Kuala Lumpur – Hundreds of MIC Branch Chairmen and party leaders are expected to gather today afternoon at the grounds of MIC Headquarters to join a celebration to mark the 63rd birthday of their party President Datuk Seri Dr S.Subramaniam.
As he celebrates his birthday today, it is not altogether a joyous occasion for him as he faces daunting tasks and challenges ahead to steer the 69 year old party to greater heights and to lift the Indian community from its doldrums. But he is determined and along the way he has also proven his mettle as a capable leader with his sharp political acumen and other leadership qualities.
Dr Subra is now in full control of the party and is well entrenched as its President, duly recognized by the courts and Registrar of Societies. More importantly he has earned the trust and confidence of Barisan Nasional leadership and is also getting top marks for his performance as Health Minister. An estimated 80% of the party delegates and branch chairmen are said to be strongly in support of his leadership in the party.
33 years ago – As a young Doctor attending to a rural family in a medical camp…
Today – visiting a patient in a hospital as the Minister for Health….
But there is a group of dissidents led by his one-time political opponent Datuk Seri G.Palanivel still remaining outside the party, claiming to represent hundreds of disgruntled MIC branches.
However, official records from MIC Headquarters reveal there are only less than 300 branches still outside the party refusing to heed the repeated calls from Dr Subra to return to the party. The so called Palanivel faction is now hoping for a miracle through the court case they have filed against RoS and MIC HQ but legal sources following the case say their chances are very slim.
Focusing on party’s struggles to uplift Indian community…
Meanwhile, Dr Subra has brushed aside Palanivel faction’s constant attacks to concentrate on a more meaningful and audacious task of lifting the Indian community from their numerous social, educational and economical problems. In this regard he has already embarked on an 11-point re-engineering program focusing on education and entrepreneurship as key empowerment tools for the community’s progress.
He has been travelling extensively across the nation attending to party affairs and community programs and he has also instructed his fellow leaders to do the same and has even designed some programs for them!
“Don’t simply hang around me and praise me. I will not be pleased and that will not earn you good marks with me” – he once declared at a national level meeting of MIC branch chairmen.
He has established a permanent center in MIC HQ to attend to the Indian public who throng the office every day with a variety of problems.
All his efforts seem to be paying off as the community is slowly but surely getting connected to the party that was once their sole political representation. Subra’s main challenge is to bring back credibility to the party and to clear the mess created by past leaders which resulted in the community losing trust and confidence in the party.
Looking Back…
Looking back, very few would have predicted that Subra would one day end up as MIC President and that too by clinching the presidency in a fierce leadership battle with the formidable Palanivel’s faction.
Dr Subra’s success and rise in politics was a combination of sheer hard work, political acumen and destiny.
Subra at the Taiping Thendayuthabani temple during the Panguni Uthiram Ubhayam prayers this year….
He comes from a family having deep roots in different parts of the country. Last week, 22 March, during the Panguni Uthiram celebrations, he headed to Taiping to continue a religious tradition that his family has been observing for the last 70 years. It was to attend the Panguni Uthiram Ubayam (Undertaking the cost of prayers) at the Waterfall Thendayuthabani temple in Taiping which was started by his grand father Sri Velusamy Servai during the British rule at a time when the Waterfall Temple was the temple used by those who worked in the Waterworks department and other residents of Taiping. Subra’s grandfather was also the trustee of the Taiping temple.
“There was no proper electricity then and no proper roads. My grandfather used to tell me that he used to transport the materials for the Ubayam sometimes by bicycle.Over the years the Panguni Uthiram in Taiping has grown in stature and size and has become the largest religious festival in Taiping” Subra reminisced in his press statement released in conjunction with his Panguni Uthiram Ubhayam.
Subra’s symbolic gesture to commence the “Annathanam” (free offering of food) at the Taiping Panguni Uthiram Uhayam…
That Ubhayam started by his grandfather was continued by his father Sathasivam and today Subra and his family still continue observing the Ubhayam, a family tradition that has been spanning for the last 70 years.
