Samy's heart of gold

Busy, purpose-driven week for Samy Vellu. In a life set by the throbbing beat of the tabla, he showed he fights for you and me, and just as much, the Indian community.

Just barely a day before he announced the Great Benevolent Toll Hikes, Samy was in the estates of Jasin announcing a plan to ensure Tamil schools were not neglected.

Who knows, months earlier, he must have strapped his bronze breastplate and made his case to the Cabinet. Ever the fighter, perhaps he thumped hard on the table, perhaps he eyeballed a kerised Hishamuddin and never blinked, perhaps he made them shudder simply with cold, hard facts about the plight of his people.

In any case, he won. MIC's Arjuna won. As he won for us a kind and soft toll increase. ("The cheapest toll in the world is in Malaysia.")

And so for Indian Malaysians there is cause for celebration; 34 vessels of knowledge located in seven states will be awarded a total of RM489,000 – for which to get “a new building or have existing structures repaired”.

The Star reports:

The schools involved are one in Selangor which received RM10,000, six in Johor (RM55,000), two in Penang (RM50,000), 11 in Pahang (RM95,000), four in Negri Sembilan (RM85,000), one in Malacca (RM10,000) and nine in Kedah (RM184,000).

Look closer now.

That's RM489 thousand. In a time when just about every government project/initiative mentioned carries the million – if not billion – ringgit tag, here we have paltry thousands. And to be shared among 34 schools. Heart of gold.

Just a sampling: The KL ferriswheel is going to cost RM30 mil. That crazy Melaka tower RM21 mil. The Tanjong Tokong development is slated to cost RM750 mil and give-me-time PM AAB is suddenly anxious and wants it fast-tracked. Mr Sleepy-Hollow also gave away ringgit hampers to the tune of RM600 mil to Umno constituencies.

As for the Tamil schools, do the math. That's an average of RM14,832 per school. Those 11 Tamil-medium schools in Pahang will share RM95,000, or about RM8,636 for each school. The man who claims to have tamed the toll concessionaires now gives the same love to his people. Not.

Samy-ji, you can't even do a paint job with that kind of money. You can't quite fix the drains or the sewer lines. You sure as hell can't fix respect.

See, Tamil-medium schools are mostly located in the plantations where under the banners of Golden Hope, Sime Darby and Guthrie, Indian estate settlements have existed virtually unchanged for decades. Their dwellings may be seasoned and charming, but in the nights their monsoon dreams are washed in paraquat.

Perhaps it is these families who earn RM400 a month, whose womenfolk are tasked to spray hazardous pesticides with only a soiled hanky over their mouth deserve only this much?

And how much is much? To look at it from another perspective: RM489,000 amounts to 305,625 cars (excludes lorries, buses, cabs) passing through the LDP under the new tax plan. With four different toll plazas in its 40km stretch, that's 76,406 cars per plaza. Let's dare venture – that's perhaps two days' takings tops?

Heart of gold, Samy. And they say, a Barisan Nasional alliance ensures all races are represented. They say it is through this integration is achieved.

I say it cleaves.