Estimated 99% Indians excluded from and schemes meant for the poor and landless Malaysians

Under Najib’s One Malaysia, an estimated 99% of even the pre-existing Malaysian Indian plantation workers as at Independence were denied opportunities in these Felda, Risda and Felcra (also Fama, the various state government land schemes and later the Agropolitan land schemes).

We are only aware that immediately after independence, only about 1% of the Felda Land schemes were allocated to the Indians. In the last 20 years we have hardly heard of in particular any Indian being granted these land ownerships schemes.

In the latest Agropolitan land ownerships schemes, we have yet to hear of a single Indian poor and landless being granted the opportunities. The UMNO controlled Malaysian government should make public at their websites the list of the poor and landless beneficiaries with their names and other details to prove One Malaysia and non-racism against especially the Indians.
UMNO has never done so as it practices open race-based politics and policies but otherwise preaches One Malaysia.

The aforesaid ‘RM 202.2 Million in dividends to Risda smallholders’ and the ‘90,000 hectares under two (recent) planting schemes involving more than 43,000 settlers’ as stated by Prime Minister Najib and Risda Chairman has obviously excluded an estimated 99% of the deserving poor and landless Indians.

Najib said ‘we want to transform Malaysia into a high income population but this must be planned carefully’ ‘Instead of relying on foreign workers to keep costs low, we want to focus on new ways and activities to raise people’s incomes’. (But again the Indians are excluded.)

An estimated 99% of the deserving Indian poor and landless are excluded from the benefit of this RM 202.2 Million, 90,000 hectares and 43,000 settlers. An estimated 99% of the poor and landless Indians even after 52 years of Independence have been excluded from the national mainstream development of Malaysia so much so that the Tamil papers repeatedly reports that Indian mothers are so poor that they cannot even afford to buy milk for their babies and instead feed them with tea and rock sugar water, stop their children from attending even primary schools because they cannot afford the school bus fare and are so backward and illiterate that they are deliberately denied even birth certificates for their children.

This critical Indian poverty could be solved by the stroke of Prime Minister Najib’s pen if only Najib and UMNO also included these poor and landless Indians on the National Policy and Agenda and include them into the aforesaid land schemes and be transparent about it as opposed to the playing politics using UMNO’s supervisor (mandores) system by creating impressions, perceptions and mere promises as has been done for over the last 52 years of independence. The only difference today that it is now under P.M Najib’s ONE MALAYSIA BUT TWO SYSTEMS.

By Thiagarajan Sasayapillai

450,000 stateless Indians in Malaysia, fact or fiction?

Today it is generally taken for granted that there are good things that people are entitled to have and bad things that they can expect or hope to avoid. A wide, and ever-widening, range of such entitlements and immunities are supposed to belong to everyone, everywhere and at all times, purely as a consequence of our humanity (i.e. of the dignity and respect that are due to us as human beings).Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Article 15 of the United Nations ‘Universal Declaration on Human Rights’ gives everybody the right to a nationality: no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her nationality nor denied the right to change nationality. So any act by a nation of depriving a nationality to her inhabitants, that too up to 4th or 5th generation born must be regarded as a perpetual humanitarian crime.

Hindraf has on many occasions stated that there is an estimated 450,000 Malaysian- born Indians that have been rendered stateless as they have been denied citizenship status by the Malaysian government.
According to the Population and Housing Census of Malaysia 2010, there are 2,320,779 non-Malaysian citizens residing in Malaysia. However the general perception that is given is that this huge number consists of nothing but foreign workers like from Indonesia, Bangladesh, etc. In reality it is suspected that this figure of 2.3 million also includes a large number of Malaysian-born but stateless Indians.

During a series of focused group discussions held Aug 24-26, 2009 at Putrajaya with the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department to review the Ninth Malaysia Plan period and provide recommendations for the Tenth Malaysia Plan, certain participants expressed tremendous distrust towards the official figures presented, particularly those on Malaysian Indians.

An outline paper was presented to the Economic Planning Unit in a special meeting chaired by EPU deputy director-general Mat Noor Nawi on Dec 24, 2009 highlighting citizenship documentation of the Malaysian Indians.

It was stated in the paper that there were no proper records of the cases and assistance seems extended to these Indians to be on an ad hoc basis. It was suggested that the government should undertake a comprehensive survey and document all the Malaysian Indian cases and analyse the root causes for this situation.

It was also suggested to enlist the cooperation of the National Registration Department whereby a focal point is established at the national and state levels, and to also undertake a quarterly review of the situation in order to ensure that between 2010 and 2011, at least 75 percent of the cases could be resolved.

It is already 2012 now and I’m afraid the stateless Indian numbers are still estimated to exceed 450,000.

To prove if this number is indeed fact or to discount it as fiction, one has to trace back to old records and reports of the population census of Malaysia.

Following the data trail
The United Nations had declared 1974 as World Population Year and as such the organization initiated within this framework the preparation of a series of monographs on the past, present and future population trends in various countries.

The Committee for International Co-ordination on National Research (Cicred) was given the responsibility of coordinating the preparation of the monographs. Malaysia submitted its report in December, 1975 which was edited by R. Chander, the chief statistician in the country’s Census and Demographic Division.

In the preface of this report Chander states “the presentation of past, present and future trends in Malaysia in this volume, form a useful synthesis of much of the knowledge accumulated by official censuses. Its value is enhanced by the effort made to demonstrate the relevance of population data for social planning”.

According to Cicred, each collaborating national institutional was commissioned a national monograph on the main dimensions of population growth and composition which serve today as a benchmark for studying demographic change in these countries over the last decades.
In short this report was done in a very comprehensive manner and would have been conducted very diligently. Its figures could represent an unbiased clearer picture of the Malaysian population today.

PROJECTED POPULATION BY COMMUNITY
The future population projection of Malaysia was calculated for each community for the years between 1970 and 1990. It was done based on several established standard assumptions and giving four different projections for each community based on:

Projection A: Fertility constant, 1970-1990.

Projection B: Fertility decline 10%, 1970-1990.

Projection C: Fertility decline 20%, 1970-1990.

Projection D: Fertility decline 30%, 1970-1990.

Based on these four different types of projections, the future population projection of the three main ethnic communities in Malaysia was estimated.

For 1990, the Malay community was estimated to number anywhere between 8,006,849 and 8,985,925.

