MALAYSIAN INDIANS: The third class race
kingkong
“A race of people is like an individual man: until it uses its own
talent, takes pride in its history, expresses its own culture and
affirm its own selfhood, it cannot fulfill itself” --- Malcom X
The third largest ethnic group in Malaysia after the Chinese and the
Malays are the Malaysian Indians. Despite the fact that the Indians
constitute about 8% of the country’s population of 22 million they own
less than 2% of its national wealth. According to The Economist (22nd
Feb 2003), “they make up 14% of its juvenile delinquents, 20% of its
wife and child beaters and 41% of its beggars. They make up less than
5% of the successful university applicants.” The story of the Indians
has been a case of progressive deterioration from the time Malaysia
became independent in 1957.
The mass Indian (South Indian) immigration can be traced back to the
early 20th century when the Britishers brought them to meet the labour
force requirements in the colonial public services and in private
plantations. While the bulk of the Tamils were employed in the
plantations, the Sri Lankan Tamils and Malayalees were in supervisory or
clerical positions. Of the North Indians, the Punjabis were in the
police force, while the Gujaratis and Sindhis were in the business
(mostly textiles). Despite the mass exodus of South Indians back to
India after independence and after the racial riots of May 1969, the
Tamils (South Indians) constitute about 80% of the total Indian community.
The Indians themselves are to some extent responsible for their present
unenviable and ignominious status, and the policies of the Malaysian
Government since independence had not been helpful either. Ignorance
born out of poverty in the plantations resulted in many of them not
getting citizenship which was offered in 1957 when Malaysia became
independent. This prevented them from getting jobs.
A major setback for the Indian labour force was the steady closure of
the rubber plantations giving way to tea and oil palm plantations.
Their numbers started dwindling and they had competition from the
illegal Indonesian immigrants. Unlike the Chinese who lay great
emphasis on education, it was not given due importance by the Indian
working class. The Tamil schools in the estates were often mere
apologies and offered no opportunity for progress in higher education.
The undue importance on Tamil education has also weakened the Indian
community in competing with the indigenous Malays and the Chinese. One
of the major reasons for the low percentage of Indian origin students in
the tertiary institutions in the country is the lack of merit and as a
result, even the quotas set for the Indians remain unutilised.
Despite their economic backwardness, the Indians were a peace loving
people and were not involved in any racial riots either in May 1969 or
later except for a few incidents of clashes on account of religious
sentiments. However in March 2001, the ethnic clashes between Indians
and Malays in a village in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, brought into
focus the plight of the Indian community in Malaysia. The incident has
since been forgotten on the assumption that the clashes resulted on
account of poor living conditions in the villages than the racial
differences. There has been no introspection of this incident by the
Government or by the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the leading
political party of the Indians.
The MIC, a constituent of the coalition government at the center since
independence does not have much political clout and has not been able to
do anything substantial to improve the lot of the Indians. Datuk Seri
Samy Vellu is the President of the MIC since 1979. Charles Santiago, a
Malaysian economic consultant, in an interview on 5 Feb. 2003 to Radio
Australia (Asia Pacific) said “ He (Samy Vellu) is in, very much in
control of the party, and the party’s run almost on feudal organisation
where almost all the decisions are made by the President himself…. A lot
of Indians are critical of MIC’s role in the coalition government … the
Indian middle class dose not want to associate itself in the MIC and
largely making the MIC a working class party." This in brief sums up
the state of affairs of the leading Indian party and its leader in the
coalition government.
On January 9, 2003, India celebrated the Parvasi Bhartiya Divas (Day of
the Persons of the Indian origin and Non resident Indians), and ten
eminent persons of Indian origin were given the Indian Diaspora award.
Datuk Seri Samy Vellu was one among them. One wonders whether
Government of India made any enquiry about Datuk Seri Samy Vellu's
contributions to the Malaysian Indians. Referring to the grand mela
organised by Government of India for the people of Indian origin, Dr. P.
Ramasamy of Malaysia in a letter to the Far Eastern Economic Review
(Feb., 27, 2003) said “like previous (Indian) governments it continues
to betray the interest and welfare of million of Indians locked in
poverty and misery overseas…. It wants to develop the links with the
wealthy segments of the overseas Indian community while turning a blind
eye at the less savory side of the diaspora.”
