Samy Vellu

Tun Samy Vellu s/o Sangalimuthu, SSM, RIBA (Tamil: ச. சாமி வேலு, romanized: Ca. Cāmi vēlu; born 8 March 1936); is a Malaysian Indian politician. He is the seventh president and the longest-serving President of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, holding the position from 1979 to 2010, for 11 consecutive terms. Beginning in 1979, he held a succession of ministerial portfolios in the Cabinet of Malaysia, including two long stints as Minister of Works, until he lost his parliamentary seat in the 2008 general election; by that time he was the longest-serving minister in the Cabinet. He subsequently announced his intended retirement in December 2010, paving the way for his deputy G. Palanivel to succeed him as party leader.[1]

In this Indian name, the name Sangalimuthu is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Samy Vellu.
Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun

S. Samy Vellu

SSM RIBA
ச. சாமி வேலு
Samy Vellu in 2004
Minister of Works
(Minister of Works and Public Amenities : 15 September 1979 – 2 June 1983)
In office
8 May 1995 – 18 March 2008
MonarchJa'afar
Salahuddin
Sirajuddin
Mizan Zainal Abidin
Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
DeputyRailey Jeffrey (1995–1999)
Mohamed Khaled Nordin (1999–2004)
Mohd Zin Mohamed (2004–2008)
Preceded byLeo Moggie Irok
Succeeded byMohd Zin Mohamed
ConstituencySungai Siput
In office
15 September 1979 – 15 June 1989
MonarchAhmad Shah
Iskandar
Azlan Shah
Prime MinisterHussein Onn
Mahathir Mohamad
DeputyClarence E. Mansul (1979–1981)
Nik Hussein Wan Abdul Rahman (1981–1983)
Zainal Abidin Zin (1983–1986)
Mustaffa Mohammad (1986–1987)
Luhat Wan (1987–1989)
Preceded byLee San Choon
Succeeded byLeo Moggie Irok
ConstituencySungai Siput
Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts
In office
15 June 1989 – 7 May 1995
MonarchAzlan Shah
Ja'afar
Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad
DeputyAbdul Ghani Othman (1989–1990)
Tajol Rosli Mohd Ghazali (1990–1995)
Preceded byLeo Moggie Irok
Succeeded byLeo Moggie Irok as Minister of Energy, Communications and Multimedia
ConstituencySungai Siput
7th President of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)
In office
12 October 1979 – 6 December 2010
DeputySubramaniam Sinniah (1979-2006)
G. Palanivel (2006-2010)
Preceded byV. Manickavasagam
Succeeded byG. Palanivel
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Sungai Siput
In office
16 September 1974 – 8 March 2008
Preceded byV. T. Sambanthan (MIC)
Succeeded byMichael Jeyakumar (PSM)
Majority644 (1974)
5,141 (1978)
7,897 (1982)
4,436 (1986)
1,763 (1990)
15,610 (1995)
5,259 (1999)
10,349 (2004)
Personal details
Born
Samy Vellu s/o Sangalimuthu

(1936-03-08) 8 March 1936
Kluang, Johor, British Malaya (now Malaysia)
CitizenshipMalaysian
Political partyMalaysian Indian Congress (MIC)
Other political
affiliations		Barisan Nasional (BN)
Perikatan Nasional (PN)
Spouse(s)Indrani Samy Vellu
Children1
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionArchitect

Political career

Samy Vellu's political career began at the age of 23, in 1959, when he and Govindaraj joined the Batu Caves MIC branch. After five years, he was elected Selangor MIC committee member and the head of the party. He made headlines news by climbing up the Indonesian embassy's flag pole, pulling down the flag and burning it. He was charged in court and fined RM2. He was called Hero Malaysia on the front pages.

He was a Member of Parliament for Sungai Siput constituency for eight terms from September 1974 to March 2008. During this time, from 1978 to 1979 he was Deputy Minister of Local Government and Housing. Then from 1979 to 1989 he was Minister of Works. He then served as Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts from 1989 to 1995. From 1995 to March 2008 he was the Minister of Works until he lost his parliamentary seat to Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) but contested on the ticket of the People's Justice Party (PKR) in the March 2008 general election.[2][3]

He was the second longest serving minister in the country during his times, after Rafidah Aziz.

