MIC rebranding to stay relevant

Having seemingly lost its lustre of the past, the party is now aiming to make up for lost ground and rebuild its support base.

REPORTERS covering MIC’s annual general meetings back during the party’s golden years will recall the enthusiasm and energy exuberated by party leaders and members in the events.

The highlight would always be the address of the party’s maverick president, the late Tun S. Samy Vellu, who would motivate, chide, share anecdotes and even sing Tamil classics in his rousing speeches.

Sadly, the party seems to have lost its lustre of the past, with gloom descending on MIC after the 2008 general election in which most of its key leaders, including Samy Vellu and his then deputy Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, were ousted.

But not all hope is lost, according to central working committee member L. Siva Subramaniam, who says the party is rebranding in its representation of the Indian community “in totality”.

“That is why we are fully committed to the Mahkota by-election in Johor and have launched our election machinery and operations centre in the constituency,’’ said the aide to the current party head Tan Sri S.A. Vigneswaran.

He said MIC, after today’s AGM, will set about to appoint coordinators for all state and parliamentary seats that was traditionally held by the party, as well as in constituencies with a high number of Indian voters.

The top priority, he said, was to establish the party’s presence in these constituencies so that MIC will be fully prepared to battle its way through in the 16th General Election.

Siva Subramaniam said it was also Vigneswaran’s vision to strengthen the party’s assets and boost its educational arm, the Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED).

One of the first things to be done is to move out of the present MIC headquarters in Jalan Rahmat, Kuala Lumpur, to a rented office space at the National Land Finance Co Operative Society (NLFCS) building in Jalan Sultan Sulaiman for the next five years.

“During that period, the MIC building will be demolished to make way for the construction of three tower blocks,’’ said Siva Subramaniam, adding the party had bought two plots of land adjacent to its headquarters for the purpose.

The first tower will be the new MIC headquarters, the second will house the MIED and the third will be leased out as commercial units, he revealed.

“We will also be opening an AIMST College in Petaling Jaya sometime in November to offer courses that the AIMST University in Kedah does not,’’ he said.

Vigneswaran was reported to have said that the proposed AIMST College will offer courses in collaboration with other universities to provide students with a wider choice of academic courses to pursue.

AIMST is a private university established by the MIED, the education arm of MIC, offering majors in medicine, science and technology.

The move to emphasise on education is perhaps a very well thought out strategy given that the Indian community has strongly believed that education is the only weapon to pull it out of the socio-economic doldrums.

Medicine, law and engineering have always been the career choices of middle-class Indians with others opting to go into the teaching profession.

To regain the confidence of the Indian community, MIC needs to focus on wooing members of the younger generation who have done quite well in shaping themselves as entrepreneurs at least over the last five years.

A female Grab driver before the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020, is now a successful entrepreneur who has launched various products from clothing to dodol (coconut based local sweetmeat).

Another woman, a rotund mother of two who used to post videos of herself brewing hair oil in her car porch back in that tough year, is now a sophisticated and chic woman who has built herself a multimillion dollar business empire.

Recently, there was live streaming of her conducting a 24-hour sales marathon on social media, where she raked in just over RM200,000 in that one session.

There are many other Indian women who lived in low-cost flats before 2020, who now have spanking new homes as their abode with fast cars to boot.

These are the enterprising, hardworking and intelligent people that MIC needs to woo but it has to first find ways to entice these women into what is a male-dominated enclave.

Political analyst Prof Datuk Dr Sivamurugan Pandian believed that MIC is still the most pertinent political structure to represent the Indian community in the country.

As such, he said the party has to relook itself on how it could make up for lost ground and rebuild its support base.

“MIC may want to explore areas other than Tamil education and schools, temples and religion as well as education and entrepreneurship to have a wider reach,” he added.

He suggested that the party find ways to connect with the young people who find no relevance with MIC’s history but offer hope as potential members to fortify itself.

Dr Sivamurugan said MIC could also explore forming smart partnerships with governmental and private sector agencies, NGOs and civil societies to widen its perspective and scope.

“MIC can re-visit the Malaysian Indian Blueprint launched in 2017 on whether it can be used to help achieve the party’s goals,’’ said Dr Sivamurugan.

He said it was also important for MIC to make its presence within the Barisan Nasional visible to enhance its rebranding and future goals.

The AGM to be held at the IDCC Convention Centre in Shah Alam is scheduled to be opened by Barisan Nasional chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.