news analysis The outburst of MIC president S Samy Vellu at the MIC 55th annual general-meeting last Saturday is nothing new for those who have been following Indian party politics in this country.

In fact, it was most expected, what more from one who has been dominating the Indian Malaysian side of the government for decades.

Samy was reported to have gotten angry, threatened to resign and walk out after a delegate accused him of holding a one-man show lacking in transparency.

A scene from a Tamil movie, no doubt. Emotional outbursts, resignation threats, walking out, being pacified by those present followed by glares to the one who dared accuse.

Samy was reported to have challenged the accuser, lawyer P Ponmugam, to contest him in the elections for party presidency in 2003. "If you back out, I will call you a coward!" he thundered.

But come 2003, Samy should not be surprised if there are many who might want to vie for his post. Ponmugam's frankness might just be the beginning of the educated Indians in Malaysia speaking up at last.

However, despite the sureness in the desire to contest, it is another story altogether if whether there will actually be those who put down their names to contest and not withdraw at the very last minute.

Tarring Lunas

For the young Indian professionals wanting to inject fresh blood into MIC, they would first have to learn how to play politics with Samy. That is because the latter is a veteran whereas young Indian professionals in politics is an unheard of thing.

Despite having been speaking for Indian Malaysians, Samy has miscalculated quite a number of things in recent times, the biggest boo-boo being the Lunas by election, when he exclaimed that he had all the Indian votes in his hands. Unfortunately, this was not so.

It is a known fact that Samy has always been 'the' leader to speak on behalf of Indians Malaysians. However, it is a different matter to say he represents the Indians.

His lavish lifestyle is one for concern. While the Indian community is the poorest economically, Samy handles hundreds of tenders for roads, highways and byways. Again, remember the tarring of Lunas by Samy?

Samy has been criticised over and over for spending lavishly. His son's wedding was said to have cost a million ringgit and on top of that, film personalities from India were flown in as well.

Yet, despite all this lavishness and extravagance, Samy still manages to gather Indian support, especially from the lower income group.

A majority of the MIC Indians say it is better to keep him as president for they know how he operates. More of a case, "... better the devil that you know than ..."

'Number one'

For those who have met him, Samy is quite a character and he seems to act from his heart (read emotional) rather than from his head. In a way, acting from the heart is good but judging from his past emotional outbursts, it has become some sort of a drama and no one outside MIC takes it seriously anymore.

Yet, this act never fails to evoke a sense of thalaivaar (headman) sentiments among his supporters.

An MIC member said, "Of all things, Samy is a number one politician, and on top of that, he knows how the majority of Indian Malaysians think. There is no way that we will tell it to his face that he has to relinquish the reins."

And there is no way we can confront him and tell him to give way for those younger and more educated than him in front of 1,500 delegates, of which the majority owe their political careers to him and his team. Thus, anyone who dares to stand up is whispered as brave but that is not the way we Indians do it. We must not shame him."

The MIC member recalled the saga of MG Pandithan of the Indian Progressive Front (IPF), a splinter of MIC, which is still trying its best to jump onto the Barisan Nasional (BN) bandwagon.

Samy has been kicking him out saying that he will never let the IPF enter BN as it would split the Indians.

PR whiz

Meanwhile, Samy is also excellent in his public relations. No matter how much gaffes he makes in his Malay pronunciation, he is still a favourite among the press corps. He can scream at them but win them over the very next minute.

Thus, initial negative coverage turns to admiration for a man who tries to patch things up in his own comic way. Of course, there are times when he overdoes it. For example, the recent MIC annual report has him featured in 99.99 percent of its pictures.

When he does his work, he makes sure that publicity opportunities don't slip by. For example, during the Petaling Jaya Selatan incident, Samy hogged the limelight on more than one occasion.

"You see, he is very particular of his image. So, if in public, you go up to him and ask him for donation for a school or temple, he will never say no.

"Bump into him at a restaurant, forget the assistants, just go straight up to him and tell him your problem and probably he will give you something for your efforts," said one man who claimed to have tried it before.

However, rebukes from Samy are to be expected also, especially if 'the time is not right'.

Cowboy stunt

Samy knows the time has come for him to take a backseat but he is not one to show that his end in politics is nearing. Thus, the appointment of MIC secretary-general S Sothinathan is one which is not getting much popularity for the fact that he was handpicked by the master himself.

Even during the by election campaign in Teluk Kemang, the only one doing all the campaigning was Samy and not Sothinathan. He merely sat and grinned away during the period, letting the veteran call the shots.

Samy has managed to take all the reins into his hands. Now, whether the more daring ones will execute a cowboy stunt and seize the reins from him is yet to be seen.

Thus, Samy's challenge to contest him in the 2003 party presidential elections should be taken seriously by those who fear the party is a 'one-man show and lacks transparency'.

Then again, the challenge might be Samy's way of ensuring MIC members still have pride and not take challenges sitting down.

ZAKIAH KOYA is a malaysiakini journalist.