King, Queen express condolences over Samy Vellu's passing

KUALA LUMPUR: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah have expressed Their Majesties' condolences to the family of Tun S. Samy Vellu who died today.

A post on the Istana Negara Facebook account said Their Majesties expressed sadness at the passing of the former MIC president and Works Minister and hoped that family members would be resilient in their moment of grief.

"Their Majesties greatly appreciate his services, deeds and sacrifices to the community and nation and described his passing as a great loss to the country," it said.

Samy Vellu died at about 7 am today at his home here at the age of 86. He had served as the Works Minister from 1979 to 1989 and from 1995 to 2008. He was the Member of Parliament for Sungai Siput in Perak from 1974 to 2008.

As one of the longest-serving members of the Cabinet, Samy Vellu had served under three prime ministers, namely Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, from 1978 to 2008.

Samy Vellu ventured into politics in 1959 at the age of 23. He joined the Batu Caves MIC Branch, and went on to become the president of party, holding the post for more than three decades.

He had also served as Malaysia's special envoy on infrastructure to South Asia.

In the field of education, Samy Vellu played a major role in establishing the Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED), Tafe College and AIMST University.

-- BERNAMA