Sunday, March 1, 2009

In the Eye of the Beholder: Samy and Chitrakala

Nothing more than a thief devoid of any morals and standards of decency.” That is how Samy Vellu describes Maju Institute for Education Development (MIED) - chief executive officer P Chitrakala Vasu.

Like beauty, truth is in the eye of the beholder. I’m sure some people will find Samy’s depiction of Chitrakala very believable. After all, we’re all entitled to believe anything we want. Don’t some people still believe there are aliens in other planets who often come to visit Earth? Yes, some people even believed the Earth is actually flat. Who am I to question what they believe?

I’ll tell you this much – Samy sure sounds like he knows all about “thieves devoid of moral values and standards of decency.” Given all the financial messes and mismanagement such as Miaka Holdings that have surrounded Samy himself, you’d think he would know something about thieves or being devoid of moral values.  

I must admit I was struck by Chitrakala’s claim that Samy wanted her “to make a payment of RM2 million to a particular contractor without any documentation.” Well, being a chartered accountant, she of course balked on the count that there was no proper documentation to authorise such a payment to a landscape contractor.  

Well, not to complicate matters further, but Chitralaka is also alleging that Samy tried to use funds from the RM 120 million which was allocated to MIC’s social welfare arm Yayasan Pemulihan Sosial (YPS) “for those he preferred” and that, as reported by Malaysiakini, he had  unorthodox ways in managing government awarded funds and donations.” Samy had “unorthodox ways” – now there’s big news I suppose, perhaps for some people; maybe the same type that believe in aliens from outer space?

Did you notice, that Chitrakala has now come forward not just with some name-calling of her boss but actually with some relatively specific claims about potentially shady financial transactions at the MIC? On the other hand, Samy’s response has been merely to smear her reputation and credibility. How interesting....

Of course it’s always possible that Chitrakala just imagined that she once received a call from Samy on her mobile that “the Ministry of Works treasury would be transferring a sum of RM2 million into YPS” and she was to place the funds in fixed deposit. In fact, it’s possible that she has merely imagined everything she’s alleged thus far. Oh, yes, I suppose it is possible. It is also possible, I suppose, as Samy claims, that Chitrakala is “nothing more than a thief.”  

Just as it is also possible that we humans are descendants of aliens from an unknown planet, the Malaysian football team will win the World Cup, Robert Mugabe will allow free elections in Zimbabwe, the Taliban in Pakistan and Afganistan will allow girls to go to school, and Samy Vellu will ensure that Indians will once again be treated as full-fledged citizens in Malaysia.

Indeed, anything is possible.        

G. Krishnan