Neither MIC or Najib has inspired the Indians

Politics to some leaders is not meant to serve the people. The opportunists among politicians would always dream of how to climb up the ladder of prominence in the government in order to inflate their personal ego. Politics to them has become an expedient medium to serve themselves but not the people.

It is a fact that the political elites among many Indian-based political parties are basically divorced from the inimical problems of the misplaced Indians in the country.

With the proposed appointment of another full minister for MIC it is not going to unravel or resolve the myriads of problems faced by the displaced Indians in the country. This is not the first time that MIC is given two full ministerial posts within the Alliance or Barisan Nasional. MIC was given this privilege before. Unfortunately, MIC since independence has not done much to help the under-class majority Indians in the country even with those ministerial posts. The majority poor Indians have until today become a reclusive group within the community – lagging far behind the middle and upper class Indians as well as the other communities in the country.

And the prime minister was reported to have said during the MIC’s 65th annual general meeting (AGM) in the city that MIC should bring in Indian votes for Barisan for the government to help the Indians. This is a blatant insult to the poor Indians. Does this mean that if MIC fails to bring in Indian votes for BN in the next general election the displaced Indians will continue to be neglected? Did not the majority of the Indians voted for Barisan Nasional before the 2008 general election? Must the poor Indians wait for another general election for the government to help them after almost 54 years of independence and desertion? This must be food for thought for all the marginalised Indians in the country.

Lack of sincere political thrust

This is not the first time the poor Indians are listening to political rhetoric of this nature. Before every election or by-election UMNO and MIC politicians would come up with the same rhetoric either to please or to “threaten” the Indians. For over 50 years of independence the plights of the displaced Indians in the country have been looming in the horizon – with no sincere solution in sight to get through their problems. Literally, nobody really cared for them.

The actual plight of the displaced Indians started during the British rule of Malaya before the country’s independence. The massive labour migration into Malaya began in 1786 up to the recession of the 1930s. The policy of the colonialists who brought in the labour migrants or the indentured labour to work in the rubber plantations, to build roads and railways saw no upward mobility for this community. This group and their descendants, today, constitute over 60 percent of ethnic Indians in this country. The privileged migrants from the then Ceylon and India came to Malaya more as professionals, administrators and businessmen.

Many of the indentured labour at that time died of diseases and malnutrition while living in deplorable conditions in the estates owned by British planters. In the estates they were paid daily wages and the toddy shops were with intent planned for them to stifle their minds. Later on came the Tamil schools to please these migrants and make them stay in the estates. Sir Thomas Hyslop arrogant phrase “We want Indians as indentured labourers, not free men,” aptly described the attitude of the British colonialists towards those helpless Indian migrants. They were threatened by the colonialists that they would be sent back to their country of origin if they were too vocal in their demands for a better living condition. MIC leaders and other Indian leaders should be reminded of the spiteful motives of the colonialists at that time, lest they forget.

We have achieved independence since and by default of labour migration the descendants of these people who were born in the country are here to stay. Does it need more that 50 years to help these marginalised Indians to lead a decent live in this country? And do these poor Indians themselves need more than 50 years to change their mindset and get into the trendy race for economic prosperity? In part, the slip-up largely lies with the Indian-based political parties and the government of the day. There has been no sincere political thrust thus far to help this unfortunate group of Indians despite all the political discourse they have had in the past and present on the plight of the poor Indians.

Escalating poverty

With no proper education, low self-esteem and being poverty stricken the displaced Indians have nobody to turn to. Many lost their jobs after the recession in 1930. They were left in the slums of the cities when they went jobless - many without food and home. The destitute were even seen sleeping on the five foot way and under the bridges during the night. After independence of Malaya in 1958 the estates the migrant Indians were toiling away for decades were gradually taken over by local players and those workers who chose to stay on were not treated any better.

Poverty among this group of Indians has escalated into further poverty. Due to economic reasons many plantations have been developed into other viable projects resulting in more plantation workers being displaced to become squatters. Even their squatter settlements are continuously been demolished to make way for development. These powerless Indians are left with no options but to remain shifting from one slum area to another – much to the displeasure of the government authorities.

The displaced Indians now form over 60 percent of our urban squatters and over 40 percent of beggars found in the cities. They are the hardcore poor and do not receive much attention from the Indian political elites and the government. In fact, a big proportion of the whole ethnic Indian population in the country have been doomed into becoming cheap labourers, beggars, squatters, criminals and gangsters. Discrimination in employment in the civil service sectors has affected the Indians most. Only less than 4 percent of those employed presently are of ethnic Indian.

Over 55 percent of Malaysian Indians work as plantation or urban poorly paid labourers. They have the lowest per capita income of less than RM600.00 per month when the national per capita income is over RM21, 600 or RM1800.00 per month. This is far below the national average. Over 20 percent ethnic Indian families are earning less than RM350.00 per month. Looking into the bigger picture, there is only less than 1 percent Indian participation in the country’s economic wealth.