According to Malaysian’s actual population census carried out in 1991, the Malays numbered 8,521,906. This is well within the estimated range projected by the 1975 reported prepared by Chandler and submitted to Cicred.

The Chinese community was estimated to number anywhere between 4,512,199 and 5,487,349. The Malaysian population census of 1991 gave the figure of 4,623,882. Again well within the estimated range.

The Indian community was estimated to number anywhere between 1,491,949 and 1,660,575. The official census of 1991 counted 1,316,086 Indians. This is very much lower than the estimated range.
Meaning the Indian community was around 250,000-300,000 persons less than the estimated number projected by the chief statistician of Malaysia in 1975. How is that so when he was well on the mark on the estimates of the Malay and Chinese communities?

Chandler was way off mark on the 1990 estimate of the Indian community reported to the United Nations committee. Furthermore the estimate given was for the year 1990 but the official population census carried out a good year after that, in 1991. (Malaysia’s population census is conducted once very 10 years – 1970, 1980 1991, 2000 and 2010.)

Despite the external migration of the Chinese community which was far greater compared with the Indian community, Chandler had still been on target with his projection of the ethnic Chinese population numbers in Malaysia. His projection on the ethnic Indian population figure should by right have been accurate yet the 1991 census numbers fell short notwithstanding the fact that the Indian fertility level was far higher than the Chinese’s.

The answer to this anomaly is very simple.

As of 1991, there were at least 250,000 to 300,000 ethnic Indians who had been denied citizenship status in Malaysia for whatever reasons. That was in 1991. Today after 21 years, that number must surely be more than 450,000 at the very least.

Just try asking any Malaysian Indian that you meet whether they know of anyone among their friends
or relatives who do not possess valid citizenship documents? Chances are, more often than not, their answer will be ‘Yes’. The numbers are that staggering!

At least once a week you will come across articles in the Tamil newspapers about an Indian family or individuals here and there who do not have MyKad and about Indian children who are unable to attend primary school because they have no birth certificate, etc.

Which political party or NGO is truly fighting for these stateless Malaysian Indians?

Which elected representative has brought this matter to parliament or requested for a Royal Commission on this humanitarian crime on innocent, poor people? What have you as an individual done about this?

Written by Dr Paraman Subramaniam

STATELESS- UNDOCUMENTED INDIANS

"Being said ‘No’ to by the country where I live; being said ‘No’ to by the country where I was born; being said ‘No’ to by the country where my parents are from; hearing ‘you do not belong to us’ continuously! ….. Being stateless, you are always surrounded by a sense of worthlessness.” - Lara, formerly stateless

Nationality is a legal bond between a state and an individual, also known as citizenship. A stateless person is a person who is not considered as a National by any states under the operation of its law. A stateless person then, is someone who does not enjoy the legal bond of nationality with any state. In effect, a stateless person is a non-national in every country in the world. The above definition of statelessness has been codified in the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Person (article 1).

According to the Federal Constitution, a child born in the country becomes a citizen by operation of law only if one parents is a citizen or permanently resides in Malaysia at the time of his or her birth or if he or she “is not born a citizen of any country.”

Article 14 of the Federal Constitution, Second Schedule, Part 2, reads:
Citizenship by operation of law of persons born on or after Malaysia Day,(1)(a) “every person born within the Federation of whose parents one at least is at the time of the birth either a citizen or permanently resident in the Federation,“ (e) “every person born within the Federation who is not born a citizen o any country.”

Malaysia has yet to sign the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugee.

However, Malaysia has signed the Convention for the Rights of Child (CRC) and Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), albeit with some reservations.

Statistics indicate that Indians in Malaysia comprise 7.8% or 1.8 million of the 23 million total populations. For several generations, the Indian community resided in rural areas, especially in the rubber and palm oil estates managed by large plantation companies. These plantation companies not only provided them with jobs but also took care of their social and cultural needs i.e. housing, school, temples and health care. In 1970, 47% of the Indians were engaged in agriculture of which 74% were in the plantation sector.

However, due to the rapid industrialisation program undertaken by the government, many of these estates were developed into industrial, commercial and residential areas. Employment in rubber plantations declined from 163,577 in 1979 to 11,788 in January 2006. From 1980 to 2000, it is estimated that more than 300,000 Indians were displaced due to the development. The magnitude of Indian displacement from rural plantation areas to urban areas can be seen from the official reports. In 1970, 323,435 Indian (34%) were in the urban areas and 609,194 (65.3%) in rural areas however by 2000, 1.33 million Indians (79.7) were in urban areas while 341,622 (20.3%) continued to live in the rural areas.

Despite the very large number of people involved in this involuntary stream of migration and with full knowledge of the traumatic impacts of this displacement will have on these people, sadly little or nothing had been done to prepare them for this new environment or to have a holistic transition program in order to equip them with the necessary skills to resettle this community in more sustainable and improved livelihoods. They are now forced to look at alternative ways and means to survive. However, with no proper education or skills, they ended up taking the lower-rung jobs in the cities and having to compete with the migrant workers.

These people are by birth Malaysians, but due to their lack of knowledge and awareness of the importance of such documents they are now in a state of limbo as to their citizenship status is uncertain and are at the mercy of the authorities who could due to bureaucratic reasons deny them their citizenship right. It is sad that in this day and age, there are many people who are not aware of important basic facts, such as how to register a marriage, birth or death. It is estimated that there are around 40,000 Indian children in the state of Selangor alone who do not have their birth certificates . Similarly, based on the number of cases we received at our 10 community centres from 2003 – 2006, we estimated that at least 20,000 Indian women do not have identity documents . These figures could be much higher if their children are taken into account. Therefore, they become ‘stateless’ in their own country and as a result they been denied of protection and care as a citizen of the nation state, and thus vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

One of the other reasons for this issue based on our finding is due to the refusal of some men to own up to their responsibility when the child is born out of wedlock. In other cases the non-registration happened because some parents do not register their child’s birth within the prescribed14-days mandatory period or after that because they fear of being fined or reprimanded by the National Registration officials. As a result their children grew up without proper identification documents. Hence, the consequences are far reaching as children were unable to attend school or get proper medical attention.