“Such values and discipline are the virtues of the man. He respects and gives importance to family traditions and religious beliefs” – said one of his close associates.
Subra, a strict vegetarian, will also be in Sannasi Temple in Melaka every year without fail for the Masi Magam festival, another auspicious occasion for Lord Subramaniam which also happens to be his name.
Education and Profession…
Although his ancestors started off in Taiping, Subra’s early education started in Penang due to his father’s job commitment.
He studied in Penang Free School which has a long list of glorious leaders in its alumni. He was remembered well at school for his fine oratorical and debating skills and simultaneously excelled in his studies.
He obtained a place in prestigious University of Singapore to do medicine and ended up as a Dermatologist in Melaka with his own private practice, having served in government hospitals for several years.
Young Subra attending an international conference in Indonesia as a representative of Hindu Youth Organisation….
He became active in Hindu Youth Organisation, Hindu Sangam and other NGOs but little was known about him in MIC’s political circles until he was chosen by Samy Vellu to contest as a parliamentary candidate in Segamat in 2004 general elections.
His entry as a parliamentary candidate for Segamat in 2004 also faced antagonistic reception from supporters of former Deputy President Datuk (now Tan Sri) S.Subramaniam. In that year Tan Sri Subra was shockingly dropped as the MP for Segamat although he was serving as the Deputy President of the Party and a Deputy Minister.
Sources close to Dr Subra reveal the medical doctor was at first reluctant to accept Samy Vellu’s invitation to become a parliamentary candidate as that would mean leaving a lucrative medical practice to tread into an uncertain and unpredictable political path.
Some even viewed Dr Subra’s candidature skeptically claiming he was chosen just because his name was ‘Subramaniam’ – to replace the former MP who was also “Subramaniam”. But in the following years, with his ability and performance he proved much more belies beneath his name.
Turn of events catapulted him to become Minister
Winning the Segamat seat in 2004 was quite easy for Dr Subra as that general election saw BN sweeping almost 90% of the seats under the leadership of Abdullah Badawi as Prime Minister. As MP for Segamat, Subra was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
However, the dramatic political events that unfolded in 2008 catapulted him to national level politics with positions in the party and government.
In that year, the political tsunami that swept across the country resulted in both the President and Deputy President of MIC losing their respective parliamentary seats. MIC President Samy Vellu was defeated in Sungai Siput while the party’s Deputy President Palanivel lost in Hulu Selangor.
With such unexpected turn of political events, Dr Subra was appointed as the Minister for Human Resources representing MIC and replacing Samy Vellu, something the party members at that time would not have imagined in their wildest dreams.
Subra has also served as the Secretary General of the party and in 2009 he was elected as one of the Vice-Presidents.
When Samy Vellu left as party President in 2010, he ensured that Dr Subra is appointed as the Deputy President, probably by then having realised his qualities for leadership.
In the 2013 general elections it was a tough fight for Subra, in his third attempt to retain Segamat as he had to face the popular Chua Jui Meng from opposition but he managed to win the seat although with a reduced majority of 1,217 votes.
Taking over the leadership of the party…
As Deputy President of MIC, Subra enjoyed a cordial relationship with Palanivel. However, the party elections held in 2013 paved the way for a bitter leadership struggle between Subra and Palanivel, with a string of court cases and appeals to RoS which finally ended with Subra taking over the presidency of the party.
He was elected unanimously as the party President in the party elections held last year as per the directives of RoS.
As he celebrates his 63rd birthday with his party comrades today, the next two years of his political journey would be crucial both for him and his party. While managing and containing the opposition from Palanivel’s faction, he will have to convince the Indian voters to vote for MIC and thereby Barisan Nasional, a gigantic task given the dwindling support for BN under Najib’s leadership.
He has to put back the party in proper shape and structure probably with some amendments in the MIC Constitution. He has successfully deferred the next party elections until after GE14, and with that has greatly reduced internal politicking within the party ranks.
Finally, his mammoth task is yet to come and that is to show that MIC under his leadership can win the support of the Indian community in favour of BN during GE 14!
-R.Mutharasan
