The former Permatang Pauh MP said she had deliberately chosen to work behind the scenes, placing emphasis on meaningful results over public attention.

“For the longest time, I have chosen to work quietly because I believe in substance before spectacle,” she said in a speech read out by former Klang MP Charles Santiago at a press conference on uplifting the Indian community in the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP).

“What matters the most is not how loudly we speak, but whether our work brings change to those who need it the most.”

Nurul Izzah said she has been working with a team over the past year to organise a series of expert-led roundtables focused on long-standing challenges faced by the Indian community, particularly those in the B40 group.

The roundtables brought together economists, civil servants, NGOs, and community leaders to develop targeted solutions to issues including school dropout rates, poverty, statelessness, and underemployment.

Nurul Izzah also highlighted the launch of a proposed Indian Community Development Framework, developed with Yayasan Iltizam Malaysia and more than 200 civil society actors.

The core proposals include a national preschool education policy, the creation of technical and vocational training hubs, an entrepreneurship incubator for women and youth, and a statutory agency for the transparent coordination and delivery of aid.

Yesterday, Santiago said the upcoming 13MP would provide a strategic opportunity for the government to address the marginalisation of Malaysian Indians.

He said that Indians in Malaysia had lived for too long under the shadow of structural neglect and state-sanctioned second-class citizenship without any meaningful affirmative action to uplift the community.

On Friday, the government announced that finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan would take over the economy portfolio following Rafizi Ramli’s resignation and lead a revamp of the 13MP.

Putrajaya said the revamp was initiated in response to feedback from Cabinet members.