MALAYSIAN Indians are faced with many issues related to their livelihood, economic situation, education and welfare. Unfortunately, many issues are still not resolved despite the change of governments a few times, says Datuk M. Baskaran, a social activist and chairman of non-governmental organisation Malaysian Thalapathy Narpani Mandram.
“Sad to say, these problems are not taken seriously by our leaders, whether our own community or the government.”
He adds that the issue of citizenship is also important.
Datuk M. Baskaran
“Earlier, during the time of Barisan Nasional, a campaign [MyDaftar] was launched to identify the genuine cases of those who were deprived of their citizenship rights.
“I think quite a number of them were found to be eligible. But after the change of government, nobody talked about this.
“The Pakatan government promised to issue citizenship within 100 days of coming to power but they too forgot about the problems faced by the Indian community,” says Baskaran, referring to the Pakatan Harapan government that won the 2018 elections but lost power after 22 months.
Education is a priority for parent-teacher association chairman Murugu Saravanan.
“Whoever is going to form the next government, this is my only request. Please don’t let us beg for anything. Give us our rights. Our children are not given opportunities in public universities. The matriculation issue is neverending.
“Why deprive them of their rights?”
Adds Murugu, “Don’t give us empty promises during elections. This has been the way of politicians in this country. Sweet talk during election campaigns, but promises are forgotten after winning. Take my word, this time around it’s going to be different.”
Jobs are a concern for businessman S. Maruthithasan.
“Government jobs not for us? Or is there a quota system? Even if there is, I don’t think it is being filled. The next government should make sure that not only government jobs but other ongoing issues are solved as well.
“For decades we have faced these problems. But why no positive actions taken so far? As far as I am concerned, the rich are getting richer, but the poor are getting poorer. The imbalance in the system needs to be rectified,” says Maruthithasan.
The next government also needs to deal with inflation, he notes: “Inflation is high. Prices of goods are threatening the poor. Even the middle income group is suffering now. How are the B40 (lower income) people going to cope with this?” asks a social activist from Batu Gajah, Bala Narayanan.
“The concept of the Malaysian Family should reflect in the actions of the government.” – Malaysia Nanban/Media in Arms
