Time for Indians, etc, to look beyond Malaysia

The upcoming KL conference for marginalised communities, to be broadcast live worldwide, should open up some eyes

In the wake of the controversy over Interlok, a novel being promoted in schools as serious literature, various little stories are emerging in the media on the plight of the Indian community in Malaysia. Many of these are about how Indians do each other in. That would seem to suggest, albeit in part, that Indians need no help at all from others to end up at the bottom of the dung heap.

There is little indication in these various takes that there’s a clear path ahead for the Indians. Whining and moaning will not get them, or the other marginalised communities, anywhere. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

There are also Malays in Peninsular Malaysia who have nothing more than the shirts on their backs despite 40 years of affirmative action programmes which at the same time do a number on the
non-Malays.

Also, so long as the Indians prefer to look slavishly to MIC and Umno for salvation, they will continue to suffer. In that case, they have little justification to complain and should just put up with their miserable lot.

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It was Mahatma Gandhi who observed that as long as we play the game by the rules that others have drawn up, we will always be at the losing end. Hence, the Mahatma’s adoption of non-violence, the truth movement, fasting, prayer, penance, Fill the Jails and Quit India as weapons to take on the armed might of the British Empire. The British were reduced to impotence.

Malaysian Indians, likewise, need to determine the agenda or continue to fail as a community and fall by the wayside. Although MIC and Umno have held them to ransom and in servitude for 54 years, there is little indication that the Indians are standing up as a people. They continue to be bogged down by others and are in fact actively helping in this process.

Unlike the fighting immigrant spirit that typified the Indians who came to Malaysia some 200 years ago, the community these days is soft, childish, naïve and still expecting handouts on a silver platter. They are not willing to start at the bottom and work their way up.

Many of them are not willing to continue their education to the ends of the Earth. Instead, they prefer to drop out from school as soon as possible and make someone pregnant or get pregnant.

Life of crime

Saving money is something unheard of among the Indians as they embrace the consumptive lifestyle of the materialistic, try to keep up with the Joneses, and live in debt. Wither the prospects for the accumulation of capital that will eventually buy financial freedom?

Some sections of the community have embarked on a life of crime to accumulate capital in the fastest way possible, following the path taken by any number of people – the colonialists, Jews, Italians, Japanese Yakuza, Chinese Triads, Russian Mafia, Black Mafia and Tamil Tigers, among others. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

Language standards are appallingly low among Indians, not just in English and Bahasa Malaysia, but Tamil as well. To this, we must add poor skills in maths, general science, general knowledge and current affairs. All these make for a poor foundation in education, which makes it difficult for one to embrace the concept of lifelong learning demanded by globalisation.

These are all areas that community leaders should look into seriously instead of pointing self-servingly at the odd number of students who scored As in all subjects and were denied places in local government universities or were cheated out of scholarships.

One must indeed educate oneself, but not just for Malaysia. It has become imperative to get an education that makes one ready to face the world. Globalisation has altered the face of humanity as never before and we must all reckon with this unstoppable force. There is no alternative but to jump on the bandwagon. It does not pay to be the frog under the coconut half-shell.

In politics, the Indians can no longer afford to be by themselves on a platform of their own, even if in alliance with others as in the ruling Barisan Nasional. This political model has never worked for the Indians and there is little indication that it will ever work. Let not another half century pass by before wiser and cooler heads prevail.

Unity is strength

Indians need to make common cause with other marginalised communities in Malaysia, and there are quite a number of them – Sabahans, Sarawakians, the Orang Asli and others who find nothing in common with either BN or Pakatan Rakyat. Unity is strength.

This hypothetical alliance of the marginalised has been referred to as the Third Force in the Malaysian Parliament. It is a solid political model which offers hope to the Indians, assuming that they stubbornly prefer not to venture beyond Malaysian shores and take on the world, although Malaysia is not exactly the best place to be in now. The problems of Malaysia are much more complex and intractable than that of the Indian community alone. It is more likely that the community will sink rather than swim with Malaysia.

The conference of the marginalised communities, to be hosted by Hindraf Makkal Sakthi on Jan 23 at the Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur, could turn out to be an eye-opener of sorts. It will be video broadcast live worldwide through the Internet to allow for international participants.

The Chinese Assembly Hall Civil Rights Committee will be participating as well. The Jaringan Kampung Orang Asli Semenanjung Malaysia will also be there, along with various groups from Sabah and Sarawak, including the Common Interest Group Malaysia (CigMA) and the Borneo Resources Institute. The United Kingdom-based Human Rights Foundation of Malaysia will also attend.

The United Borneo Front, a sister NGO of CigMA, has decided to stay out of the fray as it does not want to internationalise, for the moment, its Borneo Agenda. - FMT