Chitrakala says she is scared of Samy Vellu

Chitrakala says she is scared of Samy Vellu
28 Feb, 2009

"He has got money, people. I am an ordinary person, I am very scared. He has got everybody with him; I don’t have anybody with me. But I thought going public is my best protection.”

By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Malaysian Insider

P. Chitrakala Vasu, the woman at the centre of a row with Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu over missing MIED files and funds, has given the public a rare inside look into the dealings of the MIC president.

At a press conference today, she offered up a glimpse into how her former boss thinks, works and manages the millions that the government has allocated over the years to the MIC to alleviate Indian poverty.

But before opening the window into the world of Samy Vellu and his inner circle, Chitrakala said: “I am very scared of this man.

"He has got money, people. I am an ordinary person, I am very scared. He has got everybody with him; I don’t have anybody with me. But I thought going public is my best protection.”

She was once so close to Samy Vellu that she became the subject of gossip, suggesting she was having an affair with him.

“It is all lies but I was that close to him,” Chitrakala told the press conference at the crowded Lotus restaurant in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya.

She said Samy Vellu was now going after her and trying to pin on her all sorts of allegations of financial improprieties connected with MIED, the MIC arm that operates the AIMST University and other colleges.

“MIED is worth RM1 billion compared to Maika Holdings which is worth zero,” Chitrakala said, adding that her relationship with Samy Vellu started to sour after the March 8 general election as he became suspicious of everybody around him.

“He felt very insecure after losing in Sungei Siput and losing as minister. Not being a minister anymore and without it he was a nobody. He knew his days were numbered and he would be challenged for the president’s post. So he got very insecure and saw enemies everywhere,” she said.

One of the issues that arose was the future of MIED which, being worth RM1 billion, was the jewel in the crown of the MIC.

But Samy Vellu saw MIED as a different entity and having nothing to do with MIC or the Indian community.

According to her, he knew he could lose as MIC president but he wanted control of MIED.

“He did not want to let go of MIED. He wanted to remain as MIED chairman and chancellor of AIMST University,” said Chitrakala.

“The way to do it was simple, he wanted MIED removed from MIC,” she said. “MIED is for Indians. He wanted to divorce it from MIC. Legally it can be done but morally it is very wrong.”

“I cannot let what happened to Maika Holdings happen to MIED. I told myself that I have no strength to challenge Samy Vellu on this but my husband supported me,” he said.

One of the first acts Samy Vellu ordered, and over which Chitrakala baulked at, was an instruction to remove former MIC deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam as a director of MIED.

“After that Samy Vellu wanted to get rid of nearly everybody, all the 35 members of MIED. He even wanted to get rid of Palani (MIC deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel). He marked a whole list of people for removal and asked me to do it.”

Chitrakala told Samy Vellu he could not do it. “I said MIED is not MIC where he can sack and put in anybody he likes at his whims and fancy. MIED is governed by company law and he can’t do as he likes.

“He got very angry with me,” she said.

Then Samy Vellu asked her to move the MIED office out of the MIC building in Jalan Rahmat here to somewhere else.

“I also disagreed but I did not say no directly. I just delayed the matter. People visit the MIC office for MIED help. We are tied together, we cannot be separated physically,” she said.

“So this is the background of why we had a falling out and finally the crunch was he tried to force me to make payments to AMIST University contracts without proper documentations,” she said.

"Samy Vellu also asked me to make advance payment to contractors."

The fight between the two even got down to little things like the wording on the plaque unveiled when AIMST was opened by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last year.

The plague had the words: Malaysian Indian Congress, MIED presents AMIST University to all Malaysians.

“A few days later Samy Vellu called and ordered me to remove the words Malaysian Indian Congress. I asked why and he said MIED was not linked to MIC.”