Saravanan Is An Empty Presence In Tapah Says Harapan Candidate

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GE15 | PKR vice-president K Saraswathy describes the incumbent Tapah MP M Saravanan as a ubiquitous presence in the constituency in terms of image but a void in terms of policy and action.
“The place is literally plastered with Saravanan’s image but he is an ‘empty’ presence,” said Saraswathy to Malaysiakini in an interview today.
The lawyer and prolific columnist for Tamil Malar, a Tamil daily, said a debate between the two leading contestants for the seat which Saravanan won by a wafer-thin margin of 612 votes in GE14 would “flush him out so that Tapah’s voters would be able to see the void behind the artificial presence everywhere,” she claimed.
The other four contestants – Muhammad Yadzan (Perikatan Nasional), Mohamad Akbar Sheriif Ali Yasin (Warisan), Mior Nor Haidir Suhaimi (Pejuang) and M Kathiravan (Independent) – are expected to be also-rans.
Saraswathy, who has had legal battles going back several years with MIC bigwigs, including deputy president Saravanan, said Tapah looks like a town that has been bypassed for development, unlike neighbouring towns, Kampar and Teluk Intan.
Incumbent Tapah MP M Saravanan“Saravanan has been Tapah MP for 15 years and is going for a fourth term which is an insult to the town’s voters because he has done little or nothing for them,” she charged.
“The town looks like it has been mothballed, bypassed, ignored,” she asserted.
“This is a shame because Tapah is the gateway to Cameron Highlands and could have been a draw not only to vacationers headed for the hill resort but also to tourists interested in the artefacts that the Orang Asal produce,” she elaborated.
Saraswathy is dismissive of Saravanan’s response to her criticism of Tapah’s neglect under his watch – “This is a rural town; we can’t have the twin towers here.”
She commented: “He is only for the big occasion. He was here on Deepavali (Oct 24) where he gave handouts to Indians.”
She added: “That is why I want to debate him so that I can expose his lack of ideas for the development of Tapah.”
Familiar with Tapah, Cameron Highlands
Penang-born Saraswathy, who has practiced law in Kuala Lumpur for the past 26 years, said she was familiar with Tapah and Cameron Highlands from visits to relatives in both towns in her younger days.
“So little has changed in Tapah that it’s really sad to see the neglect. A location of high potential has been relegated to the backwaters,” she lamented.
PKR vice-president K Saraswathy campaigning in TapahAs a newspaper columnist, Saraswathy was invited by the tourism authorities in the northeastern states of India to visit the aboriginals in Megalaya, Assam and Tripura where the natives are encouraged to showcase their cottage industries amid development schemes that preserve the environment and culture.
“These schemes have given me ideas that can be implemented to develop the talents of Orang Asal in Tapah, a presence that is almost 14 percent of the 61,659-strong electorate,” she said.
Indian voters comprise 13.9 percent of voters while Malays are 47 percent and Chinese 24 percent.
“Saravanan should debate me if he is so confident that he has done well by Tapah,” she iterated.
“His publicity pamphlets are replete with pictures of the buildings that have been built and refurbishments that have occurred on his watch, but there’s nothing to show of policies and actual improvements to the livelihoods of residents.
“He has been a shell of a presence in Tapah, all image and no substance,” chided Saraswathy. - Mkini

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