Education or lack of it

Another reality is that the majority of the Tamil schools are in a dire state. Tired of championing vernacular education for Tamil children, some critics feel that these schools should not exist at all and go on to describe them as eventual suppliers of low-paid labourers for the country. Unlike the Chinese vernacular schools there is no community support for these Tamil schools. Seemingly, perpetuating the establishment of Tamil schools is the means to establish the status quo of political elites among the Indians –the existence of which is merely for the purpose of garnering votes from the illiterate and semi-illiterate Indians in the estates and urban squatters. Almost none of these leaders’ children are educated in Tamil schools as they know that they will end up nowhere in our society. The few who have made it through the Tamil schools cannot be made the benchmark to justify the perpetuating of these schools, say some critics.

Indian children are the second highest dropouts in the country today – just behind the Orang Asli children. These dropouts do not have a bright future as they speak no Bahasa Malaysa or English and they end up being unemployed. The delinquent dropouts among Indian students end up becoming hardcore criminals. A high incidence of crime, violence, slashing and killings largely among themselves take place because of poverty, poor upbringing and lack of apposite education. It is total hopelessness that has led to high Indian involvement in crime. Irreversible and abject poverty and the deprivation of a systematic education for these displaced Indians have sunk their self-esteem to the lowest ebb of our social echelon.

With a poor educational background the Indians have lagged behind the other races in almost all spheres of life in the society. MIC leaders are lost for ideas as to how these displaced Indians could be brought out from this dungeon of decadence. 20 percent of Tamils school students going to secondary schools will drop out within one to four years of education. Last year alone, over 8000 Indian students did not fare well in the Malaysian Certificate Examination (SPM) and unquestionably the future is going to be bleak for them. A majority of these students came from Tamil schools and end up becoming a lost and confused commune in the national secondary schools. Overall Indian intake into higher education is less than 2 percent compared with the other major races involving all the institutions in the country. Regrettably, the majority of Indian students have dropped out from the race to achieve excellence in education.

Vicious cycle

The displaced Indians are naturally the victims of a vicious cycle of poverty. The impaired value system the poor Indians take pleasure in and the dysfunctional nature of the Indian estate vernacular school have made them worse. When the Chinese vernacular schools are financially backed by the community, the Tamil vernacular schools are languishing in a murky cell. When the Chinese do not go begging for financial help from the government to enhance their schools, almost all ethnic Indian politicians – from both political divides – expect the government to help them. This is just a pathetic situation.

Lack of equal opportunities and poverty has contributed to the highest suicide rate in the country among the displaced Indians. Poverty has made them succumb to a low patience threshold, seeking solace and comfort in alcohol and even drugs. Broken families and domestic violence are equally attributed to poverty and a sense of low self-worth among this underprivileged group. Suicide rate is frighteningly high among this poverty-stricken Indians. The rate for Indians is 22 persons for every 100,000 suicides, Chinese 9 persons for every 100,000 suicides and for Malays 3 persons for every 100,000. The majority of orphanages and old folks homes are filled up with members of this ethnic minority displaced Indian community – another indicator of vicious poverty among them.

It’s blind arrogance on the part of some Indian-based political parties to ignore the plights of these underprivileged Indians. MIC on its part has not inspired the displaced Indians in the country for the past many decades. Indian leaders in MIC were never foresighted enough to be able to contain the escalating problems faced by the poor Indians in the country as their focus is more on self-seeking reasons to be in politics. The displaced Indians also hardly get community support. Their hardship is further compounded by the so little help they get from the UMNO dominated Barisan Nasional. This group of Indians – the enlightened among them - will therefore have to look for alternative paths to ensure that their descendants are pulled out from the scourge of poverty they are facing now and lead a much better life than their forefathers.

Thus, the failure of the displaced Indians to live up with some sense of worth is partly due to the poor leadership offered by MIC within the Barisan Nasional coalition. To some extent, it was due to this that Barisan Nasional was jolted in the 2008 general election when the Opposition managed to win five states – unprecedented in the history of Malaysian politics. The Pakatan Rakyat ruled state of Penang immediately appointed an ethnic Indian to become one the deputy chief ministers. Perak then appointed an ethnic Indian to become the state assembly Speaker. Indian politicians were given a major role under Pakatan-ruled states without disturbing the Malay or Chinese status quo. The Malays – except for those in UMNO - are generally happy with what these states have done for the Indians despite the political constraints and limited power and resources they have.

The present Indian population of 7.5 percent will dwindle to about 6.4 percent in 2021.The failure of MIC to uplift the living standard of the displaced Indians in the past and the present has caused many Indians abandoning the party. They are now beginning to merge with non-ethnic, ideologically-based political parties. And for this reason, many are now supporting Pakatan Rakyat.

- Malaysia Chronicle