The Malaysian Government policies since independence have also been
consistently to the detriment of the non-Malays in general though the
Indian community seems to be most hard hit. The first major step was
the introduction of work permits for the non-citizens when a majority of
Indian workers had not obtained Malaysian citizenship. Subsequently in
1971 with its New Economic Policy, the Government championed the cause
of the Malays by the policy of "Bhumiputras"(sons of the soil). The
Bhumiputras were to have a major share in the public sector while the
private sector remained secure with the Chinese. The introduction of
quotas for the different races in the educational institutions has also
adversely affected the Indian community. The New Development Plan for
the period 1991-2000 was also designed to achieve the socio-economic
upliftment of the Bhumiputras and the MIC’s efforts to place the Indians
in a separate ethnic grouping seems to have made no headway with the
Malaysian Government. Being a minority, they do not have the numerical
strength to exert any political influence nor do they make any
significant contribution to the national economy. The ruling
government’s apathy to the Indians is therefore understandable.
But what about the leaders like Samy Vellu and what has been their
contribution towards the alleviation of poverty of the poor people of
Indian origin? There has been none.
The following observations elucidate some of the reasons for the current
state of the Indians and the bleak chances of their betterment:
*"Malaysians have failed to integrate in any meaningful fashion, even
after almost forty years of independence.” – Edmund Terrence Gomez in
the book “ Ethnic Futures – The state and identity politics in Asia”
* ‘Indians have little prospect of advancement, since Malaysia’s Chinese
minority dominates business and Malays control the bureaucracy”-
P.Ramasamy (The Economist 22nd February 2003).
* “Despite the country’s veneer of racial harmony and opportunity for
all, many in the Indian community have limited access to housing ,
education and jobs. About 54% of Malaysian Indians work on plantations
, or as urban labourers and their wages have not kept up with the
times.” –Santha Oorjitham (Asiaweek January 26, 2001).
* “The Scope of government help (to the Indians) is also limited by the
realities of the race politics in Malaysia, which effectively means the
problems of the majority Malays will always come ahead of those of the
Indians”. – Simon Elegant (FEER April 20, 2000).
* “Malaysia’s Indians are at the bottom of the country’s social and
economic scale and their ebullient yet stubborn political leader Samy
Vellu is not helping matters”. Simon Elegant (FEER April 20, 2000)
Conclusion.
The plight of the Malaysian Indians can be attributed in part to a
dependency mindset nurtured on the plantations and this has to be
overcome. There is a significant and emergent need for a change in the
leadership of the Indian parties in power to take up the cause of the
Indians to get them their due rights free from racial discrimination and
have full access to jobs and education. As proposed in the Conference
on the “The Malaysian Indian in the new millennium –rebuilding the
Community” held at Kuala Lumpur in June 2002, problems such as the loss
of self esteem within the community, external derision and the absence
of unifying factors to forge a single identity have to be addressed by
the leading cultural, social and political institutions and embark on an
action plan. However the effort has to come from within the community
and has to be sustained as such deliberations have been there in the
past also with no major impact on the Government.
Till now the Indian Government has done very little in this regard.
Since the Government of India has now embarked upon a programme for
interacting with the Overseas Indians, especially with the affluent
sections in the Western nations, it should also look after the
interests of the under privileged Overseas Indians in countries like
Malaysia. As part of the “ Look East” policy interaction with Malaysia
especially in the field of education will be beneficial to the Indian
community. The High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur used to award
scholarships to the poorer sections of the Indian community in the late
80’s. The system , if continuing, can be augmented further to help
the community. Setting up IIT type institutions and exchange
programmes can also be considered. There is need to make a proper
selection and not go by the recommendations of the big wigs.
As of now the problems faced by the Malaysian Indians are not being
attended to by the Malaysian Government nor does the community have the
economic or political clout to demand their redressal. One wonders
whether the Indians belong to the third major race or to a third class
race in the country. We are not aware what recommendations the High
Power Committee of Government of India ( really high powered with
extensive tours all over the world, five star hotels and lavish
receptions etc) have made for the poorer sections of the Indian
community abroad. Acceptance of the dual citizenship for a selected
class is not going to be helpful either for this hapless lot.
a wish
as malaysian and nothing else, where we all call these our homes, love it
and protect each other and each other homes from any aggressor.
for these,
I HOPE THE POLITICIANS HAVING MADE ALL THEIR WEALTH FROM CORRUPTION LEAVE US
MALAYSIAN ALONE NOW TO LOVE AND BUILD OUR HOMES.
"kingkong" <hah...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:fij930$kp9$1...@mawar.singnet.com.sg...