An adult without proper documents can't secure a proper job or get married legally. If he or she does get married without their marriage certificate and have children, chances are that their children's birth will not be registered. As a result the children are neglected within an environment that is not suitable for living or is less favourable than their peers. As a result they often lack the opportunities for development in accordance with their age; such as the opportunity to receive formal education, the opportunity to be safeguarded by the national health care system, the opportunity to work in safe and just positions (leading to labour exploitation), and the opportunity to legally travel out of their residential area. These children often become targets and fall victim to criminal gangs or enforcement officers such as the police and RELA; they become trapped in a vicious cycle.

Similarly, because they are illiterate or lack education, they are unable to converse fluently in Bahasa Malaysia. As a result, they are unable to communicate effectively with government officials and face difficulty in understanding their bureaucratic procedures and requirements. Therefore, they are often subject to rude treatment by these officials which causes them to be demoralised and give up their efforts to complete their application. This has led to serious problems for these poor Indians and the cycle of “quasi statelessness” repeats itself after their children grow up and start families.

DHRRA Malaysia has taken effort to identify the stateless or undocumented Indians in Malaysia. Among the efforts taken are, DHRRA Malaysia has conducted many workshops in order to train the community leader, as they are much closer to the community and they will be able to identify the stateless people. DHRRA Malaysia has been very vocal in highlighting this issue in every available avenue. DHRRA Malaysia was also invited to contribute towards 10th Malaysia Plan by the Economic Planning Unit, Prime Ministers Department. During these sessions DHRRA Malaysia highlighted on the issues of the stateless people, how these stateless people will benefit or will be taken into account in 10th Malaysia Plan. DHRRA Malaysia has been involved in this task since 2003. DHRRA Malaysia and other NGOs are trying to minimise the problem by raising awareness among the community of the importance of applying for birth certificates early and assisting these undocumented Indians to apply for their legal documents. DHRRA Malaysia has also established good rapport with the National Registration Department (NRD) wherein NRD has been very cooperative in resolving the undocumented issues. The 2011 data at DHRRA Malaysia, shows 2099 number of cases have been collected since Jan to 15 Jul 2011.

According to DHRRA Malaysia’s experience, among the reason for not having legal documents are:
1.Lack knowledge on the importance of legal documents
2.Ignorance
3.Administrative or procedural problems
4.Financial problem
5.Inter – religion marriage
6.Marriage to foreign spouse (no legal marriage)
7.No proof of birth
8.Illegal Adoption
9.Child abandoned without proper documents
10.Child born out of wedlock


Case Study:

Vasudevan Subramaniam
Vasudevan Subramaniam was legally adopted by a couple at the age of 1 year from the government welfare home in Johor Bharu. He did not have any legal documents. His adopted parents managed to get his birth certificate but at the age of 12 when the parents took him to get his identity card, Vasudevan was given a red identity card which is known as “Permanent Residence”. Now Vasudevan Subramaniam is 19 years. Till date he is still unable to get his citizenship. His adopted parents have made several applications but all were rejected. Due to this he is also unable to apply for an International Passport to travel to overseas with his adopted parents.
Being born in Malaysia, having lived in a government welfare home, adopted by Malaysian parents and studied in a national school but being denied of nationality. Vasudevan Subramaniam has been classified as Stateless.

Muniammah & Family
Madam Muniammah is 60 years old. She was born in an estate in Kuala Kubu Bharu. She does not know where her siblings are, as she was married off at the age of 11. Her husband was an alcoholic and did not care for the family. Muniammah has 4 daughters. The husband left when the children were still young. Muniammah tried to register the birth of her children but could not do as she herself did not have any legal documents. Now her daughters are of the age between 30 – 36 years. The worst part, Muniammah daughter’s has children of their own. In this family alone we have 3 generations of stateless people.

Norhashima bt Abdullah
Norhashima was sent to government welfare home with a court order when she was a few months old. She grew up in the government welfare home, which till today has her records. She went to a national school. The welfare home did apply for her birth certificate and her parents details are not in the birth certificate due to that, Norhashima is also classified as stateless. Norhashima is 27 years now, the only identity card that she has now is a green identity card, which recognises her as temporary resident in the country where she was born and grew. This identity card has an expiry date as well.

Tan Ming Siang & Tan Ming Haw
Tan Ming Siang and Tan Ming Haw are bothers. They both were born in Malaysia. They were born to a Thai mother and Malaysian father. Tan Ming Haw has a birth certificate but in his birth certificate it is stated as ‘Bukan Warganegara’. Tan Ming Siang’s application is still in process. Both their parents were not legally married. Since they are not legally married, both the children are not recognised as citizens of this country. To make situation worse, both of them were stopped from attending school as they are stateless.

These are some of the sample cases which are in limbo; it is doubtful if these people will be recognized as citizens of this country. According to the current policy these people will not be recognized as the citizen of the country.

Governments Effort In Eradicating Statelessness among the Indian Community

•The government has taken some effort by setting up the Special Implementation Taskforce on Indian Community (SITF) under the Prime Ministers Department. SITF initiated MyDaftar campaign from 19 Feb – 4 Mac 2011. SITF manage to collect 14, 882 cases.
•The National Registration Department has also been very cooperative in handling the stateless issues.
•The Prime Ministers Department has also provided allocation to various NGO’s to identify and assist in eradicating this issue.
•The government has also launched many media campaign.


All the above effort is appreciated but there is nothing much done on policy matters. Only with policy amendment can the issue of stateless Malaysians can resolved.


SUHAKAM’s Stance on the Stateless People

SUHAKAM has issued many statements on various stateless groups. However there has not been much effort taken in eradicating the issue of statelessness.

SUHAKAM in its capacity should conduct a study with the help of NGO’s working on these stateless people and provide policy recommendations to the government.

Accede to and implement the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Lobby to the government on the basis of Child Rights Convention, that every child should have access to education.

Whither the Indian community?

Their votes may be pivotal in the 13th GE but they are a species under threat and the future looks dim unless concerted efforts are made to safeguard their future.


Najib Tun Razak was a beleaguered politician at the Thaipusam celebrations at Batu Caves on Feb 7, 2012. Many listened intently as he appealed to the Indian community of largely Tamil descent to place and put their "Nambikei" (trust) in him.

This was not a whimsical appeal. In the run up to the last general election, towards the end of 2007, the Hindraf episode was the wake up call to Umno-BN that their long held sway and hold on Malaysians was now to be put to a stern test.

A much maligned BN tottered virtually on the edge of defeat and only just managed to stave off the effects of a political tsunami. The lessons of that episode still rankles in the minds of BN leaders and they are aware that the Indian votes in the 13th GE could prove decisive to both sides of the political divide.

