Not another political party, please, Prof Ramasamy!

[superadmin]

Letter to editor

TOO many Indian parties only means more noises but it will not help the Indian community as a whole.

For many years now, I have observed how the Indian community at large has been lagging behind the rest of the society. The fault line in Malaysian Indians lies in the fact that they lack good leaders who are able to genuinely go down to the ground to help them.

The Chinese are independent and pragmatic. They survive even in the toughest times; most are willing to look for opportunities – during the COVID pandemic, unemployment drove a number of Chinese professionals into becoming roadside food stall operators and even Grab delivery men instead of rotting away during the pandemic.

The Malays have achieved economic prosperity over the years due to government intervention but the cycle of poverty for the B40 Malays does not seem to be eradicated after nearly half a century of government intervention. It is time for the government to focus on other Malaysians who are equally poor.

While there are many successful Indians – mainly as professionals in the legal and medical fields –majority of the Malaysian Indians are still in a state of limbo. In West Malaysia, they are the most neglected lot.

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[superadmin]

More Indian parties? What for?

Indians make up slightly more than 6% of Malaysia’s 33 million population, down from 10% about 50 years ago. The figure is expected to drop further, going by the number of children in Indian families.

It is a natural progression that is out of anyone’s control.

What is not openly talked about is the deep split within the Malaysian Indian community. While they scream about being discriminated against by the Bumiputera policy, among others, they seldom breathe a word about the prejudices practised widely among themselves.

When it comes to marriages, especially those that are matchmade, the individuals will send out their preferences with caste being the “same or higher” but never anything “lower.” Even the most liberal and educated ones seem to have succumbed to this inhumane practice.

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