Thanks JD...
JD says:” It has been quite some time since I wrote about the sentiment of the Malaysian Indians at grass root level. I spend a lot of time with friends from Sentul which has a high population of Malaysian Indians even from the days of the British rule. The area was notorious in the 60's up to the early 90's for gangsterism, drugs and other vices. It was not unusual to hear of families having lost their loved ones to gang related violence.
The youths from the area that I have come in contact with in recent years are very intelligent and ambitious, wanting to make something out of themselves. It's sad that most of them don't get the encouragement and proper guidance from their families.
The emphasis on education is not stressed upon as an important aspect of life.The parents are busy trying to make ends meet with the low wages that they earn.Couple that with cramped living quarters and you have a receipe for youths to spend most of their leisure time outdoors,unsupervised and exposed to the undesirable influences of crime.This is one of the main reason why the youths are so easily influenced into a lifestyle of crime and gangsterism.
The political parties have done little to change and raise the standards of the community in the area. A very low percentage of youths have graduated from institutions of higher learning.
This has however changed for the better now with the influx of other races and business entities into the area. The level of crime has dropped drastically in the Sentul District. The youths in the area are also wising up to the fact that there is a future for them if they stay out of crime and pursue education as a mean of escaping poverty and hardship.
The Malaysian Indian community in Sentul still values an education in Tamil and they have been sending their children to the school. However the condition of the Tamil school in the area is extremely poor. Right in front of it is a fully air conditioned multi storey Chinese school. The children of the Tamil school feel so demotivated just comparing their school with the Chinese school. Won’t they feel that they too deserve better conditions to pursue their education?
Even in lower levels of education the playing field isn't fair to the Malaysian Indians, how can we be expected to be competitive if the only outlet that we have to get out of the poverty cycle is not provided to us. The government will say that they have built some smart Tamil schools like the one in Subang Jaya. My question is why only in areas like Subang Jaya and not every other existing Tamil school? Is it because the rich of Subang Jaya only deserve a better Tamil school? What about the Tamil schools in areas that have a large Malaysian Indian population? Why are they being overlooked?
Political parties talk so much about being the saviors of the Malaysian Indian community when right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur the community is still marginalized and discriminated. Yet they have done nothing!
All I can say is that in this coming election the Malaysian Indian community in Sentul will show whether they are satisfied or not through the ballot box. The community has awakened from their slumber and those coming to canvass for votes better have their facts right for the questions that need to be answered".
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