First and foremost I would like to welcome all those who have made it from near and far to be a part of this forum today. I would like to thank the Gelang Patah Committee, chaired by Sdr M. Kulasegaran and for all the hardworking staffs of Wisma DAP Penang for making this historic forum happen today.
After the Gelang Patah Declaration was announced by the DAP Parliamentary Opposition Leader and MP for Gelang Patah Sdr Lim Kit Siang last year in the 13th General Election, today DAP leaders convene to see how we can move forward to realise this dream of drawing the Indian community into the mainstream of national development by highlighting relevant issues, identify root causes, offer remedies that can resolve them to uplift their socioeconomic status.
This forum was driven as the result of the deliberations at the DAP National Retreat on the 14th and 15th of June in Kuala Lumpur where other informal policy groups were formed at the same time, including the DAP Urban Governance Caucus, which met here yesterday (24th July 2014), Semi Urban Caucus, Green Caucus and a series of efforts to promote the Impian Malaysia concept.
Let me stress however that DAP’s roadmap is dealing with Indian issues through a Malaysian perspective, not the other way around. Like other marginalized communities, the Indians do not wish to be bullied anymore and aspire to live with dignity. However that can only be achieved from a non-ethnic approach based on needs which does not deprive or deny the rights of any other community.
This is the roadmap adopted by the Penang PR state government. Never in the history of the nation has there been an Indian as Deputy Chief Minister II, appointment of 2 Indian EXCO members or a fully operational Hindu Endowment Board given its own building for the first time and not in some unwanted office somewhere or land for Tamil primary schools, land for the proposed first Tamil secondary school in the country, fixed annual allocations and for Tamil schools, kindergartens, or no forcible demolition of old Hindu temples, or increased access to government employment, appointment of the first female Indian as the Penang State Assembly Secretary and according proper respect to Indian festivals and giving dignity to Indians. You will hear more of the Penang report card in a while.
Unlike BN’s listening to the people only once every 5 years in their famous “listen, listen, listen” mode, DAP leaders listen to the people all the time and fulfill our promises. But we must take a Malaysian approach towards Indian issues to maintain DAP’s non-racial approach and retain our objective of a Malaysian Malaysia for all. Do not forget BN’s policies adversely impact everyone. Corruption hurst everyone but perhaps the marginalized communities more than most.
Today’s forum is a laudable effort by the DAP to give dignity and address the long-standing concerns of the Malaysian Indian community. Malaysian Indians have protested, rallied, screamed, cried and shouted about the long-standing years of abuse, discrimination neglect and attack resulting in their marginalization as the new underclass in Malaysia but to no avail.
DAP will give a voice to the voiceless and propose a national Malaysian approach that is free from corruption, racial profiling and ignorance. Jobs, education and other upward social mobility opportunities are what the closest to the hearts of the ethnic Indian Malaysians.
What the people need, both Malaysian Indians and non-Indian Malaysians, what the people want is a “Makkal Arasangam” (People’s government) offered by the DAP as opposed to BN’s “drogi arasangam(crony government).Thank you