{"id":4801,"date":"2013-04-10T15:05:58","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T07:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/?p=4801"},"modified":"2013-04-10T15:05:58","modified_gmt":"2013-04-10T07:05:58","slug":"monopolizing-indian-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/monopolizing-indian-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Monopolizing Indian Future?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Charles Santiago<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Hindraf\u2019s\u00a0illusion is dangerous and nonsensical. I am referring to its unyielding stand that the DAP\u00a0Gelang\u00a0Patah Declaration\u00a0is\u00a0plagiarized\u00a0from\u00a0Hindraf\u2019s\u00a0manifesto.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s commendable that\u00a0Hindraf\u00a0has come up with a manifesto to uplift the socio-economic status of ethnic Indians.<\/p>\n

But other Indian based organizations such as\u00a0the National\u00a0Indian Rights\u00a0Action\u00a0Team\u00a0(NIAT)\u00a0have\u00a0put forward\u00a0a-68-page exhaustive\u00a0Indian empowerment plan and policy\u00a0reforms to uplift the\u00a0Indian community.<\/p>\n

Clearly, Hindraf is not the only organization working towards the empowerment of ethnic Indians.<\/p>\n

\u00a0But the insistence by\u00a0Hindraf\u2019s\u00a0leaders that the DAP Declaration copies\u00a0Hindraf\u2019s\u00a0aspirations for the Indian community only goes to show their ignorance about the long-standing grievances faced by the minority community.<\/p>\n

During the 1999 election, a group of NGOs under the umbrella of the Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC), first put forward a\u00a0political\u00a0document\u00a0entitled\u00a0\u2018Demands of Indian Malaysians: For a Better Future\u2019. It was\u00a0endorsed by\u00a0political parties such as DAP, PAS, PRM, PAS\u00a0and\u00a0KeAdilan\u00a0(now PKR).<\/p>\n

Thus the aspirations of the Indian community are not a monopoly of any one group and there is\u00a0enough room for all to\u00a0contribute in the struggle.<\/p>\n

I started working with the Indian community, and particularly the plantation workers, from the early 80s. The Indians were largely poor, did\u00a0not have the necessary skills\u00a0to survive in an urban environment and\u00a0marginalized\u00a0in terms of education, employment and business opportunities.<\/p>\n

We fought alongside the Indians for the implementation of a minimum wage, the right to Tamil education and to have their inherent rights met.<\/p>\n

We fought for better infrastructure in Tamil schools and higher intake in universities, among other issues.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2013, nothing much has changed under Barisan rule.<\/p>\n

Malaysian Indians are facing the same dilemma. The Malaysian Indian Congress, which was then the self-proclaimed custodian of the community, took it upon them to look into the welfare of the Indians.<\/p>\n

The MIC\u2019s many schemes, including\u00a0Maika\u00a0shares, to uplift the community ended in disasters. Their only feat was successfully disengaging the Indians from the decision-making process of the government.<\/p>\n

Hindraf\u00a0leaders must bear in mind that many of the leaders in Pakatan\u00a0Rakyat have been working with the Indian community long before\u00a0Hindraf\u00a0was even formed. We understand their issues and are not strangers to their aspirations.<\/p>\n

Some of the points raised in the\u00a0Gelang\u00a0Patah\u00a0Declaration were already\u00a0raised in Pakistan Rakyat\u2019s\u00a0manifesto. The Declaration itself is a work in progress.<\/p>\n

My party, DAP, has put forth the\u00a0Gelang\u00a0Patah\u00a0Declaration to PKR and PAS. We will reach a consensus as deliberations are currently underway.<\/p>\n

The PR state governments of Selangor and Penang have provided millions of\u00a0ringgits\u00a0in support of\u00a0Tamil schools including computer labs.<\/p>\n

Money has also been given to temples and\u00a0other\u00a0programs including interest free small business loans and programs for single mothers.<\/p>\n

Pakatan rakyat has walked the talk although more needs to be done. \u00a0However delivery aspects of these programs can be more efficient.<\/p>\n

But the structural problems facing the Indians can only be addressed in a comprehensive manner with the commitment of the federal government.<\/p>\n

Given what Hindraf claims to represent, its natural ally would be Pakatan Rakyat. As such, it would be prudent on the part of\u00a0Hindraf\u00a0leaders to stop acting like children.<\/p>\n

We are not at war with each other here.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Charles Santiago Hindraf\u2019s\u00a0illusion is dangerous and nonsensical. I am referring to its unyielding stand that the DAP\u00a0Gelang\u00a0Patah Declaration\u00a0is\u00a0plagiarized\u00a0from\u00a0Hindraf\u2019s\u00a0manifesto. It\u2019s commendable that\u00a0Hindraf\u00a0has come up with a manifesto to uplift the socio-economic status of ethnic Indians. But other Indian based organizations such as\u00a0the National\u00a0Indian Rights\u00a0Action\u00a0Team\u00a0(NIAT)\u00a0have\u00a0put forward\u00a0a-68-page exhaustive\u00a0Indian empowerment plan and policy\u00a0reforms to uplift the\u00a0Indian community. Clearly, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[274],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}