What happened to Hotline promised for Malaysian Indians by MIC

The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the party representing ethnic Indians, will set up a hotline to address the problems faced by the two million plus community.

The facility would be set up at the party headquarters, MIC chief and the country's Works Minister S. Samy Vellu said here Tuesday.

The idea of a call centre to tackle the community's problems had been mooted by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the wake of turmoil over a protest rally staged last November, when participants carried banners and placards alleging socio-economic discrimination against ethnic Indians.

The rally by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) was declared illegal. Its five top leaders have since been detained under the stringent Internal Security Act (ISA).

The Badawi government has denied the charge of discrimination, but has said the grievances would be probed and addressed. The idea of the hotline was mooted as part of this process.

'We are modernising the MIC headquarters in line with our objective to have a new outlook in facing the general election,' Vellu was quoted as saying in The New Straits Times.

He said the future for ethnic Indians was bright under the leadership of Badawi, who was receptive to the problems facing the community.

Ethnic Indians, predominantly Tamil Hindus, whose ancestors came to Malaysia during the British era, form roughly eight percent of the country's 27 million population.

These are some of the election gimmicks promised by Samy Vellu during election period. Now what? I don’t hear about any news about these hotlines? Tell me Samy, are you really sincere in helping Indians to uplift their social status or just a mere gimmick to obtain some kind of sympathy from Indians by voicing out some of the grievances which have been highlighted by Hindraf.

Listen samy, WE WANT THE HOTLINE NOW?