SamVellu campaigning door to door despite the boos and heckles
Nominations for the Bukit Selambau by-election may be several weeks away but that has not stopped MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu from campaigning door to door to woo Indian voters who make up some 30 per cent of the electorate.
Samy Vellu has been campaigning in Bukit Selambau and braving the boos and heckles, as he makes his rounds visiting squatter settlements, estates, temples and Tamil schools.
Samy Vellu has camped himself in Ipoh and travels to Bukit Selambau nearly everyday to make his campaign rounds.
His political repertoire is the same, according to supporters who follow him on his rounds - stirring old Tamil love songs of the 1950s, stories of long dead Tamil warriors like Raja Cholan and their dynastic wars, that are part of Tamil folklore, and promises of a new life if BN wins.
He constantly alludes to Kedaram, believed to be an ancient Cholan kingdom that had flourished in present day Kedah, hoping to stir the emotions of his listeners with past glories.
"He is trying to reconnect emotionally with the Tamils, a link he once had but has since been broken," said a veteran Tamil newspaper reporter following Samy Vellu on his rounds.
"He keeps saying AIMST University was build in Kedah and not elsewhere because of the historical links to Kedaram," said the reporter who declined to be named.
At times Samy Vellu, 73, who is going for a 11th term as president on April 12, gets upset at the hecklers who often demand to know when he is retiring.
"30 years as leader…enough! What more you want" is a constant refrain from the hecklers.
Samy Vellu tries to remonstrate, "What is the thing that I have not done…I have done everything for you. What more do you want," a flustered Samy Vellu demanded at a function in Sungei Para estate, about 8km from Bukit Selambau town recently.
He frequently breaks into song and his favourite in this by-election is a 1960s oldie call Nenju Porukuthilaiyeh which means my heart cannot bear it referring to the accusations that constantly land on him for not doing enough for the community in the last 30 years.
The song goes on to describe how the singer's heart breaks because people who have received so much still remain ungrateful.
Samy Vellu, who has a good voice and started his career in the 1950s as an actor, also sobs, clears his eyes and puts on a deeply injured demeanour appropriate with this particular song.
"He performs well but listeners remain suspicious," the reporter said.
The irony of it is that some of the estates where he visits and sings at are a throwback to the 19th century in terms of the living and working conditions of the estate workers.
Workers suffer living in ramshackle houses without proper amenities and survive on low wages at a time of rising living costs.
At one estate Samy Vellu said: "I don't know why your living conditions are so bad. I want to find out."
"I will act on it but after the by-election," he says indirectly telling voters that the goodies will only flow if the BN wins the by-election.
The MIC had traditionally contested the Bukit Selambau seat but the BN lost it to independent V. Arumugam on March 8, 2008 who later joined PKR and became a exco-member of Kedah.
He resigned last month claiming he was under pressure from BN to defect. The by-election is one of three being held simultaneously on April 7.
Money has started to flow into the Bukit Selambau constituency as evidence by numerous pondoks that are cropping up at strategic locations.
The MIC/BN and IPF have put up rival tents and food and drinks are flowing free and for the asking.
Some BN pondoks are being manned by people who had previously supported PKR, observers said, adding the opposition ranks are deeply divided over the choice of candidates.
At least a dozen people have already indicated they would stand as independents while the MIC is toyng with the idea of bringing Datuk V. Saravanan, who held the seat for four terms but was dropped in 2008, out of retirement on the grounds that he is close to Umno supporters.
Umno is also staking a claim to the seat.
Samy Vellu, who has been MIC president since 1979, is under great pressure from within MIC and from BN to quit but he has shown no sign of giving up and instead is set to contest as president on April 12.
His political fortunes will revive significantly if he does manage to lead BN to victory in Bukit Selambau.
His campaigns ends with a final message in the form of another oldie - Sollathai Solivitain by the popular singer Chandrababu with the opening lines of I have said what I want to say, the rest is in your hands.
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