Malaysian State failed the ethnic Indians, pushing them to the brink

Malaysian State Failed The Ethnic Indians: Pushing Indian M'sian to the brink

The government has ignored all letters, memorandums and petitions
appealing for action to be taken on the following: the sale of the
estates and plantations for development thus neglecting the welfare of
estate workers and their families, change in ownership rendering
temples illegal, demolition of the temples without consideration, rise
in crime and gangsterism amongst youth, limited university places,
difficulty in getting business loans and high-level corruption. More
issues can be added to this list.


Pushing Indian M'sian to the brink

http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/76022
Anak Desa | Dec 13, 07 5:08pm


The police have run out of ideas to assuage the anger of Indian
Malaysians after the Nov 25 incident at Batu Caves. The force is
playing tit-for-tat with Hindraf in response to P Uthayakumar calling
the police "terrorists" for pushing the crowd back into the Batu Caves
compound, sealing the temple gates and firing tear gas and chemical
water.

It is pathetic for the police to say that they would have allowed the
petition to be delivered to the British embassy when they have
obtained a restraining court order against Hindraf's key organisers.
In fact, the police had tried to lock them up over the weekend but the
astute and far-sighted Klang court judge saved the day.

By linking Hindraf to terrorists, the police are further testing the
waters and pushing Indian Malaysians to the brink. The authorities and
the government is not showing much interest in identifying and solving
the issues affecting the community. The ruling politicians must
understand that the government of the day is the Barisan Nasional
coalition, not Umno alone. People voted for the politicians under the
BN banner, not for individual parties.

The government has ignored all letters, memorandums and petitions
appealing for action to be taken on the following: the sale of the
estates and plantations for development thus neglecting the welfare of
estate workers and their families, change in ownership rendering
temples illegal, demolition of the temples without consideration, rise
in crime and gangsterism amongst youth, limited university places,
difficulty in getting business loans and high-level corruption. More
issues can be added to this list.

Before the situation worsens, the government must "turun padang" and
understand the issues affecting Indian Malaysians who has been
unwaveringly supporting the government from 1956 to today. It was a
stupid mistake on the part of the Shah Alam city council for not
considering the impending Deepavali celebrations before demolishing
the temple. The officers by ignoring S Samy Vellu's pleas reflects the
local authority's arrogance towards the minister.

Last but not least, the government must show that it has the people's
welfare at heart. Both short term- and long-term plans must be put in
place to overcome issues affecting the Indian community and all
Malaysians, particularly communities that are economically-disadvantaged.