Ibrahim Ali may finally be right: Great if Malays reject MIC - Umno’s lapdog poodle

NGOs, shamelessly racist, run by various Malay-speaking communities in Peninsular Malaysia including Perkasa and its founder Ibrahim Ali are threatening to ensure that MIC candidates don’t get the votes of the Malays during the forthcoming 13^th General Election, expected anytime between May this year and May next year, perhaps even a bit earlier.

These NGOs, which are mostly funded or linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak's Umno party, are trotting out various reasons for their about-turn in the run-up to the GE-13.

The latest is that MIC was instrumental in forcing the Education Ministry to withdraw Interlok, a derogatory work of literature penned by national literary laureate Abdullah Hussain for Malaysian schools. The fact is that the MIC was slow to react to Interlok and it was left to others including the Pakatan Rakyat, Hindraf Makkal Sakthi and the Human Rights Party, to take up the cudgels. But that’s another story.

To MIC, what's bad for Umno is also bad for the Indians!

MIC has also been accused of committing the mother of all sins in the Malay dictionary of politics i.e. allowing the rise of Hindraf, and in the process, allow itself to be eclipsed by an organisation with just 300 hardcore activists.

The Indian community is on its knees day-and-night, praying that the Malay NGOs will make good their threat and help them wipe MIC off the political map of Malaysia. The Indian community has had enough of the lapdog and poodle role played by MIC in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN).

Once freed of MIC, Indians can get their politics and relationships right, according to the current mood in the community. Chaos is seen as a necessary pre-requisite to bringing about a brave New Political Order in the country.

At present, MIC is seen as a political asset only to Umno and not the Indian community. Hence, anything that’s bad for Umno – like the demise of MIC – is seen as bringing only good to the Indian community.

Allowed Umno to run 'amok'

MIC, like the MCA, were British-inspired initiatives designed to carry out the main thrust of colonial policy in the Federated Malay States viz. to protect the Malay elite from themselves. This policy, laid down by British Resident-General Sir Frank Swettenham was based on the colonial belief that the “Malay elite was an arrogant creature who would not hesitate to harm another even if he would suffer even more harm in the process”.

The departing colonial British saw MIC and MCA as instrumental in continuing their policy towards the Malay elite in a political accommodation with Umno.

MIC, like the MCA, failed to prevent Umno from running amok or crazed with power and the result was the electoral debacle by way of a political tsunami during the 12^th General Election on Sat 8 Mar, 2008. The rest is history.

The result of the MIC, like the MCA, failing to protect the Malay elites from themselves was the community being reduced in the process to a coolie class with many stateless persons. These stateless persons, estimated to number 450,000, live in a legal twilight zone and ripe for criminal exploitation as a cheap, and readily available domestic source of virtually slave labour.

The community’s pride has been hurt where it matters most: the loss of identity as a result of the lack of personal documents. The MIC leadership is seen by the community as complicit with Umno, either deliberately or naively, in denying Indians their right to personal documents.

Temples, education, citizen rights

Indian pride has also been hurt through the continuing demolishment of Hindu temples, the lack of government funding for Tamil schools and their reduction virtually into cowsheds which leak buckets each time it rains, the lack of government scholarships for bright students, the lack of places at government universities, the withdrawal of recognition of foreign universities frequented by Malaysian Indian students, the lack of government jobs and so on.

The MIC also failed to prevent Umno from usurping the powers of the King over Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and from hijacking it to indulge in deviations and distortions. Article 153, observed more often than not in the breach, has become a sapu bersih (clean sweep) clause for Umno and covering every facet of life in Malaysia.

Article 153, as envisaged in the Federal Constitution, reserves a Special Position for the Natives of Sabah and Sarawak and the Orang Asli and Malay-speaking communities in Peninsular Malaysia by way of a reasonable proportion in only four specific areas: intake into the civil service; intake into institutions of higher learning owned by the government and training privileges; government scholarships; and opportunities from the government to do business.

The MIC, like the MCA, also failed to prevent Umno from ignoring the second prong of Article 153 i.e. the legitimate interests of the non-Malay communities.

The New Economic Policy, an offshoot of the 4^th Special Position in Article 153, has also been observed more often than not in the breach. It has become another sapu bersih or wipe clean instrument for Umno, owing to the failure of the MIC, and MCA, to stand up for the rights of the communities they represent.

Where is the Indian slice of the economy?

The NEP pledged that 30 per cent of the corporate economy – that publicly-listed – would be owned, managed and controlled by those given a Special Position under Article 153. Instead, both MIC and MCA have stood helplessly by as Umno rode roughshod over the legitimate interests of the non-Malay communities. The Natives of Sabah and Sarawak and the Orang Asli have been left out too.

The NEP failed to address the question of the eradication of poverty irrespective of race and creed. The NEP also failed to eliminate the identification of race with economic function and place of residence.

The Indian community has 101 grievances, according to Hindraf and HRP. However, both organizations would prefer to focus on 18 Points as the key demands of the community including the aforesaid grievances.

But none of these demands are being addressed by the MIC. There’s only big talk from the party, without citing any evidence whatsoever, that members of the community are slowly returning to the BN.

It should come therefore as little wonder that the Indian community would like to see the back of MIC as soon as possible. Again, they hope that the Malay NGOs would make good their threat and get their people to reject the party at the forthcoming 13^th General Election.

For once, the Indian community and the racist Malay NGOs are on common ground! So be careful, Ibrahim Ali. He and his sister NGO and organizations may get their wish. MIC, the thorn in their flesh, will sink like a stone without Malay votes, having already lost those of the Indian community a long time ago.

Malaysia Chronicle