Choong
what I am trying to convey to you in private, while it is true that UMNO
government is self serving with the NEP nevertheless it must be pointed
out that everyone start up within the same national historical
foundation, there is no one to be fully blame for one's own total
lacking in life and society unless there is something wrong with one's
self or the culture is not following the direction of basic commonsense.
Choong
Lim PE
No mention of tamils' highest ( 33% national average in a '97
study by education ministry done by Fong Chan Onn as mnstr
) dyslexia, or religious taboos ( must not handle beef, or hand
out money after sunset, or change jobs / residence on unlucky
days ) or samsu addiction, or body odour ( unpopular esp in air
con bldgs / vehicles ).
Most in plantations cannot spk any language beside their own,
so are nearly unemployable outside plantations, of course their
mkt values are lower than chinese / malay ( nearly all malay &
chinese tappers do other jobs in afternoons, in farms / factories
/ construction / restaurants ). They want to live with their sacred
cows, no job outside plantations can let them do this, so have
little bargaining power ( cannot even strike ).
Just see how few of them work in construction, cannot even
work in muslim / chinese restaurant, or as cashiers in shops (
even where no beef is sold ) ; must not hand out money after
sunset. No subsidy can change these facts ; they're enslaved by
their religion.
They are the 1s who demand min-wage & social welfare most.
Unless they end their own religious slavery to increase their job
propects, they can only be an underclass.
CKSF
Oi ... tak malu ke?
CKSF
Choong
stagnation, cant change and keep up with times, blame themselves.
Choong
equaliser
> A very correct observation, they are slave of their own cultural
> stagnation, cant change and keep up with times, blame themselves.
>
newsgroups as long as I can remember
Most of the so called 'observation' applies to Malay, chinese,
kadazan, Iban, sakai, jakuns also and most asians.
Agreed Indian has some faults and face problems but not the least due
to blatant racism by Malay controlled govt. and chinese controlled
businesses.
CKSF
It is often too easy to find out who those self-loathing racists are
in this newsgroup.
LimPE has been posting racist views and remarks for years, and funnily
we have Choong agreeing with him.
Gotta love those racists.
CKSF
equaliser
Both racists must be from the same school and stay in the same village.
CKSF
>
And both are ethnic chinese ... and you know how the average chinese
looks upon their Indian brethrens in Malaysia ... this racism speaks
ill for the rest of the chinese community. And I am willing to bet, no
one chinese poster in this group will stand up and be counted
differently.
CKSF
equaliser
Well aware the extent of racism of chinese against other races in
Malaysia. This to a large extent can be blamed on the blatant racist
policies set by the Malay majority controlled govt and the related
institutions. Not saying Indians are not racist but theirs status on
the bottom of the chain cannot do much damage, can they?
Brought up largely with multiracial friends and neighbourhoods, I have
great friends of all races. I am willing to bet the problem lies
squarely and perpetuated by govt policies.
CKSF
I don't think you can justify racism and ethnocentricism by many in
the Chinese community simply on the basis of the blatant racist
policies set in place by the ruling Malays. Far from it. These
policies may have a role to play in perpetuating stereotypes and silly
notions of the Indian community. However, these ideas are pre-
existing.
>
> Brought up largely with multiracial friends and neighbourhoods, I have
> great friends of all races. I am willing to bet the problem lies
> squarely and perpetuated by govt policies.-
Strange you would brought up such a defense - afterall most of us
living in urban areas and suburbs of major cities would have such
multiethnic friends. And yet, many would subscribe to such racist
stance, when given the chance to speak their mind. Surely you would
bet otherwise if non Malaysian chinese, such as those in Singapore, HK
and even Taiwan, would express misgivings on those who are Indians?
C'mon, try to see beyong those "lets blame UMNO" policies. Otherwise,
one will simply wallow in misdiagnosis and misunderstanding of the
complex social make up of this rich and varied nation.
CKSF
Politikus
> Brought up largely with multiracial friends and neighbourhoods, I have
> great friends of all races. I am willing to bet the problem lies
> squarely and perpetuated by govt policies.
Right on. If only the policies are crafted with a little more tactl
and sensitivity.... but again, many policy makers, and worse, their
implementors are often not well exposed, narrow minded and unable to
think out of the box... :-(
<<< Fast Forward Asia <<<
CKSF
Wow ... you agree with racial discrimination as a national policy???
LOL
CKSF