mendedahkan hasil siasatan mereka.
Lagi lama ditangguh, lagi banyak pihak Pakatan untung. Kan saya dah kata banyak kali, pihak kerajaan ni tak arif. The Game has changed. Tapi cara mereka menangani masalah masih lagi ikut cara abad 20.
Re Kalau bersikap anti-India yang menebal sekalipun, sila hormatilah jawatannya sebagai seorang Timbalan Menteri karena beliau adalah sebahagian daripada The Establsihment.
Hilang sokongan masyarakat India. Masih lagi tak sedar ke ? PRU13 masyarakat India beri sokongan kepada BN kerana faktor PM Najib. Sampai PRU14, faktor PM Najib pasti tak laku lagi. Pasti masyarakat India sudah jadi sangat marah menjelang PRU14. Habislah !
re: “Lagi lama ditangguh, lagi banyak pihak Pakatan untung.”
Lagipun polis sudah menemuramah murid-murid yang terlibat.
re: “Kan saya dah kata banyak kali, pihak kerajaan ni tak arif. The Game has changed. Tapi cara mereka menangani masalah masih lagi ikut cara abad 20.”
Orang Umno masih lagi dengan taktik gertak. Cara mereka menangani masalah ialah dengan mengherdik “Tangkap! Sumbat dalam lokap!”
Re: “Hilang sokongan masyarakat India. Masih lagi tak sedar ke ?”
Entah lah orang Umno. Tak pandai mencongak formula Obama. Setakat ini MIC tidaklah membelot macam MCA yang hari-hari menyanggah dasar-dasar BN. Kenapa member-member Umno asyik nak membuli orang India.
Sebenarnya penyokong Umno tidak tahu membezakan di antara kaum India Hindu, penghuni kawasan separa bandar, bertutur bahasa Tamil (PENYOKONG BN) dengan kaum India Kristian, golongan profesional, bertutur bahasa Inggeris yang kuat menyokong pembangkang.
re: “PRU13 masyarakat India beri sokongan kepada BN kerana faktor PM Najib.”
Betul.
re: “Pasti masyarakat India sudah jadi sangat marah menjelang PRU14. Habislah !”
Takpe lah. Umno boleh temankan MCA di Muzium Dinosaur bila BN kalah nanti.
Maaf Helen, Barisan Nasional sudah menjamah undi daripada 50 peratus demografik India pada Mei lalu. Setakat ini, mereka tidak diperlukan lagi oleh Barisan Nasional. Maka, Barisan Nasional boleh bertindak sewenang-wenangnya tanpa menghiraukan perasaan orang India. Hal menyelesaikan masalah sosial dan ekonomi India boleh disubkontrek kepada golongan dari MIC yang masih ada dan Waythamoorthy. Tetapi bila mereka bersuara, mereka akan disuruh meninggalkan kerajaan atau balik ke India.
Helen
Quote: “Dah la tu. Si Singh dgn Nathan tu sama macam ular.”
This is already telling. What has the Singh writer/messenger got to do with this issue? The silence when it comes to the HM is deafening.
Forget it.
Your professed ultra readers are simply not interested in the truth. They will go all gung-ho and dig deep in the name of truth when it comes to DAP, Christianity, venacular schools, racist Chinese and gangster Indians. Everything else is moot.
Re Your professed ultra readers are simply not interested in the truth. They will go all gung-ho and dig deep in the name of truth when it comes to DAP, Christianity, venacular schools, racist Chinese and gangster Indians. Everything else is moot.
People need to come up with distractions. The truth is not very comforting.
The opposition is already targeting the rural vote bank.
http://manage.mmail.com.my/story/dap-launches-campaign-seize-rural-sarawak-64342
and yet the ultras are still drunk with issues like Christianity, vernacular schools, Chinese racists and Indian gangsters. To foreigners, this all look perplexing.
With their sleek marketing, the rural vote bank of east Malaysia could be gone even before GE14, what with the Sarawak state elections due in 2015.
Oh my. There goes another state. Then the ultras become even more radical. More threats. This is not how you win the hearts and minds, not to mention, votes.
re: “The opposition is already targeting the rural vote bank.”
True. DAP embarked in earnest on this new prong of their campaign dari 6 May 2013 (day immediately after GE13) lagi.
Sekarang ini musim untuk menunjukan siapa yang lebih keindiaan nya, siapa yang lebih kecinaan nya, siapa yang lebih kemelayuan nya. Tahap rasis yang amat teruk.
masih rindukan zaman Tun M. Masalah makan kat bilik persalinan pun timbalan menteri dan menteri pelajaran kena buat lawatan. What a waste…
Zaman Tun takde Facebook dan Twitter.
Rencana yang kritis — ditulis oleh seorang Melayu tentang susunan ‘CMIO’ (Chinese, Malays, Indians, Others) di Singapura.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/can-we-move-beyond-a-racialised-society-mohamed-imran-mohamed-taib
sudahlah !!!!! dah penat dah dengan issue ini. Ibu bapa (adults) bergaduh tak berhenti-henti anak2 yang jadi mangsa. Kalau anak2 besar jadi gangster salah orang lain pulak. Ibu ayah pun macam gangster!!!!! . sudahlah tutuplah issue ini. Dah penat dah aku. Move on with life la!!!!! Kesian pada budak2 tu. Jangan nak penuh ego orang tua saja !!!
And BN keeps losing the War of Perception. Like this “Habislah”, like someone said upthread.
Press statement by a senior DAP Indian MP, url below
http://ipohbaratvoice.blogspot.com/2013/09/sk-seri-pristana-incident-what-took_19.html
Just to let you know that even tho’ I’m unable to read Tamil but nonetheless, I am aware that the Seri Pristana issue got tremendous coverage in the Indian papers. It was on all the front pages when the story first broke. I saw the infamous canteen photo(s) splashed everywhere in the Tamil dailies.
