When Mahathir and Ling Leong Sik had gracefully retired from politics just before the last elections, the M.I.C. leader, Samy Vellu was asked to leave the helm of the party so as to allow the younger generation an opportunity to serve the Indian community in Malaysia.
However, Samy Vellu at that time said that he will serve the party as long as the Indians want him to serve them and the entire M.I.C. machinery was put into full gear with pledges and unwavering support coming from the other M.I.C. leaders. During that election Barisan National won a resounding victory and it looked certain that Malaysia was in for a change from the Mahathir regime. M.I.C. won all the seats they contested in.
Many Malaysian Indians realised at that time that the only voice of the Indians that can be HEARD by the world at large came from the media controlled by the government machinery i.e. through the offices of Barisan National and its component parties. Thus many Indians had no choice but to accept Samy Vellu as the head of M.I.C. and a self – proclaimed champion of the Indians.
What baffles me the most is that even yesterday, Samy Vellu had made the same statement that he is here because the Indians want him to be here. Is he getting too old that he has forgotten all the events that had happened in the last two years?
The Internet has opened up a different playing field all together as the government can no longer vet the information that is being given to all the people out there. This includes the Indians. Even those in remote areas have been able to keep up with the latest information on government misdeeds as many Indians, through their sheer hard work, had been able to give their children a decent education and these children are able to relate the news on the information super-highway to those in the rural parts of this country.
Being Indian does not mean being Hindu. That is an important distinction that all must accept. However, due to the fact that the majority of Malaysian Indians are Hindus, the Indians expect M.I.C. to protect their religious rites under the Federal Constitution through their active involvement in governance of this country as a member of the ruling coalition.
You can bend a person’s pride, not their belief. Samy Vellu made a grave error in allowing the demolition of so many temples. There would not be a need for Hindraf if M.I.C. had done what it had promised. The Barisan National government even refused to receive petitions from the rakyat about their plight. The Supreme Head of Malaysia was also not allowed to receive petitions from the rakyat. How arrogant of these Little Napoleons (in RPK’s words) that they even deny justice to be seeked from the King.
Only when the representation is inadequate that changes are requested. There is no need to form new parties and allies in order to combat the problem. People within M.I.C. must overthrow the regime so that the real ones still in the party can help represent the true plight of Indians in Malaysia. Hindraf was formed not to terrorise this country or to expend some form of religious fanaticism. It was formed with the pure hope that our temples, our sacred places of worship is not demolished and vandalised the way it has been done for many years.
Now that the M.I.C. knows that there are many channels that the Indians in Malaysia can use to voice their opinions, is it not time for them to take a vote of no confidence against the leaders in their parties and restore the pride and honour that the MALAYSIAN INDIAN CONGRESS once stood for.
There are hardly any professionals joining the M.I.C. and would this not be an indicator as to the underlying problems in the party. Many Malaysian Indians have come to the point that they believe M.I.C. is a party of thugs and gangsters, whether it is right or not. The inclusion of some new faces in the M.I.C. line-up would make you think this is indeed the case. The changes made by M.I.C. seem to show no difference on the national level as most incumbents are still there. There are many new faces in the state seats but how will this help the general Indian brothers and sisters in Parliament? The ones who remain contesting the Parliamentary seats have failed before in the eyes of the Indians thus why they are still they baffles me and many other political analyst around the country.
The Sabahans and the Sarawakians have come in defence of the Barisan National that all the tribes and races in their states are treated equally and rights given without prejudice. Due the fact that all rights are the same for all, anyone from any tribe has the same access to education and jobs. That is what the Indians here are also striving for. The Indians are not on the same playing field and they never have been as the Indian labourers were not educated too when they came here. There were a selected group of Indians and Sri Lankans who were educated and they occupied many government posts and positions during the pre-war and early post-war eras. However, the Indian labourers were never in that same playing field. They were more closely related to the Malay farmers of early independence in terms of education and socio-economy. The Indians are not asking for something that is not theirs. The statistics speaks for itself. If the M.I.C. has strived all these years for the betterment of the Indians, why does the statistics show otherwise?
There are many who benefited from the ruling coalition but the general public has suffered a great deal to satisfy the greed of a few. I wonder if I would ever come across a country where Capitalism runs amok among an elected dictatorship. The rich becomes richer and the poor poorer. The powerful little Napoleons dictate the course of the country so as to suit their personal capitalists’ gains. It always seems from the outset that the major problem is the redistribution of wealth and benefits among the races but the bare truth is that there is no redistribution of wealth outside ruling coalition. The race of a person does not have a bearing anymore. The only thing that matters is whether you are a party person or not.
By virtue of that error in judgement by the Barisan National Government, today they stand in tight spot trying to defend their majority. The Barisan National will win; nobody is living in denial about it. However, can they retain their majority in the House is a huge question mark that even their former boss, Tun Mahathir has publicly acknowledged.
Please vote sensibly and rationally.
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