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It is amusing to read the news and view Samy Vellu on TV talking on the status of Indians when he was in New Delhi. We know that most politicians do not have principles. Mahatma Gandhiji declared seven sins. One amongst them is politics without principles.
But we expect that at least some chaps in the Barisan Nasional will have some conscience to tell the truth and accept the truth. By constant propaganda they have penalised the Hindraf 5 leaders as terrorists, traitors etc just for seeking justice and telling the truth. Many Indian Malaysians have been highlighting the poor state of affairs of Indians in the country for the last 25 years. That is 10 years after the swirling implementation of the NEP which Malaysians then agreed in principle as necessary to bring up the poor Malays. There would be no grudge about it if it had been justly implemented. Essentially it was to see that Malays are successful in all sectors and that no race is identified or dominated in a particular sector.
But nearly 40 years after the implementation of the NEP two distinct sectors have emerged – the almost all Malay public sector and the predominantly Chinese private sector. The Malays dominate the civil service, police, army, navy and air force from top to bottom and now Rela with its more than 500,000 personnel . The entire GLCs (TNB, TM, Postal, etc ) are Malaynised with all CEOs being Malays. And the entire vice-chancellors of all public universities are Malays. The song Umno politicians sing is ‘non-Malays do not apply for government jobs and neither do they want to join the army or police.’ This is garbage!
It may be true of the Chinese not applying but certainly not of the Indians because they are primarily poor fellows just wanting jobs. They have no capital for doing business like the Chinese. However, there are also many poor Chinese wanting to be in government service for job security reasons. This is where Samy Vellu and Co miserably failed the Indians. He should have put his foot down in the Cabinet (being the sole Indian representative) that all applications for government jobs go through MIC, PPP or Gerakan and to include non-Malays on the interview panel for obvious reasons. Then we will know the actual numbers!!
At the time of Merdeka the Indians ( including the Ceylonese) were about 25 percent in the civil service, army, police etc. To day they are about two percent only. If this is not marginalisation then what is it? The Hindraf leaders have called this ‘ethnic cleansing’. What they really meant was ‘economic ethnic cleansing’ and this resulted in them landing behind bars under the ISA. The irony is MIC and Umno are still telling the world that the Hindraf leaders were lying and speaking nothing but untruth. Truth never lies. People are not fools any more with the internet media available in every home in most parts of the world..So the BN must accept their mistakes and take corrective steps forthwith to earn the people’s respect and confidence. The best response will be to release the Hindraf leaders immediately and unconditionally.
Temple demolitions
Much has been spoken and written about the demolition of ‘illegal’ temples. I agree that makeshift structures along some roads must go. But temples built on estate lands which were originally largely funded by European estate managements for Indian workers cannot be termed illegal because they were within the estates’ jurisdiction. The state authorities when approving land conversion for development should have legalised the existing temples as the Hindus hold them dear to their hearts and it is a very sensitive issue. If we want people to respect the law then we must make the law respectable. It is the duty and responsibility of MIC representative in the state government to ensure that this was done because the BN government is a coalition of all races.
So it is the state government that failed in its duty and illegalised legal estate temples on estate lands.We pray that at least good sense will now prevail for the better and temple demolitions should stop henceforth. Another strange thing has developed now. There are enough Indian NGOs for the Indians here. The Malaysian Hindu Sangam (MHS) has been doing a good job all these while. Why another Malaysian Hindu Council now?. The unseen hand is playing politics with its divide and rule principle learned from the British. For heaven’s sake be united and let MHS continue to do its job. Don’t dissipate the human resources we have in this minority community.
On Jan 8, the New Straits Times gracefully for the first time published the pictures of the state of Tamil schools. Yes classes are conducted in heat-condition and sultry cabins and store-rooms. The pictures speak a thousand words of neglect and marginalisation of Indians. The Malays too would have seen the pictures. Let them judge for themselves the condition of the Tamil schools in our developed Malaysia.
Can we blame the BN government for this alone or MIC for its ineffectiveness within the BN coalition? Let the people decide when they vote in the next general election. MIC should have only fielded candidates who could deliver. There are many young Indian professionals and graduates who are properly edified and dedicated to do an honest job as MPs and assemblymen.
They would have fought tooth and nail within the BN structure for the good of their community like what Umno is doing for the Malays. But the present leaders are indulged in self-enrichment to the detriment of the poor. The story is the same for Umno and MCA leaders. Therefore let us vote for change or at least reduce the two-third majority in the coming elections. Let there be a strong opposition for proper check and balance to take us in the right direction for nation building of this multi-religious and multi-racial country of ours.
Unemployment rate
The unemployment rate amongst Indians is the highest because they are not normally welcome in the two sectors mentioned above. But to rub salt into their wounds, there are thousands of Indians without proper birth certificates and Mykads. The blame is put on these poor souls who are illiterate. Even if they have some education they do not know how to go about matters with the government departments. So they are without these important documents which are absolutely necessary to prove their identity. They fear the Rela force in their own land!! They can be branded as illegal immigrants in the country of their birth. Now whose duty is it to put things in order. Once the estate administration did this job very well, systematically. Today many of these poor souls are thrown out or still remain without any support system unlike the Penghulu (Headmen) in the Malay Kampong who take care of the needs of their kampong folks besides Umno which is there for them.
This role should have been taken up by the MIC to ensure that every Indian born has a birth certificate and also help the poor illiterates obtain their Mykads. This should have been the topmost priority of MIC as the largest Indian political party in the country. If MIC had given serious thought to this then there will not be thousands of stateless ‘citizens’ of Indian origin today whose ancestors set foot here more than 200 years ago to clear the jungles for rubber and oil-palm plantations and to build roads and railways for the economic development of this country.
The Cabinet should address this issue as this is a national problems.These people may not have been included even in the last census. Hence the Indian population percentage has dropped from more than 10 percent to only eight percent now. Recently we read that the Home Ministry is not extending work permits for priests, classical musicians, sculptors and others which number is only about 5,000 compared to a million illegal immigrants from Indonesia that the Ministry should worry about sending back!
Besides it is a bad political decision to touch on this issue now - so soon after the Hindraf episode that is still simmering in the international arena especially in India. Malaysian politicians must remember that Malaysia can ill-afford to earn the wrath of India and China – the two economic super powers of this century. Can we imagine the magnitude of loss of trade with India and China? Don’t pick on small things and let the country suffer huge losses.
Whichever party that forms the next government must address these pressing issues. If we love God and fear sin, then our conscience will direct us to do the right thing.
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Mr. R.RAMA CHANDRAN is the former CEO of Koperasi TNB Bhd.
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