MIC prepared to be colour blind if…

Party deputy president Dr S Subramaniam says MIC is prepared to move in the direction of becoming a multi-ethnic entity if Umno, being the backbone of BN, leads the way.

PETALING JAYA: MIC is ready to evolve from being an Indian-centric party towards one that is multi-ethnic.

Expressing this, MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam said political parties in Malaysia must transform in line with the feelings and expectations of the majority.

“The present feeling among the younger generation about multiracial representation has to be respected. And we must allow such a healthy evolution,” he told FMT.

The human resources minister said as far as MIC is concerned, if other parties in Barisan Nasional coalition are willing to do so, then MIC will have “no qualms” going forward in that direction.

However, Subramaniam stressed that Umno, as the biggest coalition partner in BN, has to take the lead.

Last month, MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek said his party is hoping to expand itself beyond being an ethnic-based entity. “We no longer want to be a party which looks at an issue from a Malay, Chinese or Indian perspective,” he had said.

MCA previously proposed a “New Deal” for the country, with Chua saying that a paradigm shift is needed for Malaysians to break out of their “superficial and race-centric cocoon”.

Echoing Chua’s sentiments, Subramaniam said: “I think in the long term, ethnic thinking is not good for the country.”

In the end, he said, the political structures of the country should depend on what the people want at that point of time.

“Our current political structures were determined by the requirements of that particular time in history. We were created more than 60 years ago, even before Independence and communities thought there was a need for them to be represented, MIC came, then MCA,” he added.

Najib is heading that way

Since then, Subramaniam said politics has evolved and now a sizeable number of youths, particularly from the middle class, feel that there must be more “trans-ethnic thinking”.

“There is a greater need to think in terms of national causes that go beyond racial lines,” he said.

Subramaniam said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is trying to move in that direction with his 1Malaysia concept.

“I think the thinking now is that it has to evolve towards that stage, that is why recently BN introduced clubs, such as the friends of BN, affiliate members, to allow for a greater openness and more people of all races to be involved.

“For a start, more activities and programmes should be allowed under the BN banner to push this evolution, ” he said.

Subramaniam said other component parties should be able to accept such changes, especially Umno leaders at all levels should be convinced.

When asked, the MIC deputy president denied that the current BN system has failed or remains Umno-domninant.

Instead, he said it has been a fair and open system.

“I think nobody in BN can complain that you have never had the opportunity to express yourself. The BN concept is a compensatory mechanism, allowing multiple ethnic-based parties to work within a common national agenda,” he added.