I have been reading various views and comments by Malaysians regarding the Hindraf struggle. I personally am not into racial discrimination and I do not condone it. I believe very strongly in working towards a “One Bangsa Malaysia ”. But I also understand where Hindraf is coming from and what they are fighting for. In fact I was rudely awakened to the plight of the poor and marginalized Malaysian Indians only by Hindraf. After looking at their arguments and after much soul searching, I have come to understand that what they are trying to say is of utmost urgency and not to be disregarded lightly as trivial..
Let me explain with an example of a parent and their children. As parents, we will be able to relate to this in a very simple way. Let us say that we have 3 normal kids with a very ill 4th child. The parents will be caring for the normal children as usual but will be giving special attention to the very sick child, who may be in a very critical shape or condition. The more serious a child is, the more concerned the parents will be in taking care of the ailing child, even foregoing paying attention to the other children in the family. They would not even have time to care for themselves.
How do we relate this to Hindraf? Malaysia has been ruled with the divide and rule policy unlike many other nations around the world. We are faced with a different scenario here. Honestly saying, it is a well known fact that everything here is related to race. We are one of the very few countries in the world to have an indisputable race policy for almost every aspect of our daily lives.
Generally whether people want to accept it or not, the other communities like the Malay and Chinese communities in the country are not in such a critical situation. We are talking about the poor marginalized Malaysian Indians who have been neglected by UMNO, MIC and BN in general for 52 years or more. People like you and me who are fortunate enough to have the time to read and write these articles and comments, most likely would not have been exposed to the marginalized Malaysian Indians.
We could always say that MIC is there for them (since they have being claiming as thus all these years.) However they (MIC) have become more concerned with being in power and filling their pockets above everything else and in the process along the way, overlooked the welfare of the Malaysian Indians.
To be honest, who would care for my children better than me? I would have the first love and concern for my family. But that does not make me selfish, but rather makes me a responsible parent. People speak about Hindraf as being racially prejudiced. I do not accept that argument. Those in Hindraf have felt the urgency of the critical condition of the Malaysian Indian community at large and realized no one else has truly come forward to their rescue. Please do not look at the Malaysian Indians who come from the upper stratum of society and living in comfort. The percentage is very low.
If we do not address the critical state of these very much neglected populations of the nation, we will always have to deal with its repercussions. If we can see objectively, we will understand that when we fail to address this problem, we too as a society will be a failed society. We can even compare this to a human body. If one of our organs is failing while everything else is fine, will we be talking about how fine we are as a whole? No! Rather, we will be focusing on reviving that failing organ and once we succeed in taking care of that particular organ we will focus on the health of the body as a whole.
Does this mean that you are neglecting the other parts of the body? Can the other parts complain that you are being discriminatory? My explanation might sound too simplistic to the ‘intellectuals’ around, but do try to understand that we have to address this situation from a different level. We have many others to champion for the rest of the society. We have many socially aware people, NGOs and other activists to ‘speak’ for the wellbeing of the general public.
Who is going to deal with this ailing organ, which is in a critical condition? How critical one may ask. The Malaysian Indian community at this point of time is plagued with various problems such as gangsterism, murder, kidnapping, snatch thefts, drug trafficking, drug addiction, house break ins, extortions, robbery, rape, etc. The majority of those in our prisons come from the Malaysian Indian community too. These social ills are brought about by the poor education they receive and the poverty level of the community at large.
If you say that at this point in time, Hindraf also must immediately address the marginalization of the other races in this nation, why has there been no one jailed under ISA or simply incarcerated for standing up for these communities? And let me answer this: No one else truly believes that some of these communities are in a more critical condition than the Malaysian Indian community in the nation.
It truly saddens me to see people condemning the deplorable state of the poor and marginalized Indians. You do not have to be poor or marginalized to understand their plight. All one needs is a bit of compassion and a clear vision, before going around accusing these people of their social ills. Poverty is a social ill. It is a vicious cycle. I am not trying to give any excuses for them but it will take immense strength, will power, wisdom and some help from others to come out of such a state.
