It is an undeniable truth that unless there is a needs-based affirmative action policy, it is quite impossible to change the plight of the Indians in this country.
To ensure the success of the affirmative action policies, there is a need to depart from the existing divide and rule policy. Perhaps a newer approach must be considered.
According to Pakatan Rakyat, the approach should be to integrate and unite all Malaysians and it must be an approach based on needs, always ensuring that resources are employed to tackle poverty, provide healthcare and education and build much needed infrastructure in economically disadvantaged places throughout the country.
While it has been identified and recognised the many problems faced by the community, we have however failed to offer and/or engineer practicable long term solutions.
Some lament by saying that we find pleasure in blaming others for it. Certain groups would love the divide and divisions within the community as it provides benefits to them and their cause.
Some even say it is the slavish caste mind set of thuggery and self-inflicted ignorance that has prevented the community from developing.
To create an upward mobility we must engineer an affirmative action programme effectively repairing some of the major inconsistencies within the system.
Since 1980 the relative performance of the Indian community has deteriorated. Some of these major pressing problems require immediate attention:
- the increasing problems of alienation among Indian youths are not being carefully considered and addressed;
- there is an urgent need to review and re-orientation of the affirmative action programme which should be aimed primarily at favouring and equalizing opportunities for poor Indian Malaysians including the disadvantaged Indians;
- a mechanism must be drawn where the government (either federal or state) will be able to lend money to students when their parents are unwilling to provide finance. This is necessary so as to equalize opportunities with no restrictions and the poor Indians will have access to education;
- we require more community based business ventures as a temporary measure to keep the community moving forward;
- there is an immediate need and concern to formulate and implement immediately measures to increase the community’s stake in equity ownership and the best way to achieve this is to invest in the equity market on a regular basis;
- there must be a serious attempt to introduce the Indian community to the construction sector which offers presently abundance of opportunities;
- the present influx of foreign labourers will soon become counter productive and therefore the government must conduct an immediate policy rethink;
- in the case of migrant Indian workers moving from the rural to the urban sector, there must be genuine effort to provide affordable accommodation and some financial aid as a temporary measure before acclimatization;
- there must be allocation for community development and investment; and
- it is time that the community must avoid over dependency on the employment provident fund (EPF) to take care of their retirement. Instead it is time to formulate an old age savings/ investment schemes nationally.
The writer is a lawyer and a former ISA detainee.
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