Najib promises to continue aiding Indian community

© Provided by The Malaysian Insider Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak says Indian Malaysians have received various forms of aid from the government since his administration came into power. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Kamal Ariffin…The government pledges to continue assistance to the Indian community to help them improve their structure, culture and economy instead of being marginalised.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government had always been committed to helping every ethnic group in the country in order for national development to be inclusive, sustainable, fair and equitable.

"We want every ethnic group, big or small, to enjoy the fruits of the country's development so that they do not feel left behind in mainstream development," he said when speaking at the Special Unit for Socio-Economic Development of the Indian Community (SEDIC) grant presentation to Indian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) today.

Also present was MIC president Datuk Dr Seri S. Subramaniam, who is also health minister.

Najib said since his administration in 2009, various aid initiatives had been given to the Indian community, including economic assistance via Tekun, SME and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia.

"Believe me, we will continue this assistance," he said.

Najib also advised the Indian community in the country to put aside matters that were barriers and continue to look forward to achieve success.

"Just now Dr Subramaniam uses the word chronic... I interpret that when mentioning chronic related to the value, attitude and cultural, it needs to be changed.

"So we change not only to provide assistance and projects but change from the aspect of mind set or cultural chance in order to be more sustainable to compete, be self-reliant and moving forward to attain more meaningful success," he said.

Najib also expressed hope that through MIC, the Barisan Nasional (BN) component party and NGOs that supported BN would focus on helping the Indian community so that they could undergo changes in terms of cultural and structural transformation.

Meanwhile Dr Subramaniam said the support given by the Indian community in the country was not balanced with the assistance given by the government.

"We see there is a 'disconnect of support' from a handful of people in the community against the government.

"This matter should be analysed to find out the reasons and must be overcome urgently," he said. – Bernama