The Indians are savouring their moments of glory and greatly relishing the overtures of Najib’s “Nambikei” and have even cheekily requested for a two-day Deepavali holiday. The BN views them as prime voters whose votes they want to build upon to maintain their grip on power, and later, as envisaged, to firm up and tighten this grip once more as before.

While the Chinese community appear to have all but deserted the MCA and Gerakan to opt for DAP, and the Malays are skewered three-ways between PAS, PKR and Umno, the Indians are being wooed by BN as Pakatan appear to have offered them not much so far.

Can and should Indians put their trust in the call of the prime minister? Perhaps it is up to each individual Indian voter to do some soul searching before casting their precious vote, as much is at stake and they should certainly not play their cards wrongly.

The Indian community is under much stress and things are not looking up for them right. Their future is in limbo and this is due to a number of factors. But the community should learn to sit up and pay heed to where they are heading in the quagmire of the currently changing Malaysian political landscape.

Dwindling population
Long considered the third largest ethnic group in Malaysia, the community’s dwindling population needs to be addressed or they will see themselves being eclipsed by persons of Indonesian origin as the third largest race in the country.

In the past, if the community had any difficulty, it was the exceedingly high birth rate. The birth of large numbers of infants in an Indian family caused much hardship and deprivation to them.

This was especially true among the families working and residing in the rubber plantations in the rural areas. While in the past this population explosion was viewed with concern, now it is the declining birth rate among Indians that is of concern.

Falling birth rates among Indians have reached alarming proportions. Indians constitute only 9% of the population of the nation as opposed to much higher percentages in the last few decades.

Wither the Indian community in Malaysia? This certainly means that Indians as a race have in all probability been displaced as the third major component or racial group with the influx of Indonesian immigrants.

There are a number of factors that have led to the Malaysian Indian population dwindling. The most important is that the strength of their economic status has been downgraded, causing them to either not marry or have few children in the event they are married couples.

Another important factor is the emigration of highly qualified and educated individuals, who have left Malaysia for greener pastures. Their departure along with their families in tow has resulted in the Indian population to dwindle further.

What is now becoming a bigger worry is the number of Indian youth who are opting to stay single or tying the knot at much older ages, usually well past their prime and causing the number of childless marriages among Indians to go on the rise.

While the Chinese community has addressed this problem by forming Cupid Clubs to play matchmaker and get single Chinese men and women to court and marry, the same measure may have to be adopted by Indian groups representing the community.

The formation of Cupid Clubs have resulted in a greater number of marriages taking place within the Chinese community. The Indian groups can also play a similar matchmaker role among single Indian men and women.

Wake up call for Indians
While the Indian community needs to repopulate itself, there is also a dire need for them to reinvent themselves in the sphere of economic activity so as to gain a larger share of the economic pie.

While on this front, several groups representing the interests of the Indian community have taken upon themselves the role to empower Indians by creating business and educational opportunities, the momentum needs to be sustained and to grow much further.

The admission of Indian students to public and private institutions of higher learning in this country has also witnessed a drastic drop in numbers. The reluctance of a growing number of Indian youths to secure a sound education and a brighter future is now glaringly evident.

Instead, what is happening is that Indian youth are more likely to be associated or linked with criminal and underworld activities, with Malaysian jails housing large numbers of Indian prisoners in ratio to the numbers of their population.

This has caused the socio-economic status of the Indian to downgrade rapidly. There is a need by Indian groups representing and leading the Indian community to be more watchful and vigilant and to steer Indians, especially Indian youth, in the right direction.

While all is not lost, the Indian community needs to wake up to the challenges of a globalised world or they will only have themselves to blame for becoming failures in their own country.

The need is urgent and pressing that Indians in Malaysia not go into a time warp but be aware that they are a species under threat and in all likelihood may not count or favour anymore as voters or as an important ethnic group in the years to come.

It is therefore imperative that Indians rise up and answer this wake up call to pull the community out of the doldrums and to strive to contribute in a greater and more meaningful and impactful way towards building a better Malaysian society.





Christopher Fernandez

The writer has been teaching and writing throughout Asia since 1984.

MIC’s subservient and self centered support for UMNO has eroded the basic human rights of Malaysian Indians

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk S.K. Devamany supported the proposed race Relations act by referring to incidences such as the Kampung Jawa temple demolition and the Interlok novel controversies which have been could have been avoided. He further added we must understand that Malaysia is a multiracial country and we want to preserve unity in main stream newspapers. The examples Devamany gave seem to be puzzling. Is the Race Relations act just to avoid minorities and victims from voicing their grievances?

Race Relation Act is needed to eliminate racial discrimination in public and private sector employment, entrance to university and matriculation levels, open tender in government procurements and providing equal opportunities in employment.  At the same time, the government needs to set up a Race Relation Commission which is made up of all races in Malaysia.  This act will also outline the mechanics and methodology in implementing the Race Relation Act.

Instead of giving the above mentioned reasons for supporting Race Relations Act, Devemany is giving the examples of Kampong Jawa temple breaking and interlok novel as reasons why Malaysia needs a race relations act. The Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, along with the squatter settlement of Rimba Jaya, was demolished in 2007 by the then BN-led state government as part of its Zero Squatter programme. The kampong Jawa temple breaking in November 2007, infuriated the Indian community to revolt against the BN government which lead to the loss of 5 states to PR and the denial of 2/3 majority in parliament. The introduction of interlok novel upsets and irked Malaysian Indian parents who persistently campaigned against the novel till the government withdrew as school text book.

Before introduction Race Relations act the government must remove all discriminative policies and practices. All race based political parties must be disbanded. All higher education institutions for exclusively one race must be converted into multi racial institutions where students of different backgrounds meet and mingle with each other. Without preparing the ground for such open and inclusive interactions amongst all Malaysians, race relation act will be another peaceful assembly act.

From the incidences referred by Datuk Devemany, as reasons for introducing race relations act, the intent and purpose of Malaysian race relations act looks sinister and restrict Malaysian human rights and not to provide equal rights. With MIC henchmen like devemany around UMNO will wipe out what ever little space the minorities have.  Malaysian Indians must resolve to wipe out MIC from the political scene once and for all to redeem their dignity and pride as citizens of this country.

