Time for Indians to seek change

After 55 years of BN rule, do the Indian community want more of the same?

COMMENT

With December still being touted as a possible month for holding the 13th general election, ground reports are filtering in pertaining to voter support.

The Chinese have made up their mind to vote for Pakatan Rakyat while PAS is gaining ground among the Malays. The urban folks in Sabah and Sarawak will support the opposition and now all that is left is the Indian vote.

Some reports have put the Indian vote as 50:50 while other reports have put it as 54% in favour of Barisan Nasional. Whatever it is, it is still not solid.

It seems that the Indians are still in two minds whether or not to give their vote to Pakatan.

“The Indians must realise that MIC is already irrelevant. Otherwise, why is [Prime Minister] Najib [Tun Razak] instructing Nazri to talk to Hindraf in regard to obtaining Indian support? MIC must preserve its dignity by leaving BN,” said M Manogaran, DAP’s Teluk Intan MP.

Manogaran said that it is surely a great blow to MIC when Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz has been given the task to negotiate with Hindraf instead of MIC leaders.

“BN must be really desperate enough to woo Hindraf now,” added Manogaran.

It must be said, however, that Indians gained more recognition from Pakatan than from BN. Consider this list of DAP’s Indian MPs and state assemblymen:

MPs

1. P Ramasamy (Batu Kawan, Penang)

2. M Kula Segaran (Ipoh Barat, Perak)

3. M Manogaran (Teluk Intan, Perak)

4. Charles Santiago (Klang, Selangor)

5. John Fernandez (Seremban, Negeri Sembilan)

State assemblymen

1. P Ramasamy (Prai, Penang, Deputy Chief Minister II)

2. A Tanasekharan (Bagan Dalam, Penang)

3. RSN Rayer (Sri Delima, Penang)

4. A Sivasubramaniam (Buntong, Perak)

5. V Sivakumar (Tronoh, Perak, former Perak Speaker)

6. A Sivanesan (Sungkai, Perak)

7. M Manoharan (Kota Alam Shah, Selangor)

8. S Veerapan (Rapah, Negeri Sembilan)

9. K Arumugam (Rahang, Negeri Sembilan)

10. P Gunasekaran (Senawang, Negeri Sembilan)

The Teluk Intan MP may also be moved to a Kuala Lumpur seat in light of DAP stalwart Karpal Singh’s “one-man one-seat” proposal.

Time to make a choice

There are also Indian lawmakers from PKR. As for PAS, it has fielded an Indian candidate in Johor in the previous general election but she lost.

It is time that the Indians realised that although MIC had helped them a lot, that was a long time ago. The time has come for the Indians to make a choice for something better and those who are among the hardcore poor should come to the realisation that piecemeal assistance will not lead them out of poverty.

While many Chinese youths who are jobless will resort to going overseas in search of jobs in orchards or supermarkets, we seldom hear of this type of venture among the Indian youths.

The reaction of the Indians is predictable. They will make some noise to air their grouses and when the government says, “We will look into it,” they will quieten down and things will be as before.

Things will never change if it is the same old government with its same old way of administration. The situation can only be improved if there is a change of guard.

Indians must be brave enough to make a choice for change because continuity with the present incumbent government leads nowhere.

As it is, corruption is rife and crime is rampant. Not only the Indians but all Malaysians must be courageous enough to change their mindset. There is no need to fear the unknown.

In fact, Pakatan is not really an alien entity as it is the state government in Kedah, Kelantan, Penang and Selangor and also for about 11 months in Perak.

Still marginalised

Here is a short story this columnist came across some time ago by an anonymous author advising us not to be deceived when making important decisions. Roughly it goes like this:

A man who has died was asked by God if he wanted to go to Heaven or Hell. He said that he was unsure and wanted to take a look at both places first before making a decision. So he was transported to Heaven where he saw an idyllic village life: boys were playing football in the field and people were chatting happily in the al fresco foodstalls by the roadside. Women were drying out their washing and everything was very ordinary.

Next, he was transported to Hell. There was fine dining in an expensive restaurant with lobsters and caviar on the menu while pretty and sexy young ladies with plunging necklines were the waitresses.

Then it was time to make a decision.

“Where do you want to go?” God asked the man.

“Hell,” he replied firmly, thinking that Heaven was too boring a place for him.

“Are you sure?” God asked him.

“Sure, I am absolutely sure,” he answered.

“Really, really sure?” God asked him again.

“Of course, I am 100% sure,” answered the man without any hesitation and a little bit annoyed at being asked the same question again. And so he heard a loud bang and he landed in Hell.

But what he saw was parched, arid land with big cracks and small fires here and there. There was no food or water in sight except some very smelly rubbish. There were also many demons hopping around.

He called the Devil and asked for an explanation, “What is the meaning of this? I was in Hell earlier and there was fine dining and sexy ladies but now it is totally different. Can you explain what is going on?”

The Devil replied, “What you saw earlier was our campaign to you.”

It is time for Indians to see the real facts and figures.

After 55 years, many Indians are still marginalised although there are Indians who have made good in the law and medical professions. Do Indians want to wait another 55 years?

Selena Tay is a FMT columnist.