We who read and write here may not be able to understand what they go through. The least we can do is stop being judgmental of them.
So please stop marginalising the Malaysian Indians further by accusing Hindraf as racist!
MP
09/07/09
Let me explain with an example of a parent and their children. As parents, we will be able to relate to this in a very simple way. Let us say that we have 3 normal kids with a very ill 4th child. The parents will be caring for the normal children as usual but will be giving special attention to the very sick child, who may be in a very critical shape or condition. The more serious a child is, the more concerned the parents will be in taking care of the ailing child, even foregoing paying attention to the other children in the family. They would not even have time to care for themselves.
How do we relate this to Hindraf? Malaysia has been ruled with the divide and rule policy unlike many other nations around the world. We are faced with a different scenario here. Honestly saying, it is a well known fact that everything here is related to race. We are one of the very few countries in the world to have an indisputable race policy for almost every aspect of our daily lives.
Generally whether people want to accept it or not, the other communities like the Malay and Chinese communities in the country are not in such a critical situation. We are talking about the poor marginalized Malaysian Indians who have been neglected by UMNO, MIC and BN in general for 52 years or more. People like you and me who are fortunate enough to have the time to read and write these articles and comments, most likely would not have been exposed to the marginalized Malaysian Indians.
We could always say that MIC is there for them (since they have being claiming as thus all these years.) However they (MIC) have become more concerned with being in power and filling their pockets above everything else and in the process along the way, overlooked the welfare of the Malaysian Indians.
To be honest, who would care for my children better than me? I would have the first love and concern for my family. But that does not make me selfish, but rather makes me a responsible parent. People speak about Hindraf as being racially prejudiced. I do not accept that argument. Those in Hindraf have felt the urgency of the critical condition of the Malaysian Indian community at large and realized no one else has truly come forward to their rescue. Please do not look at the Malaysian Indians who come from the upper stratum of society and living in comfort. The percentage is very low.
If we do not address the critical state of these very much neglected populations of the nation, we will always have to deal with its repercussions. If we can see objectively, we will understand that when we fail to address this problem, we too as a society will be a failed society. We can even compare this to a human body. If one of our organs is failing while everything else is fine, will we be talking about how fine we are as a whole? No! Rather, we will be focusing on reviving that failing organ and once we succeed in taking care of that particular organ we will focus on the health of the body as a whole.
Does this mean that you are neglecting the other parts of the body? Can the other parts complain that you are being discriminatory? My explanation might sound too simplistic to the ‘intellectuals’ around, but do try to understand that we have to address this situation from a different level. We have many others to champion for the rest of the society. We have many socially aware people, NGOs and other activists to ‘speak’ for the wellbeing of the general public.
Who is going to deal with this ailing organ, which is in a critical condition? How critical one may ask. The Malaysian Indian community at this point of time is plagued with various problems such as gangsterism, murder, kidnapping, snatch thefts, drug trafficking, drug addiction, house break ins, extortions, robbery, rape, etc. The majority of those in our prisons come from the Malaysian Indian community too. These social ills are brought about by the poor education they receive and the poverty level of the community at large.
If you say that at this point in time, Hindraf also must immediately address the marginalization of the other races in this nation, why has there been no one jailed under ISA or simply incarcerated for standing up for these communities? And let me answer this: No one else truly believes that some of these communities are in a more critical condition than the Malaysian Indian community in the nation.
It truly saddens me to see people condemning the deplorable state of the poor and marginalized Indians. You do not have to be poor or marginalized to understand their plight. All one needs is a bit of compassion and a clear vision, before going around accusing these people of their social ills. Poverty is a social ill. It is a vicious cycle. I am not trying to give any excuses for them but it will take immense strength, will power, wisdom and some help from others to come out of such a state.
We who read and write here may not be able to understand what they go through. The least we can do is stop being judgmental of them.
So please stop marginalising the Malaysian Indians further by accusing Hindraf as racist!
MP
09/07/09
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