Senator S. Ramakrishnan

PM Najib Has Split and divided the Indians

Malaysian Indians were the loyal supporters of MIC/BN with high hope of being uplifted from their socio economic quagmire due to the induction of NEP. The New economic policy introduced in 1971 had deliberately blocked and hindered the progress of Malaysian Indians. To overcome the effect of NEP blockage MIC ventured into setting up their own educational institutions like Tafe, AIMST etc and set up their companies like MAIKA holdings. MIC went to the Indian community for financial support to set up these institutions. The poor community in good faith gave them whatever they had. But MIC cheated, betrayed and let down the community which became poorer. But MIC continued to give hope without any results. Finally in March 2008 the community dumped MIC.

   

Having lost all respect and faith of Indian community, MIC lost the confidence and trust of UMNO. To UMNO, MIC can no more deliver Indian votes.  After the 2008 election results the Prime Minister Datuk seri Najib tun Razak took it upon himself to win the Indian votes. In fact he is the defacto leader of Indian community. The prime minister in his personnel capacity reached out to the various groups like the sikhs, Malayalees, Telegus, temple of fine arts (TFA), divine life soceity (DLS) etc and MIC just prod along to show that they still matter. He gave handouts directly from his office. 

  

The prime minister has recruited a personal assistant for Indian affairs who report directly to him. MIC leaders now have to go through him to reach the prime minister. MIC has become just a show piece without any power to decide on the Indian community. Besides the Prime minister has created other Indian bases to work along BN like the chamber of Indian traders, Makkal sakti group, Anwar discard Nallakaruppan, PPP, IPF, new party called justice party etc. MIC has become irrelevant to the Indian cause and their local leaders at district level are remnants of samy velu era. They are just runners of UMNO warlords. 

The prime minister has successfully split and divided the Indian community so much so that they have no say at all in BN. He guards UMNO and Malays from getting divided and no new Malay based party is admitted into BN. But for Indians more groups are welcomed and he will give the party leaders cash handout generously. As in the past the biggest problem of Indians in this racially segregated country is political leadership. The Tamil political leadership has failed to lead the masses. A few trusted leaders have let down the community in the past. Now we have trust deficit on Indian leadership by the Indian community in Malaysia. BN is struggling to redeem its relevance to the current political expectations of Malays and Chinese. Can the Indian community come up with their assessment of the political development and their position? Can we as a community send a message to the national leaders? 

   

The vacuum and opportunities has made many unworthy candidates vying to fill in the leadership position. Unless the educated and dedicated Indians come forward we may be worse off in the changing political landscape in Malaysia. Our future is in our hand. Can we stand up and be counted?

Senator S. Ramakrishnan

THE MALAYSIAN INDIAN IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM - KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY PROF. DATO DR. C.P. RAMACHANDRAN

Welcome to the Millennium Conference for Malaysian Indians.

The theme of the Conference as you would have no doubt noted is 'Rebuilding Our Community'.

More than a year ago a few of us were discussing the incident in Kampong Medan and were deliberating the big question of how marginalised Malaysian Indians had become.

And after some discussion we felt that part of the cause for the dire straits of the Malaysia Indians has been the relative non-involvement of the middle class Indian in the effort to help the impoverished and marginalised Indians in the country.

THE CONTEXT
That a wide chasm exists today between the middle class Malaysian Indian and the working class Malaysian Indian is an undeniable fact. It is also a reality deeply rooted in the history of Indian migration to Malaysia, euphemistically referred to as "labour" and "non-labour" migrations. The former category primarily refers to the bulk of migrants brought under the dreaded Colonial indentured system succinctly encapsulated in the Colonial administrator Sir Thomas Hyslop's famous phrase: "We want Indians as indentured labourers not free men"

The non-labour migrants refer to the "literate" Indians brought in to man the administrative and clerical and security services. K.S.Sandhu in his seminal work on Indian migration to Malaya, best describes the genesis of the middle class - working class chasm as follows:

"Once this movement of literate Indians to Malaya began, many more emigrated from the same localities, and found employment on plantations and in other private enterprises where the employers found them invaluable assistants in dealing with Indian labour"

"Invaluable assistants in dealing with Indian labour" is the operative phrase. Herein lay the roots of the mindset of the middle class Malaysian Indian of today. A mindset steeped in sublime ignorance and blind arrogance, even to the point of denying the very roots of our common genetic and ethnic heritage. A mindset that readily identified with the ruling class to subjugate and lord-over our downtrodden brethren. This same mindset persists today in the way we view ourselves.

However there is a big gap in the way others view us. It is of no consequence to other Malaysians that we have Dravidian, Aryan or any other esoteric roots; or that we come in many shades of colour. To them - we are just Indians!

In this beautiful multiethnic nation of ours, we have been and are, either the object of envy or the subject of denigration- more often than not, the latter. The microscopic minority that has achieved the riches desired by all and sundry, remains miniscule and withdrawn from the mainstream of daily problems faced by the toiling underclass majority. In between we have the not so significant middle class that wallows in its illusion of grandeur and is equally divorced from the problems of the vast majority. All this is rooted in history. We need to understand everything in the historical context before we can even begin to comprehend the enormity of the challenges that we have to address if we are to remain a meaningful component of the Malaysian polity in the new millennium.

A SENSE OF HISTORY
Without a sense of history any community is condemned to a time warp of ignorance and inaction.

The saga of the Malaysian Indian is steeped in centuries of civilisational hegemony - from the 1st to the 13th century as socio-cultural and religious "rulers" and in the 19th and 20th centuries as the politically and economically "ruled".

The Indian provided the civilisational foundation during the early centuries of the first millennium for all ASEAN member nations, except Vietnam and Philippines. Thus the historians reference to "Indianised States of South-East Asia" or "Greater India". Lest it be forgotten, it is the Indian civilization that provided the political, social, religious, cultural and administrative leadership for this region. Historians Rawlinson and Winstedt described this era as India's all but total cultural contribution to Southeast Asia, from the first to the fifteenth century. After a lapse of a thousand years these contacts were resumed but in less creditable form. Indians did not return to Malaya as representatives of a prosperous maritime nation but as indentured labourers from a land subject to alien rule. (C.Kondapi: Indians Overseas, 1951)

It is a historical fact that the successors of Greater India transitioned into the "cannon fodder" of the Colonial powers in the 19th century. In Colonial Malaya they were the economic slaves of the British, be it in the plantations or the administrative urban centers.

