who is Samy Vellu. Give me some details about him?

Answer 1

Longest serving president of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), having held the position since 1979, for the 10th consecutive term. Though doggedly pursued by scandals over corruption allegations and political challenges, and reviled by critics as incompetent, this old-fashioned politician remains entrenched in power by maintaining a grip of feudal instensity on his party. He is also the Works Minister of Malaysia, and the only Indian-Malaysian minister in the Malaysian cabinet. Detractors often refer to him as Samy, which means demi-god in Tamil, an allusion to his authoritarian and feudalistic antics; whereas his party members respectfully address him by his title, Datuk Seri.

As Minister of Works, successfully undertook the construction of the 13.6 KM Penang Bridge linking the Mainland with Penang Island.
Introduced the privatization concept in highway construction in Malaysia culminating in the successful completion of the 900KM North-South Highway.
As Minister of Energy, Telecommunication and Posts, successfully undertook the Privatization of three Government utility entities namely the Telecommunications Department, the National Electricity Board and the Postal Department.
Introduced Value Added Network Services and cellular networks such as Celcom, Mobikom, GSM and PCN.