Samy Vellu

In this Indian name, the name Sangalimuthu is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Samy Vellu. The abbreviation "s/o" or "d/o", if used, means "son of" or "daughter of" respectively.

Tun Samy Vellu s/o Sangalimuthu (Tamil: சாமிவேலு சங்கிலிமுத்து, romanized: Cāmivēlu Caṅkilimuttu; 8 March 1936 – 15 September 2022)^[1] was a Malaysian politician who served as Minister of Works from June 1983 to June 1989 and again from May 1995 to March 2008, Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts from June 1989 to May 1995, Minister of Works and Public Amenities from September 1979 to June 1983 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Sungai Siput from September 1974 to March 2008. He was a member and served as 7th President of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), a component party of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, from October 1979 to December 2010. He is the longest-serving MIC president by holding the position for 31 years and one of the longest-serving Cabinet ministers by being in the Cabinet for 29 years. In December 2010, he announced his retirement from politics, paving the way for then MIC Deputy President G. Palanivel to succeed him as the new party president. ^[2]

Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun S. Samy Vellu SSM SUMW SSAP SPMP SPMJ PNBS DPMS AMN RIBA
ச. சாமிவேலு
Samy Vellu in 2004
Minister of Works^[a]
In office 8 May 1995 – 18 March 2008
Monarchs	Ja'afar Salahuddin Sirajuddin Mizan Zainal Abidin
Prime Minister	Mahathir Mohamad Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Deputy	Railey Jeffrey (1995–1999) Mohamed Khaled Nordin (1999–2004) Mohd Zin Mohamed (2004–2008)
Preceded by	Leo Moggie Irok
Succeeded by	Mohd Zin Mohamed
Constituency	Sungai Siput
In office 15 September 1979 – 15 June 1989
Monarchs	Ahmad Shah Iskandar Azlan Shah
Prime Minister	Mahathir Mohamad
Deputy	Clarence 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 by	Lee San Choon
Succeeded by	Leo Moggie Irok
Constituency	Sungai Siput
Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts
In office 15 June 1989 – 7 May 1995
Monarchs	Azlan Shah Ja'afar
Prime Minister	Mahathir Mohamad
Deputy	Abdul Ghani Othman (1989–1990) Tajol Rosli Mohd Ghazali (1990–1995)
Preceded by	Leo Moggie Irok
Succeeded by	Leo Moggie Irok as Minister of Energy, Communications and Multimedia
Constituency	Sungai Siput
7th President of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)
In office 12 October 1979 – 6 December 2010
Deputy	Subramaniam Sinniah (1979-2006) G. Palanivel (2006-2010)
Preceded by	V. Manickavasagam
Succeeded by	G. Palanivel
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Sungai Siput
In office 16 September 1974 – 8 March 2008
Preceded by	V. T. Sambanthan (MIC)
Succeeded by	Michael Jeyakumar (PSM)
Majority	644 (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)
Died	15 September 2022(2022-09-15) (aged 86) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Citizenship	Malaysian
Political party	Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)
Other political affiliations	Barisan Nasional (BN) Perikatan Nasional (PN)
Spouse	Indrani Samy Vellu
Children	1
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Architect

Former MCA president Ling Liong Sik described Samy Vellu as a man of many talents and a great sense of humour.^[3]

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 headline 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) who contested on the ticket of the People's Justice Party (PKR) in the March 2008 general election.^[4][5]

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

Samy Vellu was appointed Malaysia's Special Envoy of Infrastructure to India and Southern Asia, with ministerial rank, since 1 January 2011.^[6] The appointment was terminated by the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in 2018.^[7]

Personal life

Vellu was born in Kluang, Johor, and is of Indian descent. He was married to Indrani Samy Vellu and had one son.^[8] He was a chartered architect and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and of the Malaysian Institute of Architects.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

A Life. A Legend. A Legacy written by Bernice Narayanan reveals Samy Vellu's achievements and setbacks as well as "behind-the-scenes" events in his almost 50 years of active politics.^[9]

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia^[10][11]

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1974	P048 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	P056 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	P059 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	P062 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

Honours of Malaysia

•   Malaysia :
  •   Grand Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (SSM) – Tun (2017)^[12]
•   Federal Territory (Malaysia) :
  •   Grand Knight of the Order of the Territorial Crown (SUMW) – Datuk Seri Utama (2013)^[13]
•   Pahang :
  •   Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) – Dato' Sri (2004)^[14]
•   Perak :
  •   Commander of the Order of Cura Si Manja Kini (PCM) (1978)^[15]
  •   Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Perak State Crown (SPMP) – Dato' Seri (1989)^[16]
•   Johor :
  •   Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Johor (SPMJ) – Dato' (1980)
•   Sarawak :
  •   Knight Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak (PNBS) – Dato Sri (2003)^[17]
•   Selangor :
  •   Knight Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor (DPMS) – Dato' (1979)^[18]

Places named after him

• Jalan Tun Dr S Samy Vellu, a stretch of the Ipoh–Butterworth trunk road in Sungai Siput^[19][20]

Notes

1. Minister of Works and Public Amenities (1979–1983)

References

1. Former Malaysian minister Samy Vellu dies, aged 86
2. Narayanan, Bernice (2010). A Life, a Legend, a Legacy: Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu. BN Communications. p. 200. ISBN 9789834150563.
3. "Samy Vellu a man of many talents and great sense of humour, says Dr Ling". TheStarTV.com. 16 September 2022.
4. "Samy Vellu". NRIinternet.com. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
5. Retna, S. (9 March 2008). "End For Samy Vellu's Legacy After Historic Loss at Sg Siput". Bernama. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
6. "Samy Vellu Dilantik Duta Khas Infrastruktur Bagi India Dan Asia Pasifik". mStar (in Malay). 12 December 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
7. Justin Ong (7 July 2018). "Report: Putrajaya axing special envoys, advisers". The Malay Mail. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
8. "Samy Vellu". www.nriinternet.com. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
9. "PM launches Samy Vellu's 'tell-all' biography". The Star. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
10. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
11. "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Results only available from the 2004 election.
12. "Samy Vellu happy with Govt's recognition of his service". The Star Online. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
13. "SEMAKAN PENERIMA DARJAH KEBESARAN, BINTANG DAN PINGAT". Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia). Retrieved 8 February 2021.
14. "Sultan of Pahang's 74th birthday honours list". The Star Online. 26 October 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
15. "PCM 1978". pingat.perak.gov.my.
16. "SPMP 1989". pingat.perak.gov.my.
17. "Mahathir Heads Sarawak Honours". www.thestar.com.my.
18. "DPMS 1979". awards.selangor.gov.my. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
19. "Road signs for 'Jalan Samy Vellu' to be up soon". The Star. 29 March 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
20. "The late Samy Vellu gets name on Kuala Kangsar road". The Star. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.

External links

 

Wikiquote has quotations related to Samy Vellu.

• Malaysian Indian Congress' Website

Political offices
Preceded by V. Manickavasagam	Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) President 12 October 1979 – 6 December 2010	Succeeded by G. Palanivel