Thaipusam Public Holiday Annoucement: Say Thanks to HINDRAF Leaders and Protesters

Read 15th January 2008 commentary by Bernard Khoo on Zorro-Unmasked Blog

Quote:

The GOOD NEWS.....Hindraf has subtly hinted to Hantu that THAIPUSAM WILL BE DECLARED A NATIONAL HOLIDAY before 23rd January.
-Bernard Khoo/Zorro on 15th January 2008

From Screenshots: Read here for more

"...Thaipusam will be a public holiday extended to Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya from now on, PM Abdullah Badawi announced today.

Have community issues surfaced by Hindraf Rally been solved, and resolved, once and for all? Has the community been fighting only to have an extra day off, by the way?

Or is this another episode of 'Ee chiak lu, lu pun um chai' to hoodwink people? I hope my Indian-Malaysian brethren can enlighten us what this is all about.

The MIC-UMNO Spin

"...Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced this yesterday to cheers and thunderous applause from thousands of Indians and Barisan Nasional supporters.

He said the decision was made AFTER several calls were made by the MIC to have Thaipusam declared a public holiday in Kuala Lumpur.

"Yes, (Datuk Seri S.) Samy Vellu kept asking for Thaipusam to be made a public holiday, especially in Kuala Lumpur. Moreover, every year during Thaipusam, the roads in Kuala Lumpur become very congested," he said.

However, after the holiday, the people must continue to work hard, Abdullah said at a MIC-organised gathering yesterday..... Read here for more

Malaysian Unplug says:

Samy Vellu has been the President of MIC for 28 years, for goodness sake !!.

It takes more than a quarter of a century for MIC, as a Component Party in Barisan Nasional, and for Samy Vellu as President of MIC, to ACTUALLY convince the UMNO-led Government to finally agree for Thaipusam to be a public holiday in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

Note the coincidence that the HINDRAF demonstration was held in the Federal Territory only late last year."

The DAP Response

"... In the past decades, both inside and outside Parliament, DAP has been calling for Thaipusam to be declared a public holiday and not just a state holiday in Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Johor.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s announcement yesterday of Thaipusam as a public holiday is seen as highly opportunistic and self-serving to salvage Samy Vellu’s political life and Barisan Nasional’s political fortunes in the coming polls than the start of a serious and genuine national commitment to end the long-standing Marginalization of Malaysian Indians as the new underclass in the country.

No wonder one widespread comment and reaction to Abdullah’s announcement is that the Hindraf had been achieve in one rally on Nov. 25 what Samy Vellu had failed to do in more than 28 years as MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister...." Read here and here for more