This position was somewhat maintained in post-Independence Malaya and Malaysia. Whilst there was some upward mobility to professional and middle-class ranks, this was largely confined to sub-ethnic groups that had the initial advantage of English education and that, which placed a high premium on education.

The majority of the Malaysian Indian has been mired in a proletarian under-class status. In 1957 almost 70.4 percent of the Indian labour force was in the rural plantation and mining sectors, 24.2 percent were employed in government agencies mainly as labourers, 3.6 percent in transport services and 1.8 percent in manufacturing. In 2000, 15.1 percent remain in the agriculture sector whilst 62 percent are in the manufacturing and services sectors. This fundamental shift from primarily rural work "tapping rubber" to the urban work of "soldering chips" and "driving lorries" is a reality that needs to be recognized. Is there really a difference between the fetid, unending estate environment and the inhuman squalor of the urban squatter colony?

THE PROBLEM STATED
The socio-economic problems faced by the production-service worker of the 21st century are not much different from that experienced by the indentured labourer of the 19th and 20th centuries. The setting has changed but the problems have not.

They are very real- the low educational achievement, the social inequities and the lack of political or economic clout. This is best seen in the high dropout rate, the high crime rate and the dependence on political and economic handouts.

Indians feature highest in all of the negative statistics.

" The second highest infant mortality rates.

" The lowest life expectancy rates- 67.3 years compared to national average of 71.2.

" The highest school drop out rates best seen in the data that only 5.0 percent of Indians reach the tertiary level compared to the national average of 7.5 percent.
[And to top it all, just recently we have openly declared to the world that our students cannot make the cut under the newly introduced system of meritocracy for tertiary intake!]

" The highest incidence of alcoholism, that cuts across all classes. Alcohol it seems is the greatest leveler of class distinctions.

" The highest incidence of drug addiction in proportion to population.

" The highest number of prisoners in proportion to population.

" And we are told that the largest number of gangs is now Indian gang and that 60 percent of serious crimes are committed by Indians.

These are depressing statistics. But is it all bad news? Not really.

Indians constitute 15.5 percent of professionals in the country.
This includes doctors (28.4%), lawyers (26.8%), dentists (21%), veterinary surgeons (28.5%), engineers (6.4%), accountants (5.8%), surveyors (3.0%)and architects (1.5%) and Scientists. There are also an increasing number of businessmen in the Indian community. The Sindhis, Gujeratis and Punjabis have been formidable businessmen, as are the Indian Muslims.

There are Indian contractors, road builders, oil and gas suppliers and contractors and we are all aware of the Indian who built up a telecommunications, media and gaming empire and the Indian who built one of the fastest growing ports in the country, as well as Scientists and  Doctors who has reached highest positions. Then again these high achievers are more than likely to be the descendants of the "non-labour" migrants of yore.

INDIAN CONTRIBUTION TO NATION BUILDING
It is undeniable fact that Indians have contributed to the building of this country since the 19th century. This is sometimes forgotten.

Indian labour opened up the country. Indian labour opened up the forests, established the rubber plantations, built the roads, railways, set up the transmission lines, built the ports and airports.

Indian civil servants formed the core of the civil service and the medical service. Indian veterinarians looked after animal husbandry. Indian teachers formed the backbone with the missionaries of the teaching service. Indians pioneered private education in the country. (e.g. my father)

But this was at a high and often untold cost to human rights and dignity.
Hundreds of thousands of Indians died because of disease and hardship. In the building of Port Klang alone more than 500 thousand Indians died of malaria.

The 1957 Federation of Malaya Census Report succinctly summarises this point as follows:

"The important characteristics to note about Indian migration to Malaya are that, firstly, the great bulk of this movement has been of an ephemeral character, with approximately 4 million entering and 2.8 million leaving the country between 1860 and 1957.

Secondly, much of the 1.2 million net immigration appears to have been wiped out by disease, snake-bites, exhaustion and malnutrition, for the Indian population of Malaya in 1957 numbered only 858,615 of which 62.1 percent was local born."

The invaluable contribution of the Indians appears to have been forgotten. But some have remembered. In 1975 a local born Indian known by his initials SAJ wrote this unpublished Ode to the Indian Working Class and I quote:

"We tapped the rubber that beautified your homes,
We built the roads that produced your bountiful economy,
And now we live in non-descript squalor.
You pass us by and snigger at our sub-human status,
Not in the least realizing how our blood, sweat and tears,
Contributed to the comfort and the opulence,
You now enjoy!"

Whilst others may choose to forget, Indians should not forget. Indians also played a role in the fight for Independence and in the fight against the communists. It is sad therefore to contemplate the dire straits the community is in today.

The object of this conference is to bring all Malaysian Indians, irrespective of language or location from India into a common forum to discuss the Malaysian Indian dilemma and to examine what role we can each play in helping the community at large. As our numbers continue to decline, in a relative sense, we appear to become less and less relevant. In 1957 we constituted almost 12 percent of the population. It is forecasted that in the year 2020 Indians will only form 6.4 percent. The implications from the political, social and economic dimensions are self-evident. Perhaps in the Census of the year 2050, we may even be classified as "Others"! ( A real possibility)

ROLE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS
In a society where race determines opportunity the Indian is at a severe disadvantage. All Indians must now become involved. The problem of the Malaysian Indian community is our problem as well. We must acknowledge it. It is our problem because the displaced, alienated Malaysian Indian working class individual that gets embroiled in crime and other socially unacceptable practices is not going to discriminate on the basis of ethnicity in targeting his next victim. He is just as likely to rob our homes or kill us as he would others. Why should he discriminate in our favour when we have not done him or his family any favours?

We cannot like the proverbial ostrich pretend that it is someone else's problem. It is ours and ours alone. This is precisely why we need to build the bridges of social inclusion.

We are all Indians. Whatever the precise shade of our complexions or shape of our noses, those outside the community perceive us, as Indians. We should not be ashamed of belonging to the Indian community. We have a common value system born in the cradle of the Indian civilization. We come from one of the oldest civilizations in the world and this behoves us to carry ourselves with dignity and distinction.

NEED TO ADOPT THE LEARNING PARADIGM
The adage " knowledge is power "is often used, but what does it really mean to the individual and the community?

We can only be categorised as mindless robots if we repeat platitudes but do not attempt to understand the real import! Worse still if we do not put to use what we acquire as information and internalise it as knowledge for the betterment of self and the community at large.

