Indians in general are fixed in interpreting and responding to situations. The political situation in this country, as it refers to the Indians, is a case in point. The country has seen 50 years of independence. The Indian voters have been faithful to MIC and Barisan Nasional and cast their votes to make the ruling party the boss. For the voters who are in the know will answer, yes, I voted the Government for continued peace and harmony. Most of them are aware their rights in education, employment, economy, and social conditions were slowly being strangled. But they do have a roof over their head and they are employed, not in some high posts but enough to manage. The children go to school and most of them study hard but ambitions of going up the ladder to a professional level is restricted unless of course you have savings or get a scholarship to enter university. It is ok, after completion of studies, my children will be employed, not the same type of employment the children dreamt about but something to have sustenance. So, vote the incumbent.
Another group is not bothered, either Ravana or Rama it is the same. They keep on living. This has been the plight of the Indians in general.
Not very long ago, April 2007, Ijok by-elections came by. At this time the Indians were at the tail end of their patience at the difficulties the Government was forcing them to go through. Thanks to the Badawi administration, free flow of thoughts and opinions were rampant, a group calling itself Hindraf was going around the country appraising the Indians of what they were missing out etc etc. There was awareness. The difficulties were not on an individual basis but common to all Indians. The Indian voters in Ijok who numbered 21.8%, should have send out distress signals. No, semua-nya OK, their votes went to Barisan. Now wait, this is the interesting part. Did they not vote in an Indian, K.Parthiban and surely will he not speak out on our plight and correct matters. Correct, correct, correct. It was not to be. There was an element of procedure in this country followed by all the 14 component parties in the ruling coalition. UMNO rules, the other parties make up the numbers. What UMNO says is black the other nincompoops shout in unison it is blacker than black. This type of chorus singing is a unique feature of our Malaysian politics. UMNO says the economy is flourishing even when the share market is topsy turvy, and America is doing the dance of desperation. In Malaysia semua-nya OK, the economic experts lead by Badawi, know the magic word to revert to normal. Of course they will not share with America the magic word it is copyrighted. As to the other leaders in the component group, they will now advise the people to invest everything you got in the share market. That is how it goes.
Let me revert back to the Indians. So Ijok went by and the Indians too fleeted by. Sewing machines swung the votes somebody said. How I asked? A measly 200 machines for the Indians. Count they said, 200 houses times number of occupants in the house. Yeah I said, maybe that’s a lot.
November 25 2007 was a day to remember. The organisers never expected any earth shattering results, but Hindraf wanted others to know what ails the Indian community. The Government responded wrongly, resulting in all Malaysian people and the world being aware of a local problem. Arrests and detentions were the order of the day, Hindraf was becoming a common name in the conversations of all Malaysians. Two months have gone by. Talk is cheap and realising this Samy Vellu becomes very voluble, we have done this and that, and in the future the Indians will be this and that. This and that sounds soothing but without any tangible results to show, the words become superfluous.
The Prime Minister was gracious enough to declare Thaipusam a holiday, in Kuala Lumpur and Puterjaya. He had a good reason to say why he acquiesced to this, jams, yes traffic jams. Samy Vellu should study the traffic patterns in Kedah and Malacca if he wants these two states to declare Thaipusam as a holiday.
Next is the Batu Caves crowd for Thaipusam. The Indians have reacted to show their displeasure and in a way their mindsets are changing. Good luck and keep it up. The Indians want a strong Government and I can’t imagine anything besides BN ruling Malaysia, but what is wanted is check and balance, without the ruling party going overboard.
The Indian voters have the responsibility of being “King Makers” and this responsibility is only meaningful if they vote the opposition to have a fair Government where all, Indians and the rest of the country feel it is their only country and not of any particular group. Is this not what democracy is about.
