Q&A: 'Even if a thousand Samy Vellus come'

Although there was much resistance from within PKR with one of its former members contesting as an independent and with the resignation of a whole division, the party's Bukit Selambau by-election candidate S Manikumar is not even an ounce perturbed and says he will work towards fulfilling his goals for the Bukit Selambau no matter what.

In an 20-minute exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, Manikumar said that the withdrawal of support by local community leaders and the local Makkal Sakthi movement were not a factor pointing out Hindraf was supposed to be apolitical.

Malaysiakini: Several local Makkal Sakthi leaders, former Hindraf leaders and even former PKR Jerai division chief B Kalaivanar have said that they are not going to support you. How does this affect your chances?

You see, Hindraf was a non-political movement and it struggles for the socio-economic rights of the Indian community. Now why should they come into the political arena and what is their agenda? The fight is not political.

I, too, support their struggle as an Indian.

Okay, but we must know how to differentiate this. When Anwar is giving comments, yes, he talks about Makkal Sakthi and he will talk about Hindraf but what he is trying to expose is the challenge of the Indians.

But Hindraf is not directly connected to the party so it is different issue. Maybe I can bring changes like for the temple issues.

Indians today who build temples, do they thoroughly plan from A to Z on what they need to do? From getting the land title to the license and even the funds? No, (they get) nothing, so what has the MIC been doing for 51 years?

Did Samy Vellu raise up this matter in cabinet? Indians are struggling, they go to an estate they straight away open a temple in the estate and after 20 year if it is demolished it becomes a issue. That is why the Hindraf struggle came up. So PKR is now rectifying all these problems, leaders like me, if I get to the sit on the executive council, I will help create an enactment on temple building in Kedah.

I don't want any Tom, Dick or Harry to simply go open a temple on a piece of land and claim that it is their temple. We want to bring about quality Indians, because they are great people.

Well, at a point, the people were used to fact that Samy Vellu solved all their problems.

Why is that? For instance Mied today, it is a money-making organisation, even if my brother or sister want to do medicine there, they must pay RM300,000. They are not going to get it for free just because they are Indians. Are Indians that stupid to believe that it is free?

That is why I am telling you this, we have bring up human capital. You can be living in an estate or on a tree but say if your thinking and concept is different, nobody can manipulate you. Even if a thousand Samy Vellus come to cheat you, you know how to think (for yourself).

Why you think Pakatan overlooked other senior politicians to put you as a candidate?

Maybe (it is because of) the inner strength within me, maybe because I can speak a good Kedah dialect or maybe because they need someone who can really be a Malay. In the ring you need the advantage (of being able to speak the dialect).

Many other reasons like my education or maybe even because I am young and youthful.

How do you see yourself working with he Kedah PAS government?

We are still very new, let’s say we give them a chance and if they tried to implement a policy that does not work, after surveying the prospects I am sure they will withdraw (such projects).

(I think) they are people you can negotiate with.

When will you be launching your manifesto?

Well, what we have is more like a charter. I have my own vision (for this place), most of them are long-term visions which may take couple of years to become a reality.

But within these visions I have a few mission which are short-term projections, maybe (we will implement it) every four months.

Short-term missions will focus on human capital development, for example, we will be creating a blog or website – bukitselambau dot com – to get the village heads to coordinate with us on bringing about a new formula on how we are going to integrate together.

(Also we aim) to bring awareness to the people on how they can develop themselves by bringing in technological advancement and through the village heads we will know what are the grassroots problems like people with no identification cards and birth certificates.

These are some of the matters that can be put on the website and we can coordinate from the office, so that we do not need to go down to the villages very often because time is very limited. With 22 villages, I cannot simply visit all so I need this anchor.

So these are the things we are going to implement and which we are going to carry to the Kedah government which can also be a model or modus operandi for the operation of the whole Kedah government.

Without technology, we will be handicapped because people are still dealing with people through orthodox methods. Although this has a personal touch, what about implementing policies. We must compare with the developed nations and not with Third World countries.

That is why young people have to come (in) with dynamic ideas, a strong calibre and the ability to perform.

What made you become involved in politics?

I have been the passive member of PKR for two years. Normally, I was involved in a passive way, I would go just go for the meetings.

But in the last election, I was in charge of coordinating young Indian voters here (in Kedah). So what made me interested to be involved actively was the party's aspirations.

Well, it's the (federal) government of the day. What are they doing today? There is lot of hanky- panky going on and many of them involved in dirty politics. So young capable leaders must march forward to make a total reformation.

I am involved in many businesses, for instance, I do consultancy work for the Southern Group (a Thai-bases company) and other businesses so when I go out I can observe what is going on.

I think we need to appraoch development like other countries like Japan and Qatar. The same can be applicable in Malaysia.

We are Bangsa Malaysia and although some people might claim to be from a mono-ethnic group they must come together and march together to bring up a multi-ethnic nation. That is my main intention to come into politics.

What are your positive qualities; those people might consider when voting for you?

I have three characters – I am an Indian by origin, I am a businessman therefore I have the Chinese-style of thinking and the Malay culture is part of me as I was brought up in a Malay village in Alor Setar.

On your visions. Do you have anything concrete to share with us?

Nothing is concrete yet because, you see, I am still new in my political career so if I win and get the executive councillor’s post I will still have to discuss with the menteri besar on the views we are going to achieve together.

The main leaders are all now are past the age of 40 and no longer youthful but I am still a youth and this is a positive point for me.

This is a starting point for me, at the age of 35 I have become a politician. I am going to win this seat and bring a new reformation.

And I have my team to come up with a solid blueprint on what we should do which will be applicable for the Indian community and the people of Bukit Selambau.

The PAS government in Kedah I cannot comment much because they are only one year old. But for the past 50 years what have they (the BN government) done?

(The only thing) here (that is completed is) the infrastructure and basic amenities like electricity and water which are necessities. But beyond that, what other developments have they brought today?

Are you aware as a voter of how the government is being managed? Are they communicating with the people to know what are the issues?

We voters should come out and check how the government manages issues like tenders and future projects. This are things we are going to look into for a transparent government.

You are new in this field, Can you withstand the pressure and responsibility?

Definitely. Lots of people have asked me the same question but the I only thing I can say is that I have faced a lot of challenges through my businesses and I manage to build my empire there.

I can say that I am successful businessman because I am running three companies and I have not faced any bankruptcy and I have no debts. I am running a consultancy, palm oil distribution and also vehicle trading.

So I can use all my past experiences that I have gained and maybe I will be able to apply it to my political career.

The only difference is (in politics) is that I am managing human capital (and in my business) I am managing intangible things.

No, I have no connection with him at all.

Why you think so many contesting this state seat?

Maybe they have a personal agenda or maybe they want expose themselves although behind the curtain, we don't know what is going on (therefore) we can't simply (make claims) but I am confident I will able to do it.