Pursuing knowledge for the sake of knowledge is indeed the domain of philosophers in the Socratic tradition. Theirs' was a cerebral exercise - to expand and extend the limits of logical thinking and to postulate on the intricacies and the vagaries of life. They had their utility in providing the intellectual tradition for the human civilization.

We can't all be Plato or Aristotle, but we can certainly use the information available in this wondrous, yet daunting, era of the information society, to upgrade our knowledge and skills to make ourselves better human beings.

For this, we have to rise above the level of textbook knowledge. We have to stop gloating that we are educated, we are professionals, what have you…

To be called "educated" one needs to translate the knowledge acquired to strive for a higher and higher quality of life in the spiritual, intellectual and of course the material dimensions.

It is so very easy to escape into the world of social snobbery using our so-called professional -cum-educated status in society. However, deep in our souls we know, it is certainly most difficult to be recognised as a truly educated person.

It is not the paper qualifications, but the possession of the mindset to constantly strive for knowledge and thus a better understanding of the rapidly changing world, that qualifies one to attain the humble membership of the society of the educated.

Thus as a community we need to adopt a learning paradigm. Let us cast aside our false pretences, our flawed assumptions and our predisposition for myth making. That should be the start to opening up a whole world of knowledge for the larger good of the community.

In my humble opinion, the Malaysian Indian needs to rediscover the passion for learning and the thirst for knowledge. Then from a civilisational perspective, Malaysian Indian community can reconstruct the glory of past millennia and become meaningful players in the Malaysia of the new millennium.

WAY FORWARD
The reason for this conference is to establish a coherent framework of action to guide individuals, groups and institutions to bring to bear resources, to first resolve the inimical problems and second to build a spirit of self-reliance.

It is only through a sense of history can the Malaysian Indian see himself or herself as a person of self-worth and self-reliance. The achievement of this state of consciousness can only come about if the Malaysian Indian middle-class, unprecedented as it is, takes the bold step to actively build bridges to engage the under-class majority. We cannot afford to continue be polarized along the axis of opposition between productive, information-rich, affluent groups and impoverished groups that are economically devalued and socially excluded.

In my view to be socially and economically excluded is unfortunate, but to be "included" and not do anything about it to benefit the society we live in, is blatantly criminal. We all have important and invaluable roles to play. We need to target segments of the population to bring about "hubs of learning" to facilitate innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Value creation that results from this will contribute to economic development.

Let us do it in small yet meaningful ways; mini-projects in schools, places of worship, homes, and community centres. What is required is a total effort by all sectors of society. Sustainability in implementation of programmes and projects is critical.

Getting people involved in the process of transformation is key. It must be people-driven. Of course people must want to change. We cannot afford to subscribe to the view that one NGO's, one political party's or one government agency's approach is the panacea for all problems. Blind arrogance should not be allowed to control the way we need to respond to challenges. History should not be allowed to repeat itself.

Can we not learn some lessons from our chequered history in this land of milk and honey? Surely as individuals we need to first make the commitment to life-long learning. Second, we can make someone, somewhere information-rich by sharing our tacit knowledge, on a daily basis. The true meaning of prosperity for Malaysian Indian in the new millennium can be an abiding reality, if we can all make this commitment today. The paths to prosperity begin with you!

CONCLUSION
If as a community we do not want to be marginalised to occupy the "exalted" positions on the periphery of society, we need to make a positive start by understanding the basis of the real problems and challenges. Then and only then will our future be secure.

This indeed is a unique moment in history to rise above the petty prejudices and ignorance and to take actions that will ensure the Malaysian Indian a rightful place in the Malaysia of the new millennium.

It is battle for the hearts and minds and it must begin with the self-realisation that it is "our problem", not someone else's. We can mobilize the resources if we have the vision and the will to change our mindset.

Finally, I hope that cognizant of the aspirations of all other Malaysian communities, you would conduct your deliberations in a constructive and objective manner.

In this regard, I would like to share with you the words of wisdom given to us by none other than the late Indian philosopher par excellence, Dr.S.Radhakrishnan:" We may become learned and skilled, but if we do not have some kind of purpose in our life, our lives themselves become blind, blundering and bitter. For a truly cultured mind, there is a single-mindedness, a dedication to a single purpose. For the uncultured mind, the whole life is scattered in many directions. Therefore it is essential that the education you acquire should give you not merely learning and skill but endow you with a definite purpose in life. What that purpose is, you have to define for yourself".

As for today and tomorrow, it is my fervent hope that you would single-mindedly focus on charting the course for the advancement of the Malaysian Indian in the new millennium.

THE MALAYSIAN INDIAN IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM:

KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY PROF. DATO DR. C.P. RAMACHANDRAN

UMNO’s Institutionalized racism – a curse we all need to rid this nation of.

                                           

Racism as defined by Stokely Carmichael and Charles V Hamilton in their seminal book “ Black Power” in 1967 is still very applicable 40 odd years on and here in Malaysia. Their definition of racism is “ the predication of decisions and policies on considerations of race for the purpose of subordinating a racial group and maintaining control over that group.” Racism they go on to add is both overt and covert. Acts by individuals they call individual racism is overt and acts committed collectively, they call institutionalized racism is less overt, and in most instances covert.

The first type , individual racism is the sort we see in the likes of utterances of the School Heads, Senior BTN officials and the Mufti of Perlis and the most recent case of a former police PIBG head taking 6 Indian students to the police station who were interrogated for 10 long hours because they rejected the racist book “Interlok”. This type of racism can be easily captured by reports, by the phone or other cameras and displayed in the youtube, in blogs and such other devices and generally it is brought out by acts of commission. There is generally more public condemnation of this type of racism.

The second type, institutional racism is less overt, is subtle, but systematic and many orders of magnitude more pervasive. It is less identifiable in terms of specific individuals committing the acts. This second type originates in the operation of established and respected forces in society and is far less recognizable and it generally receives little public condemnation.

When scores of Indian youth are killed in custody, there is little uproar, for after all they are the scum of society. When there is widespread statelessness among the Indian poor, too bad these stupid people do not know how to take care of themselves, that is their damned fault. When in desperation Indian individuals and families perish in suicides there is public sympathy and derision at the same time for the dead but not the acknowledgement of the impact the system has had on them. When the primary schools that Indian children go to are in shambles, well they have a choice to go the national schools don’t they. This is after all the natural order of things..is it not, so argue the beneficiaries of the racist system.

