Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s handling of a question regarding racial quotas at public institutions of higher learning may have cost the Pakatan Harapan and BN votes from the Malaysian Indian community, according to Senator C Sivarraajh.
“The prime minister’s response appears to take Indian support for granted and clearly does not reflect the unity government’s commitment to help the Indian community,” he said in a statement today.
He pointed to analysts’ views that Indian support for Harapan had dropped by 15 percent, and conversely increased by 21 percent for Perikatan Nasional.
“I am convinced that Indian support will not continue to shift towards PN, but at the same time, the unity government leadership cannot take the Indian agenda for granted.
“The unity government needs to realise its commitment to the Indian agenda immediately,” he said.
Sivarraajh was referring to an exchange between Anwar and a student during a dialogue session at Kolej Matrikulasi Pulau Pinang in Kepala Batas on Aug 5.
The student - who appears to be ethnic Indian - asked the premier when will the quota-based admission system favouring the bumiputra would be replaced by a meritocratic system.
Anwar cut off the student to say he already understood the question and criticised her for being unfair to rural bumiputra students, and further attempts by the student to clarify her question were denied.
Some netizens had criticised Anwar’s response as inappropriate and amounted to “bullying”.
Meanwhile, Sivarraajh pointed out that Indians make up more than 10 percent of the electorate in 76 out of 132 constituencies in Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan, where they increasingly play the role of kingmaker.
Thus, he said it is timely for the government to implement its promises, such as addressing issues of public university placement, support systems for small and medium Indian entrepreneurs, and strengthening the Indian community as a whole.
“The issues are not complicated issues that require billions of ringgit, but basic issues that merely require a clear policy direction from the unity government leadership,” he said. - Mkini
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