Doesn't Bangsa Malaysia include Indians?

Article by : Naragan

If one thinks that just by using the catchall Bangsa Malaysia slogan one becomes a Bangsa Malaysian is being naïve and delusional. For the Liberal Malay and for the vast majority of the Chinese citizens of the country maybe they are at a level of social development where this makes most sense as the next thing on the continuum of their needs.

For the vast majority of the Indians in the country however, their needs are totally different . What they need now is simply better basic education, equal opportunities for employment, better access to skills training, better basic living conditions, equal opportunities to start small businesses and most of all the elimination of an apartheid like color bar, which our colour blind Bangsa Malaysians just plain refuse to accept..

See what a Bangsa Malaysian commented on a recent debate on the formation of yet another political party reprinted from the Malaysia Today Blogsite

“written by bluefire, April 26, 2009 16:19:52

In the land of the stupids, the " " is king!

Malaysia Boleh, oops, Melayu boleh, Cina pun boleh, India lagi boleh!

I wish I knew what these bums are fighting for? Duit pun tada, toddy juga minum, itu bir dan toddy punya wang, siapa punya. Anak pun tada pergi sekolah, Anak pun tada makan. Isteri lagi kena hentam. Tapi itu bir sama toddy juga minum.

Eh, Mindraf Anna. I am interested to know if your party supports the abolishment of alcohol. Anna, I want to challenge you to ban toddy la. Baru saya respect sama Anna. Itu bir punya company ada kasi wang sama lu ka? Sekolah pun tada bumbung, tapi itu toddy mesti ada. Bodoh! “

This was painful for me to read, but this writer has said it all. What does Bangsa Malaysia mean to the Indian stereotyped in that comment. Plain nothing…..understand…. plain nothing.

If our country is to do justice to the Indians and come clean of the sins of exploitation of the Indians in this country then what the ruling elite needs to do is to urgently establish an affirmative action program in the areas indicated above to accelerate the social development of the Indians in the country where they become truly equals. Then maybe Bangsa Malaysia may mean something at that point. Affirmative action is needed now just to equalize for the injustices done to them systematically both during the colonial period as well as in the ensuing fifty odd years to today.

They did not and do not yet have any institutional support nor support from any community network to aid them in their development. They were and are left to their own meager means.

Given the history that just plain means self destruction. The results of that we see unfolding now … a clear criminal underclass developing, high suicide rates, high school dropout rates, young boy runaways, high incidence of single mothers, high unemployment, high incidence of alcoholism and more. All of this simply leads to self destruction of a large section of a community.

So, now you tell me “Does Bangsa Malaysia include Indians”