Institutionalized racism manifests itself in oppression of multiple forms within every sphere of social relations – economic exploitation, political subordination, cultural devaluation, psychological violation,verbal abuse, police harassment, etc. These operate so normally and naturally and are so much part of the existing institutions of our society that the common people are barely conscious of their operation. Casual racial prejudices have over time transformed into a systematized and codified ideology and practice of racial subordination.

Najib, however in his UMNO general assembly speech on the 15^th of October 2009 said, “If Malays are truly racist as alleged we would not have compromised on the cultures of other ethnic groups being practiced here……..We would also not have allowed vernacular schools to be established, …..The true meaning of racism would be like apartheid as previously practiced by South Africa..”.

So, Najib the leader of the beneficiaries of the system denies the existence of anyhting like institutionalized racism?

To answer this let us take Najib’s suggestion and compare with what existed in the Apartheid regime of South Africa which no one will argue was not a prime example of institutionalized racism.

Here are some key features of South Africa’s Apartheid (Apartness) system:

1) A central feature of the Apartheid rule was the categorization of all the South African People into Whites, Coloreds, Indian and Blacks – their Bangsa. Everything else was built on this categorization.


2) Using this racial categorization it decided where each category of people lived, who they married, who they had sex with, where they worked and how they moved about.


3) The Group Areas Act of 1950 partitioned the country into areas allocated to different racial groups. Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 created separate government structures for blacks and was the first piece of legislation established to support the government’s plan of separate development in the Bantustans


4) They segregated education, medical care, and other public services on the basis of this racial categorisation .


5) They all had to carry Identity cards which indicated their “Bangsa” so to speak.


6) They had the apartheid laws – The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949, Immorality Act of 1950, The Population Registration Act of 1950 and so on. And they had laws of repression. Laws such as Suppression of Communism Act of 1950, The Public Safety Act of 1953 and the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1953, The Riotous Assembly Act, The Terrorism Act to name a few of the notorious ones.


7) To oversee the apartheid implementation, the bureaucracy expanded, and, by 1977, there were more than half a million white state employees.


Blacks were not allowed to run businesses or professional practices in those areas designated as “white South Africa” without a permit.


9) Each of the 4 categories of South Africans had their own education system.


Now let us look at comparative situations in the Malaysian rgime:

1) A central feature of our system is also our categorization into Bumiputras, Chinese, Indians and Others from birth to death.Everywhere we go we have to declare Bangsa, Ugama – at birth, at school registration, in all the applications we make, at marriage, at death and in many many more situations.

2) Large areas of most cities and towns are segregated not by law, but by practice and without the need for such segregation laws. Clear example is in Penang the Island is mainly populated by Chinese, and the Malays mostly prefer to live on the Mainland. In Shah Alam it is mainly Malays. In Seremban it is mainly Chinese in locations like Seremban Garden, and Malays in Ampangan or Paroi areas. In Kuching you have South and North Kuching for the Chinese and the Malays. In practice but not in law.

3) In several housing areas State Consent is required if one wants to sell the property especially if it is in a predominantly Malay area. It is quicker to get consent for inter Bumiputra sale than it is for a sale across the Bumiputra /Non-Bumiputra divide. Again in practice but not in law.


4) Malaysia has repressive laws like the Internal Security Act to put away who UMNO considers to be trouble makers without having to go through the court processes, the Official Secrets Act to blot out all decisions made by the UMNO controlled Administration from public view, The Printing Presses and Publications Act to control the print media from publishing too much anti UMNO news, The Seditions Act to shut people up from speaking up againts UMNO policies – to name a few of the repressive laws that helps maintain the current regime.


5) The bureaucracy is entirely made up of largely one ethnic group , Bumiputras – eight hundred thousands of them, all implementing UMNO Policy. The Police force is almost entirely Malay, the armed forces are almost entirely Malay. The judicial system is almost entirely Malay. The public Universitieis are almost entirely Malay. The GLC managements are entirely Malay. Again in practice but not in law.


6) Most Government and Government linked businesses are off limits to non- Bumiputras. There is a complete system of screening vendors that limits vendors to almost entirely Bumiputras.


7) Business licences are largely awarded to Bumiputras or must have mandatory minimum Bumiputra participation – Bank Licences, Educational Institutions Licences, Permits in the Transportation businesses and so many more.


8 ) Participation in all government development schemes are entirely for Bumiputras – MARA, FELDA, FELCRA, RISDA, PERDA, KESEDAR, KEJORA to name a few. In practice but not in law.


9) Educational opportunities in Public Educational Institutions are grossly in favour of Bumiputras.


10) Cross religious relationships between Non muslim Malaysians and Muslim Malaysians is a complicated affair, especially if a problem develops along the way.

If we consider these two sets of situations it is apparent that there are significant number of similarities between the apartheid system and the Malaysian system created, developed, finetuned by UMNO from 1957 to 2011. The key difference seems to be the lack of ambiguity in the South African expression in all its laws. In Malaysia a lot of the racism is in practice not in the law. To any right thinking person it is so obvious, the racism that underlies our daily life. Therefore it is really audacious for Najib to say UMNO is not racist – the party that is responsible for this terrible state of affairs. He is in a terrible state of denial still..

Allowing the practice of cultures of the Indians or the Chinese in Malaysia or allowing Chinese Medium and Tamil Medium schools in Malaysia, or of allowing the use of Chinese and Indian names does not in any way define the character of the regime in Malaysia. Allowing all this actually now becomes convenient argument for UMNO to take everything else away, it seems. It is the structure of the economic political system that defines the character of our system. And it is blatantly racist.

I do not say the Malay people are racists. I am saying that UMNO, the political party is. It is indeed a blue blooded racist party – the entire cause for the racism that is so rampant in Malaysia.

Racism is “the domination of one ethnic group over other ethnic groups on the basis of some claimed superiority”. In South Africa – White Supremacy, In Hitler’s Germany – the Superiority of the German race, In the British Empire – the Civilizing Burden of the White Man, in Malaysia, Ketuanan Melayu or Malay Supremacy.

Do we need to say more.

Let us all wake up and in solidarity fight this curse of institutionalized racism. We have no choice if we all Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dusuns, Muruts, Dayaks want a vibrant prosperous and robust nation in Malaysia.





Naragan
HRP.com