Malaysian Indians are sidelined and suppressed by all main political parties from BN and PR.
The Federal Court is like MCMC, MACC, etc. are political tools used by UMNO to rob and bully poor Indians and also other minorities.
Residents in tears as ethnic Malaysian village demolished
http://news.my.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3583297
Residents of an Indian enclave in Malaysia’s northern Penang state on Monday lost their battle to save their village after scores of demolition workers tore down their homes.
The villagers of Kampung Buah Pala could only watch in tears as the workers hired by a development company demolished their part-wooden homes with sledgehammers and bulldozers.
There were some tense moments when a woman whose house was about to be torn down poured kerosene on her head and threatened to burn herself. Her son managed to restrain his 60-year-old mother as she reached for a matchbox.
A heavy police presence in the village ensured that the demolition went ahead without any direct resistance.
The century-old Kampung Buah Pala lies in the heart of a rapidly growing area on the eastern part of George Town that was never owned by its residents, who are mainly cow herders of Indian descent.
Instead, the land was owned by the Penang state government and was sold to a state co-operative that joined private developer Nusmetro Ventures in a 57-million-dollar project to build condominiums.
Nusmetro Ventures’ offers of alternate housing and compensation were accepted by only some residents, while others fought legal battles against the developer and accused politicians of selling them out.
According to local media, Kampung Buah Pala’s last remaining 23 families had to vacate the 2.6 hectares of prime land by Wednesday after the Federal Court last month rejected an appeal against their eviction.
Long-time resident A Draviam, 84, was reduced to tears when workers started using sledgehammers to tear down his house.
“I never thought that I would live to see such a tragic day. I was the village head here once… my children were born here,” he said.
“Now, I have to live and see the day everything that we built being smashed to the ground.”
At the end of the day, 13 houses were torn down while another four residents promised to demolish their own homes within the week. Workers had previously demolished three houses.
Earlier this month some 50 residents, activists and politicians formed a human barricade in an attempt to stop the demolition, triggering the arrest of 18 people including the residents’ lawyer.
Kampung Buah Pala is the oldest Indian enclave in Penang and residents say the village’s destruction means a unique culture will be lost forever.
Ethnic Indians make up less than 10 percent of the population of multicultural Malaysia, which is dominated by Muslim Malays.
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