On March 14, in my royal address debate in the Dewan Rakyat, I had raised a question on the status of the National Blueprint for Indians announced by PM Najib in October 2016 that it will be launched in January this year and the agencies that will be undertaking, implementing and executing the initiatives. However, it is already the end of March and there has been no news of it at all.
Last Thursday, Minister in Prime Minister’s Department for the Economic Planning Unit, and in charge of Indian empowerment Senator Devamany, was in full form replying to my question.
Senator Devamany refused to answer that question in the Dewan Rakyat, claiming that the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak himself will be announcing it on 23 April, a delay of 3 months in spelling out the governments’ efforts to assist and uplift needy Indian families.
Devamany’s statement is idiotic and insulting in the highest order. After 60 years since Malaysia’s independence, the government is still crafting, and planning and trying to execute a National Blueprint to uplift the socio-economic status of the Indian community who have made up between 7 to 10% of the national population for over 6 decades, and they are still attempting to do so.
Perhaps, Devamany and his MIC have conveniently forgotten, that Indian voters are deemed to be “kingmakers” in 24 Parliamentary and 74 State Assembly constituencies in Peninsular Malaysia. Votes from the Indian community, constitute more than 15% of the electorate in those seats. In other words, this 15% decides who wins or who loses.
In his speech, Devamany claimed that the socioeconomic empowerment for the Indian community by the BN government is an ongoing effort, concurrently working to ensure that all ethnicities move together towards achieving a developed nation. According to him, the first initiative, in 1974 to uplift the Indian community stemmed from the ‘blue book’ by the late Datuk Pathmanaban. Following that, in 1980 Dato’ Seri Samy Velu as acting Ptesident of MIC framed the Blueprint Malaysian-Indian. A draught befell Malaysian Indians during Dr Mahathir’s tenure as PM from 1981 to 2003. In 2006 and 2008 in the 10th Malaysian Plan, once again the MIC Blueprint was launched. When Najib Tun Razak was Deputy Prime Minister, he chaired a committee called the Cabinet Committee for Indian Community (CCIC). From 2010 till 2012, Pelan Tindakan dan Implementasi Kerangka Pembangunan was created specifically for the Indian community. And now, Najib Tun Razak, announced in October 2016 that a National Blueprint for Indians would be launched in January, will be finally announced on 23 April 2017 – hopefully.
Penang Insitute’s finding in a study in 2015 showed “the proportion of Indians in decision-making and managerial positions is comparatively low. Most of the community’s workforce remains entrenched in elementary occupations – with low skills and low pay, especially in the technical and service sectors. Social mobility appears stunted and with little prospect for advancement the situation clearly needs to be addressed”.
What Devamany must understand is that the long standing issues faced by Indians is not an Indian problem alone. Devamany, the MIC and BN must bear the brunt of neglecting their failures in uplifting the Indian community and all marginalised communities as a whole as they have been excluded in enjoying the fruits of economic advancement.
Indians are no longer merely labourers who toil at estates and build roads, or government clerks and sole-proprietor lawyers. Certainly, they can no longer be treated as stepchildren or worse, orphans. And just like any and every other Malaysian, they deserve a dignified place in the larger Malaysian story.
The 2017 National Blueprint for Malaysian Indians announced by PM Najib Tun Razak in October 2016 is proof that after 60 long years, and 6 Blueprint initiatives later, Malaysian Indians remain still marginalised, oppressed, discriminated and have suffered for generations under a failed MIC, a party to empower Indians.