THE voice of minority Indian Malaysians, representing two million of the country's 27million population, has been loud in the past few years.
Demands by the community have been expressed openly, with issues being championed by various groups.
The Indian community's deep-rooted feelings of being marginalised were expressed through the ballot box when many abandoned the 63-year-old Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) in the general election last year.
Even Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, who has helmed the party since 1979, suffered a defeat in the Sungai Siput parliamentary constituency.
The outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) that took over MIC's role to champion their cause successfully influenced Indian voters to revolt against Barisan Nasional parties, changing the country's political landscape.
Samy Vellu, returned unopposed as party president for the 11th term in March, acknowledged that Hindraf had taken away about 45 per cent of the Indian community from MIC by telling them of a new avenue available for them through the opposition.
MIC, the country's oldest party of ethnic Indians, claims to speak for the Indian community although many Indians, particularly the middle class, distance themselves, largely making MIC a working-class party.
For many of the middle-class and the affluent, unless MIC can show that it is ready for real change -- for the betterment of the community, the party is not their choice.
"They have options. There are other political parties, including new emerging Indian-based parties that can represent them,"
Within BN, options are the People's Progressive Party and Gerakan and in the opposition's stable are DAP, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and even Pas under the party's Supporters' Club.
Indian-based parties like Indian Progressive Front (IPF), and the emerging Malaysian Indians United Party (MIUP), Parti Hak Asasi Manusia (Paham), Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party (MMSP), and the Malaysian Indian Democratic Action Front (Mindraf) are also becoming formidable competitors.
MIC's refusal to listen or act on proposals aimed at the betterment of the Indian community by non-political groups and in not making itself easily accessible to Indians to voice their issues and frustrations had pushed the birth of Hindraf in 2005.
Academicians and professional Indians took pains to seek solutions to the long-standing problems among Indians.
Working papers and proposals of an action plan were passed to MIC, but nothing fruitful came out of it.
"There are proposals Indians want MIC to take up... to get things moving.
"There's got to be implementation of specific policies to introduce change, not just mere talk,".
Among the negative statistics are the Indians recording the second-highest infant mortality rates; the highest school drop-out rates, best seen in the data that only five per cent of Indians reach the tertiary level compared with the national average of 7.5 per cent; the highest incidence of alcoholism, that cuts across all classes; the highest incidence of drug addiction in proportion to population; the highest number of prisoners in proportion to population and the largest number of gangs. Sixty per cent of serious crimes are committed by Indians.
15/08/10
Demands by the community have been expressed openly, with issues being championed by various groups.
The Indian community's deep-rooted feelings of being marginalised were expressed through the ballot box when many abandoned the 63-year-old Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) in the general election last year.
Even Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, who has helmed the party since 1979, suffered a defeat in the Sungai Siput parliamentary constituency.
The outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) that took over MIC's role to champion their cause successfully influenced Indian voters to revolt against Barisan Nasional parties, changing the country's political landscape.
Samy Vellu, returned unopposed as party president for the 11th term in March, acknowledged that Hindraf had taken away about 45 per cent of the Indian community from MIC by telling them of a new avenue available for them through the opposition.
MIC, the country's oldest party of ethnic Indians, claims to speak for the Indian community although many Indians, particularly the middle class, distance themselves, largely making MIC a working-class party.
For many of the middle-class and the affluent, unless MIC can show that it is ready for real change -- for the betterment of the community, the party is not their choice.
"They have options. There are other political parties, including new emerging Indian-based parties that can represent them,"
Within BN, options are the People's Progressive Party and Gerakan and in the opposition's stable are DAP, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and even Pas under the party's Supporters' Club.
Indian-based parties like Indian Progressive Front (IPF), and the emerging Malaysian Indians United Party (MIUP), Parti Hak Asasi Manusia (Paham), Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party (MMSP), and the Malaysian Indian Democratic Action Front (Mindraf) are also becoming formidable competitors.
MIC's refusal to listen or act on proposals aimed at the betterment of the Indian community by non-political groups and in not making itself easily accessible to Indians to voice their issues and frustrations had pushed the birth of Hindraf in 2005.
Academicians and professional Indians took pains to seek solutions to the long-standing problems among Indians.
Working papers and proposals of an action plan were passed to MIC, but nothing fruitful came out of it.
"There are proposals Indians want MIC to take up... to get things moving.
"There's got to be implementation of specific policies to introduce change, not just mere talk,".
Among the negative statistics are the Indians recording the second-highest infant mortality rates; the highest school drop-out rates, best seen in the data that only five per cent of Indians reach the tertiary level compared with the national average of 7.5 per cent; the highest incidence of alcoholism, that cuts across all classes; the highest incidence of drug addiction in proportion to population; the highest number of prisoners in proportion to population and the largest number of gangs. Sixty per cent of serious crimes are committed by Indians.
15/08/10
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