This is the first of a series of articles which will be released heading up to the Polling day and beyond. The articles are targeted towards Malaysians in general and Indian Malaysians specifically.
The main purpose of these articles will be to set a standard of reference for what needs to be done to uplift the Indian poor. Along the way, the articles will also try to give Hindraf's perspective on why the MOU has been chosen as the way forward.
Much has been said about the signing of the MOU, and a lot of what was said has been in the realm of conjecture as well as emotional reactions to the signing. Hindraf finds the reactions understandable, though it does not share them, which should be just as understandable to the reader.
Indians make up 7.3% of Malaysia's population according to the Department of Statistics.
We all know that except in crime statistics, Indian Malaysian do not have a 7.3% share of any cake in this country, be it as a part of the annual budget for education, or job opportunities or business licenses.
If the fact that Indian Malaysians are usually allocated about 1% of the total annual education budget (excluding higher learning) seems fair to you, then read no further. But if it seems a tad unfair, then ask yourself this question: How can this be challenged, and changed?
The same applies to all areas where the Indian Malaysian citizen has been excluded from, or has been deprived of.
How can this unfair state of affairs be challenged, and changed?
This does not only apply to the areas which fall under the control of the federal and state governments, but also in the private sector. As a quick exercise, imagine yourself to be an Indian Malaysian youth, of between 19 to 22 years of age, who is looking for some suitable part time or temporary employment. Now go to a popular job site like asiaparttime.com and see for yourself what percentage of the hundred odd new jobs advertised on that site daily will even accept an application from an Indian Malaysian like you.
The only area where an Indian Malaysian is automatically an equal to any other citizen in this country is when it is time to vote. An Indian vote is counted as one, just as a Malay or a Chinese vote is.
And it is from that position of equality, namely the vote, that Hindraf challenges and changes what is wrong, to what is right.
Now, some of you may say that it is the individual that determines his or her success in life, and not the circumstances that surround the individual's particular race.
To this, we ask you to do another simple mental exercise. Give away all your possessions, empty your bank accounts and liquidate your investments, sell your properties and start from zero. But before you start, also burn your birth certificate and diplomas and degrees, destroy your passport and mykad and driving license. Once you are standing there with no document which identifies you as so and so, with no money or wealth, with no right to apply for a bank account or a driving license, to make a police report when someone assaults you and leaves you for dead, no means to obtain medical care in even a government clinic, no right to marry or have children, unless you want your children to share your fate, no way to enroll in school or apply for a job, with no right to property or security.
Once you stand there just like a stateless Indian Malaysian does, please show us how you will achieve everything you have achieved so far in life.
Even Einstein would have become a beggar, if he had been born as a stateless Indian Malaysian in this country.
This brings us to the first point from the MOU which we will address.
Statelessness among the Malaysian Indian poor shall be addressed by the following programs:
i) Identify all Stateless ethnic Indians as ethnic Indians without Birth Certificates and Blue Identification cards and those with Red Identity Cards.
ii) Develop Common Sense and transparent proposals to address the problems of Malaysian Indians who claim to have been born and raised in Malaysia but who do not have any documentary evidence whatsoever of their birth and residency.
iii) Develop policies including those that may allow defined local persons of repute who are given official standing to issue Statutory Declarations conveying their opinion that a said stateless person was indeed born and raised in their locality in Malaysia.
iv) Develop streamlined and transparent policies to resolve the large problem of all persons who only hold Red Identification Cards.
v) Differentiate a system that can differentiate legitimate from non-legitimate citizenship applications from ethnic Indians in Malaysia.
vi) Ensure that the common sense and transparent proposals developed should strictly adhere to the provisions of the Federal Constitution.
Point number three simply means this. A retired headmaster, or some other figure of local repute, can make a Statutory Declaration, which can lead to the stateless Indian Malaysian being released from the nightmare that is his nameless condition.
Now, we issue a real challenge to the reader who believes that Pakatan Rakyat is the salvation for Malaysia. Can you guarantee that Pakatan will at least match the criteria listed above, and eradicate the problem of the stateless Indian Malaysian once and for all?
We in Hindraf are not interested in your curses or your personal attacks. The people that lead and make up Hindraf are fighters, and we will take full responsibility to hold Barisan Nasional to what has been agreed in the MOU. What we are interested in is whether all of you who believe that there exists both the political will and moral backbone within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition to address the question of statelessness among the Indian Malaysian, to hold Pakatan Rakyat to the same standards by which we in Hindraf now hold Barisan Nasional.
