It’s almost like the sound of firecrackers has deafened the ears of Unity Minister, Halimah Mohd Sadique, to the plight of 500 Indian teachers working in 200 pre-schools across the country.
According to MIC President, Vigneswaran Sanasee, she had promised they would get their ten-month salary before Diwali, which is two days away.
This shows total complacency especially when the salary would enable them to make the necessary preparations to celebrate the festival.
These teachers conducted online classes throughout the pandemic from January this year, in an initiative by Mitra to uplift education amongst the Indian poor and supported by five non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
In fact, some of the teachers had put out their own money to support these classes.
The five coordinating NGOs say all necessary documents have been submitted to Mitra (The Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit).
Led by the Ministry of National Unity, Mitra is a special unit addressing the socio-economic needs of poor Indians but has courted controversy recently for a lack of transparency in its disbursement of funds.
Mitra cannot undertake this hands-off approach just because Halimah has promised funds would be disbursed before Diwali, one of the most important festivals celebrated by Indians.
We need to know about the efforts taken to follow-up with the Unity Minister or her office.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri also needs to instruct Halimah to make the payments urgently because after all, hasn’t he been trumpeting about his Keluarga Malaysia?
And isn’t it an inclusive concept that cuts across religious, ethnic and racial boundaries and invites Malaysians to come together as a unified family?