All hell breaks loose at Malaysian Indian Congress dinner

Kuala Lumpur, July 12 : All hell broke loose at a dinner held to mark the Malaysian Indian Congress's (MIC) annual general meeting, when some of the delegates decided to walk out earlier than scheduled.

It was the first time that such an incident had happened, The Star reported.

Furious at this development at the Putra World Trade Centre, a seemingly annoyed MIC President S. Samy Vellu left the function at 9.55 p.m.

Earlier, Malaysia's former works minister tried to cajole the delegates into staying back.

"Please come back and have your dinner. We spent so much of money organising the dinner," he told them.

Later, Samy Vellu gave a short speech and even sang a song.

"If you (delegates) think this function is a waste of time, then I apologise," said the party president before leaving.

About 2,800 delegates comprising party branch leaders attended the dinner that was scheduled to end at 10.30 p.m.

When contacted, Saravanan, who is the Deputy Federal Territory Minister, confirmed that he had left early.

"I walked out as there was no protocol at the dinner," he told The Star.

He added that he was cheesed off because Subramaniam was seated at the main table with the other MIC leaders and prominent Indian businessmen.

"As the party's information chief and Deputy Minister, I was not given due respect.

"I don't know on what basis Subramaniam was given prominence. He is just the division leader," he said.

ANI