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MY FATHER, Senator Tan Sri Athi Nahappan, a Cabinet minister in Tun Hussein Onn's government, died 32 years ago.
On April 4, 1976, one month before he died, he spoke at a dinner held by the Penang MIC. 'The government is now concerned with the eradication of poverty among all the races,' he said.
'In solving poverty we should not think of Malay poverty, Chinese poverty or Indian poverty,' he insisted. 'There can only be one poverty and that is national poverty, which must be solved regardless of race.'
Recent months have clearly shown that the MIC leadership has failed dismally in its duty to ensure that the Indian community has equal opportunities. In fact, the MIC has totally neglected to address the desperate conditions faced by large sections of the Malaysian Indian community:
Indians make up less than 3 to 4 per cent of the students in public universities.
- Indians comprise less than 1 per cent of those studying nursing in various government nursing colleges.
- Indians have comprised less than 2.5 per cent of the annual intake at teacher training colleges.
- Indians have received less than 1 per cent of scholarships awarded by government and government-related bodies.
- Less than 1 per cent of those training as officer cadets in military colleges are Indians.
- Indians have accounted for less than 2 per cent annually of those undergoing training as police officers.
- The situation in the civil service is more appalling. One can walk into any government department and be hard-pressed to find an Indian or Chinese in the clerical and administrative sections. At the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in Kuala Lumpur, out of 400 staff, there are only two Indians and three Chinese.
- The KTM (railway), which was a traditional source of employment for Indians, now recruits less than 3 per cent Indians on an annual basis.
- Malaysian Indians account for less than 1 per cent of the listed corporate wealth of the country.
The MIC and the government originally maintained a state of denial about the genuine issues raised by Hindu Rights Action Force. Now they have softened their positions and distributed a token largesse, including declaring Thaipusam a public holiday.
Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, we do not want a public holiday. What we want are jobs and equal opportunities.
While the Indian diaspora all over the world has progressed, the Malaysian Indian community has regressed and is today in a worse state than it has ever been.
In the 2004 election, many of us put our trust in Pak Lah. Alas, nothing has changed or will change with the current leadership.
Without employment opportunities, Indian thugs roam the streets. In January, an Indian lady with two young children was decapitated for her gold necklace in Taman Sentosa. In Johor Baru, the sister of a well-known Singaporean author (Catherine Lim) died as a result of her head being bashed in by armed robbers.
Communalism continues to be perpetrated by keris-wielding Barisan leaders. Families have been devastated by officers retrieving the bodies of their dead kin in the name of religion. Communalism has spread to schools, colleges and universities. This is a sad situation and does not bode well for Malaysia.
I decided to stop being an armchair politician and do something. I am here because I believe that our nation is on a slow but steady path to irreversible ruin. Our people will not have the chance to prosper unless we all realise the necessity of each and everyone of us standing up to say: No more!
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