If you cannot see the pragmatism that is the basis for the question above, then let it be forever beyond you. But if you understand the import, are you then prepared to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring that Pakatan does what is right? If your answer is no, then please find other matters to occupy you, and leave the task of bringing the Indian poor to the mainstream development of Malaysia, to those that can.
Hindraf Economic Unit
Memorandum of Understanding between Barisan Nasional and Hindraf – Part 2
By - Hindraf Economic Unit
The purpose of this series of articles is to set a standard of reference for what needs to be
done to uplift the Indian poor in Malaysia.
A large percentage of the Indian poor cannot vote for themselves, as they are stateless. For
a majority of those that can vote, bread and butter issues are what matter, and not whether
car prices will come down after the election. Hindraf represents their voice, and is morally
and ethically obligated to do what is best for the marginalised Indian poor.
A message is now being sent out to the Indian poor in this country. In that message,
probably for the first time ever in his life, the marginalised Indian Malaysian will see a clear
statement of intent with regards to improving his condition by one of the two coalitions
which are vying for his vote and support.
For a start he will be shown the following:
BN and HINDRAF, in:
Recognizing that there has occurred a transition of the vast majority of Malaysian
Indians from plantation estates to towns and cities over a period lasting
approximately 4 decades, and,
Recognizing that this was not directly and adequately addressed by Government
policy and implementation, and,
Now desiring to correct the chronic socio-economic problems that have resulted in a
comprehensive and permanent manner, etc…
Is that the best “apology” in the world? Not by a long shot. But, it is the only apology he
would have received so far that also brings the promise of hope into his life and that of his
children. We can say with certainty that none of the developers who displaced the Indian
estate worker, or the people who purchased the properties built on the land the estate
worker was displaced from, would have gone out of their way to apologise to him.
There would have been no greater betrayal that the displaced Indian poor could have
suffered than if Hindraf had turned down BN on his behalf.
For the pro Pakatan Malaysian voter who cannot stand the thought that Hindraf has thrown
the full weight of its support behind BN, fret not, there is a way to counter that move, if not
in the coming polls, then in the one after.
The MOU spells out the following key points with regards to uplifting displaced estate
workers.
For the purpose of the Blueprint, ‘Displaced Estate Workers’ shall be considered as
synonymous with ‘Low-Income Indian Households’ and shall be defined for the purposes
of policy formulation and execution as all Malaysian Indian households, earning less than
RM3,000 in 2013(hereinafter referred to as the "Target Group”).
The MOU states that the overall objective of the program will be to double the mean
monthly family incomes of all Malaysian Indian families earning less than RM 3000, base
lined in 2013, by the end of 2020.
There will also be programs to retrain and reskill displaced estate worker youth.
The program will provide easy and attractive placements with appropriate financial support
for the displaced youth (Target group) into 176 GIATMARA centres and 78 community
colleges across the nation.
After retraining, placement services will be provided for jobs and internships in Government
and GLC’s.
For the youth who wish to start a small business after retraining, TEKUN or a program
similar to TEKUN will be set up to provide support.
If you are a pro Pakatan voter, and you no longer want to hear the name Hindraf even in
your dreams, all you will have to do is make Hindraf irrelevant, it is as easy as that.
This can be achieved if you are prepared to ensure that Pakatan Rakyat will at the very least
match the programs and work towards the objectives which are being listed in this series of
articles.
If you are prepared to put the effort to formulate concrete steps to uplift the Indian
poor, address the issue of statelessness and solve it once and for all, increase educational
opportunities from pre-school to University as well as increase employment and business
opportunities for the target group, so much so that the marginalised Indian Malaysian
becomes only a memory, and becomes fully integrated into the mainstream development of
Malaysia, then Hindraf will also become a memory.
When you can get Pakatan to bring down car prices, fuel costs as well as abolish toll charges,
uplifting the Indian poor should be a piece of cake, shouldn’t it?
While we in Hindraf would love to wait with bated breath while Pakatan Rakyat and its
supporters get around to uplifting the lot of the Indian poor, there is a small problem that’s
in the way of us doing just that.
Hindraf knows first –hand that the needs of the marginalised Indian poor are not an abstract
matter. It is a real need, and it exists in real time, for a part of the population who are as real
you are, dear reader. What is unreal is the pain and suffering that they have to endure as
their daily lot.
That knowledge makes it impossible for Hindraf to wait for anyone to get their act together,
so forgive us while we forge ahead while you explain to the Indian poor why abolishing toll
charges is going to turn his life around.
Hindraf Economic Unit
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