Samy Vellu’s death a great loss to Indian community - Musa Hitam

KUALA LUMPUR - Former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam extends his deepest condolences to the family of former MIC president S Samy Vellu following his passing earlier today.

He said the death of Samy Vellu was a significant loss to the Indian community in the country as he had relentlessly fought for the struggles of the Indian community

"I should know because when I was the deputy prime minister, I could assure you that if you know somebody who kept on interfering with the government affair in the interest of the Indian, it would be him.

"Tun Mahathir and I would always ask him to take it down a notch but we know that Samy Vellu would always make his presence known.

"He was also a humorous guy as a member of the cabinet," he told reporters when met after the launch of Dyslexia Malaysia Association’s Malaysian Day Celebration today.

Commenting further, he said Samy Vellu’s arguments and representations for the Indian community were very firm but still, he would accept the voice of the majority in the cabinet.

"To me, he looks at issues of the Indian community as a part of the Malaysian community.

"We will miss him," he said.

Samy Vellu passed away this morning at the age of 86 and was the longest-serving MIC president after holding the position for 31 years from 1979.