Re. It was on all the front pages when the story first broke. I saw the infamous canteen photo(s) splashed everywhere in the Tamil dailies.
What have they done so far to help ease the pain and suffering of the alleged “victim” in that school after the brou haha? Have they come forward and be part of the solution after that?
Frankly, SK Pristina has benefited from this whole issue. RM45K might not be much for some of you in here, for a GOMEN school that is quite a big sum to conduct “aktiviti perpaduan” minus the non-Malay students who have been transferred out.
Benarkah dakwaan ramai pelajar bukan Melayu berhenti dari sekolah ini selepas kes tersebut?
Tidak benar. Hanya seorang murid sahaja berhenti kerana tidak berpuas hati mengenai isu ini. Dua murid Melayu yang berhenti adalah kerana berpindah ke Pahang. Tidak ada isu yang harus ditimbulkan mengenainya.- mohd nasir – guru besar
(ular bising je lebih)
This case has been political from the beginning.
Quote: “Tidak benar. Hanya seorang murid sahaja berhenti kerana tidak berpuas hati mengenai isu ini. Dua murid Melayu yang berhenti adalah kerana berpindah ke Pahang. Tidak ada isu yang harus ditimbulkan mengenainya.- mohd nasir – guru besar”
Helen, is this true? Previous news report about all the non-Malay students transferring out is inaccurate?
Kluangman – you know something we don’t? Share your source lah.
re: “Helen, is this true? Previous news report about all the non-Malay students transferring out is inaccurate?”
Dunno. I wish I am able to read Tamil ! Surely one of the 6 Tamil dailies would have carried news on this. But the Indians are too insular and some things they keep within their own community and is not known to outsiders.
I believe the bigger and richer communities should take the extra step to find out what’s happening with them in general ‘cos some of them are so marginalized that they’re voiceless and invisible.
‘Helen, is this true? Previous news report about all the non-Malay students transferring out is inaccurate?’ HH
‘Dunno. I wish I am able to read Tamil ! Surely one of the 6 Tamil dailies would have carried news on this. But the Indians are too insular and some things they keep within their own community and is not known to outsiders.’ Helen
Guys, listen to the horse mouth, here
http://www.sinarharian.com.my/isu-sk-pristana-hikmah-di-sebalik-kejadian-bhg-1-1.203514
and
http://www.sinarharian.com.my/sinar-tv/wawancara/isu-sk-pristana-hikmah-di-sebalik-kejadian-bhg-2-1.203516
Ya lah, it’s what “he says”.
Like I’ve mentioned before, it’s best that the police or Education Ministry put this to rest by clarifying the case. As it is, the DAP Indian MPs are already creating a ruckus. Even the MIC reps are making press statements
Perhaps they should. I agree with you there. But I’m sure we all know to well how the Malay Gomens operates themselves don’t we?
The PNM does not document the way the operates. Education Ministry also rarely wants to involve themselves with controversies, of any kind, and thus I don’t think they would want to delved further into this.
But then again the Guru Besar PR stunts must be getting some sort of nod from the ministry, or maybe he bersemangat baru with the Idris Jusoh’s visit.
re: “he bersemangat baru with the Idris Jusoh’s visit”
You could be right there.
Tabiat Cina DAP mengutuk BN/UMNO sakan bagai tiada esok lagi, tapi bila sesak datang cari BN/MCA. DAP jadi tukang kompang agenda dia orang.
Lelaki Derita Muka Bengkak Mahu Hidup Normal
“Difahamkan pihak Wanita MCA juga membantu mendapatkan pekerjaan sambilan buat Chee Ming bagi membolehkan dia menerima bantuan sebanyak RM300 sebulan daripada Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM).”
http://wowberita.org/gambar-lelaki-derita-muka-bengkak-mahu-hidup-normal?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gambar-lelaki-derita-muka-bengkak-mahu-hidup-normal
Dulu-dulu masa China Doll sibuk bermukim di Pulau Ketam dan laki diorang tak balik rumah pun, diorang cari MCA. Banyaklah contoh lain lagi sebenarnya.
You win top prize for persistence, Helen.
Yah. That’s why I started this blog when the Dapsters began taking firm control of the whole English-language online space.
Terima Kasih.. harap anda mendapat balasan setimpal dengan usaha anda… I wanted to say that some establishment element not sponsoring your effort is already a crime, but then again it won’t serve the purpose, would it?
The establishment (read: Umno powers-that-be) are letting the entire control of the English media go to the oppo.
See,
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/09/22/Time-to-leave-the-CPM-era-behind.aspx
Allowing the pro-DAP English media to dictate the national discourse is suicidal for BN. Umno clearly has a death wish.
‘Umno clearly has a death wish.’
Yes, I would agree to that looking at its disability or rather reluctance perhaps, to guard the misinformation on its own party and policies, in the English media.
Kakiseni used to be a hotbed of these anti establishment, most of the time it is UMNO too, artists. The artists interviewed, M teh and Z Siew, were mostly the usual suspects, known for their subversive art and artistic performances.
Fahmi Fadzil was their brother in arms, so to speak. He had dabbles in art and theater before he become NI, polsec. Naturally he is ‘very creative’, as being highlighted by you, time and again!
re: “Yes, I would agree to that looking at its disability or rather reluctance perhaps, to guard the misinformation on its own party and policies, in the English media.”
This aspect needs to be prominently highlighted to the powers that be. The Malays must do their part to bring this matter up at the PAU.
Lets hope that Mukhriz wins and becomes the game changer! Akramsyah wins would be sweet to! At least he does not need to hide his Malayness. Just like TPM.