by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, 23rd December 1992:
Samy Vellu is a most ‘unusual’ Minister who has no hesitation in contradicting the statements of other Ministers to show that they are telling untruths or even his own earlier statements which shows that he had been telling lies
Datuk Sei S. Samy Vellu is a most ‘unusual’ Minister who has no hesitation in contradicting the statements of other Ministers to show that they are telling untruths, or even his own earlier statements which shows that he had been telling lies.
This is why there is now a Cabinet scandal where Samy Vellu could openly contradict the statement by the Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in Parliament on the government allocation of the 10 million Telekom shares to MAIKA and not to MIC, as claimed by Samy Vellu.
In today’s Berita Harian, Samy Vellu made a most remarkable claim, as appeared in the following report:
“Ipoh, Selesa – Presiden MIC, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, hari ini berkata beliau bertanggungjawab melantik Ahli Lembaga Pengarah Maika Holdings dan mengambil tahu setiap perkembangan kegiatan syarikat itu hingga sekarang.
“Beliau berkata, sebagai presiden parti beliau dimaklumkan apa yang berlaku dalam syarikat itu, termasuk pelepasan RM 9 juta daripada RM 10 juta unit saham Telekom kepada tiga syarikat lain, manakala Maika sendiri memiliki satu juta unit saham sahaja.
“‘Saya bertanggungjawabmelantik Ahli lembaga Pengarah Maika Holdings dan mengambil tahu semua kegiatan syarikat itu,” katanya kepada pemberita ketika ditemui diLapangan Terbang Sultan Azlan Shah Ipoh, disini, hari ini.”
In three short paragraphs, Samy Vellu had already tied himself in a bindle of contradictions.
Contradiction One: Until his Ipoh statement yesterday claiming that he is the most powerful person deciding the destiny of MAIKA Holdings, including the appointment of MAIKA directors, Samy Vellu had been bemoaning for seven months that he was powerless over the MAIKA Board of Directors and that this was why he could not do anything to prevent the MAIKA Board’s ‘dismal business performance’.
Thus, in the Star of 14th May 1992 which reported his Subang airport press conference on his return from London, Samy Vellu said “he had no power over the directors” when asked about the position of the MAIKA Holdings directors.
He said: “If I had the powers, some of the directors who brought Maika Holdings down to this level would have been long gone. They brought disgrace to themselves, to the community and everybody.”
In his ‘Tell-All Press Conference on May 15 which drew greater national attention to the MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal, Samy Vellu said MAIKA Holdings “don’t deserve 10 million shares because of the dismal performance of the Maika management.”
Why is Samy Vellu claiming that he is ‘all-powerful’ over Maika Holdings when in the past seven months he had been claiming that he was ‘all-powerless’?
Samy Vellu’s Ipoh statement yesterday convicted him of gross malpractices in the MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal
Contradiction Two: Samy Vellu said in Ipoh yesterday that “beliau dimaklumkan apa yang berlaku dalam syarikat itu, termasuk pelepasan RM 9 juta daripada RM 10 juta unit saham Telekom kepada tiga syarikat lain, manakala Maika sendiri memiliki satu juta unit saham saja’.
There are in fact two contradictions here. Firstly, it contradicted the statements that have been made by the Maika Board of Directors, including the then Maika managing director, Tan Sri Rama Iyer, denying that MAIKA had rejected the nine million Telekom shares.
Secondly, it contradicted Samt Vellu’s latest claim that the 10 million Telekom shares were allocated by the government to MIC and not to MAIKA, as otherwise, the question of “pelepasan RM 9 juta daripada RM 10 juta unit saham Telekom” by MAIKA would never arise.
From Samy Vellu’s Ipoh statement, Anwar Ibrahim had been right when he said in Parliament that the RM 10 million Telekom shares were allocated to MAIKA. Somewhere along the line, however, nine million Telekom shares were hijacked from MAIKA – on the purported ground that MAIKA Board of Directors had rejected them.
This is the crux of the entire MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal – the hijacking of the nine million Telekom shares allocated to MAIKA and its diversion to three companies, Advanced Personal Computers Sdn. Bhd., S.B. Management Bhd., and Clearway Sdn. Bhd., two of which were mere $2 companies.
Sany Vellu’s statement in Ipoh yesterday as reported in Berita Harian had in fact convicted the MIC President of gross malpractices in the MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal.
This is because in his ‘Tell-All Press Conference’ on May 15, 1992, Samy Vellu had publicly admitted that he was personally responsible for MAIKA Holdings not getting the nine million Telekom shares which the government had allocated to it.
In view of Samy Vellu’s own public admission and confessions in connection with the MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal, the Anti-Corruption Agency should be able to wrap up its investidations and demonstrate that no one, including a Senior Cabinet Minister, is above the law as far as corruption, abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and malpractices are concerned.