A Malay’s perspective on HINDRAF’s plight

As a 50 something Malay who grew up in the estates during the 60′s & 70′s, I have many friends from the estates. Although I was from a poor family, with the assistance of the government I was able to move myself up the ladder to a comfortable position today.

Firdaus Alam, a former estate boy

I have been following the HINDRAF movement for some time since pre GE12. They have risen against the tide of Malaysian politics to address various issues ranging from statelessness, education, employment, institutionalized discrimination, forceful religion conversion etc.

In the beginning after their rally in 2007, like many Malays, I was upset with their allegation that the Malaysian Indians have been treated unfairly in Malaysia.

Do the Indians hate the Malays? Impossible!!!

Malays have a closer cultural affinity to Indian Malaysians than to Chinese Malaysians, to be honest. Well, from my point of view anyway. Malays don’t have any qualms eating at an Indian restaurant, but do you see many Malays eating at Chinese restaurants? So from a Malay man’s perspective, I was confused with the statement from Hindraf that the Malays are marginalizing and discriminating the Indians.

Then there was the allegation by the Malay media spin doctors that they were connected to LTTE and therefore are aggressive towards the government to create havoc in a stable country like ours.

As I started reading more of HINDRAF since their rally, I began to understand their movement better. I found out that they had sent over 3,000 memorandums to the government on the plight of the poor Indians prior to their rally which was to no avail.

Then they did an eye catching act by initiating the law suit in Britain to catch the attention of the government as it had spread like wild fire in the international scene.

This is when I realized that they were seeking attention to address the issues that the Indians appear to be hoodwinked or sidetracked due to political interests and are not, per se, against the Malay community.

As usual the Indian parties within the BN coalition discarded them as a nuisance and the government followed suit by further sidelining them without even listening to their plight.

As a 50 something Malay who grew up in the estates during the 60′s & 70′s, I have many friends from the estates. Although I was from a poor family, with the assistance of the government I was able to move myself up the ladder to a comfortable position today.

In retrospective of my yesteryears, I began to enquire about some of my Indian friends from the estate. Many had dropped out after Form 3 & Form 5 without continuing their education due to their parents’ financial (dis)ability although I must admit some of them were indeed cleverer than I. Even the Tamil school in my estate looks the same as it was 40 years ago.

After the HINDRAF leader resigned from his position, I had the opportunity to go through their MOU with BN and noted that their demands seeking to streamline the statelessness issues affecting the displaced estate workers, their well-being, increasing educational opportunities as well as employment and business opportunities appear to be a fair demand for them.

Oh, yes!!! I always have a favorite tag line amongst my Malay friends, “Nothing wrong with the Indians, look at AK and TF. They are symbols of Indian success in the country”.

Actually, I used to argue with my friends that they are only looking at it in a superficial manner because it is obvious Hindraf is fighting for the poor Indians, not the urban, educated, middle class or rich Indians and similar ones in other races but the bottom 60- 65% who live in small towns, rural areas.

Another indicator that I always reflect on is the number of Indian beggars, homeless ones, suicidal rate and the increase in gangsterism amongst the Indians compared to the 70′s & 80′s. Why is there such a sharp increase over the last 30 years? Do we even question this or rather conveniently ignore it?

I believe it is these Malaysians that Hindraf fights for when the other communities contemptuously shun them as a societal sore even when they are Malaysians!

Another spin that has been created by the Malay media is that the Indians are encroaching into the rights of the Malays. I think this is bullshit. I think what the Indians are seeking is a piece of the cake in the nation – not the whole cake; therefore, the other stakeholders like the Malay and Chinese need to understand their plight and work with them to address it.

Obviously, the Indian political parties in BN are ineffective as they had let this segment of our community slide down the scale in the development of the nation.

Now, after the resignation of the HINDRAF bloke from the government, it appears that the Malay media has gone on spin again. I fail to see why the Malay media is trying so hard to influence the Malay readership when reasonable and sensible Malays in the street are aware of the problems faced by the Malaysian Indians.

In all fairness, I think the request made by HINDRAF to lift our fellow Malaysian Indians is a fair one.

The Malay politicians in this country need to come to their senses and think more objectively rather than playing politics in protecting their useless allies by running away from their responsibilities to ensure the well-being of the Malaysian Indians who also happen to be our brethren.

As for my Malay folks out there, many of us came from a rural settings and have been fortunate that the system has been helpful for us to progress in our lives. It is about time for us to view things beyond just fluttering the eyelids and acknowledge that something needs to be done to improve the state of the Displaced Estate Workers and their generations.

Thank you.