Samy Vellu was appointed as Malaysia's Special Envoy of Infrastructure to India and Southern Asia, with ministerial rank, since 1 January 2011.[4] The appointment was terminated by the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in 2018.[5]

Family

Samy Vellu is married to Indrani Samy Vellu, who is also active in socio-political and various non-governmental organisations.

Samy Vellu has one son, Vell Paari, who currently manages MAIKA Holdings and was advisor of Putera MIC and MIC Youth. He had also been appointed as Chairman of Unity and Community Development of MIC by its Central Working Committee. His daughter-in-law, Shaila Nair, was also active in Puteri MIC, a special wing of MIC dedicated to Indian women of Malaysia who are below 35 years of age.

Professional qualification

He is a chartered architect and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and of the Malaysian Institute of Architect.

Biography book

"A Life. A Legend. A Legacy" written by award-winning author Bernice Narayanan reveals Samy Vellu's greatest achievements and setbacks as well as "behind-the-scenes" events in his almost 50 years of active politics. The biography was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.[6]

Election results
Parliament of Malaysia[7][8]
Year Constituency Government Votes Pct Opposition Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
1974 Sungei Siput, Perak Samy Vellu (MIC) 9,045 49.09% Patto Perumal (DAP) 8,401 45.59% 18,529 644 77.87%
Thang Pang Fay (PEKEMAS) 877 4.76%
RC Manavarayan (IND) 103 0.56%
1978 Samy Vellu (MIC) 12,930 62.41% Ngan Siong Hing @ Ngan Siong Eng (DAP) 7,789 37.59% N/A 5,141 N/A
1982 Samy Vellu (MIC) 14,930 64.56% T. Sellapan (DAP) 7,033 30.41% 23,827 7,897 73.63%
Ahmad Zawawi Ibrahim (PAS) 1,164 5.03%
1986 P56 Sungai Siput, Perak Samy Vellu (MIC) 13,148 56.05% Liew Sam Fong (DAP) 8,712 37.14% 24,566 4,436 69.32%
Wan Hassan Wan Mahmud (SDP) 1,597 6.81%
1990 Samy Vellu (MIC) 14,427 53.25% Patto Perumal (DAP) 12,664 46.75% 28,028 1,763 69.21%
1995 P59 Sungai Siput, Perak Samy Vellu (MIC) 21,283 71.86% Lim Ah Guan @ Lim Soon Guan (DAP) 5,673 19.15% 30,552 15,610 67.66%
Mohamed Hashim Salim (PAS) 2,663 8.99%
1999 Samy Vellu (MIC) 17,480 57.75% Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj (DAP)1 12,221 40.38% 31,165 5,259 63.62%
Mohamad Asri Othman (MDP) 565 1.87%
2004 P62 Sungai Siput, Perak Samy Vellu (MIC) 19,029 62.19% Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj (PKR)2 8,680 28.37% 31,583 10,349 67.51%
Sanmugam Ponmugam Ponnan (DAP) 2,890 9.44%
2008 Samy Vellu (MIC) 14,637 44.15% Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj (PKR)2 16,458 49.64% 33,154 1,821 69.91%
Nor Rizan Oon (IND) 864 2.61%

Note: 1 & 2 Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj amid contesting under the tickets of DAP in the 1999 election and PKR in the 2004 and 2008 elections, is a member of PSM.

Honours

He has been awarded :

See also

Sungai Siput (federal constituency)

References
  1. Narayanan, Bernice (2010). A Life, a Legend, a Legacy: Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu. BN Communications. p. 200. ISBN 9789834150563.
  2. "Samy Vellu". NRIinternet.com. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  3. Retna, S. (9 March 2008). "End For Samy Vellu's Legacy After Historic Loss at Sg Siput". Bernama. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  4. "Samy Vellu Dilantik Duta Khas Infrastruktur Bagi India Dan Asia Pasifik". mStar (in Malay). 12 December 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  5. Justin Ong (7 July 2018). "Report: Putrajaya axing special envoys, advisers". The Malay Mail. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  6. "PM launches Samy Vellu's 'tell-all' biography". The Star. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  7. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  8. "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Results only available from the 2004 election.
  9. "Samy Vellu happy with Govt's recognition of his service". The Star Online. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
Political offices
Preceded by
V. Manickavasagam		 Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) President
12 October 1979 – 6 December 2010		 Succeeded by
G. Palanivel
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