Over the last few decades, changes in the country have caused an exodus of Malaysian Indians from estates. Now, they face many challenges across the country.
Recently, Klang MP Charles Santiago told off the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, saying it was too late to help the Indians. Even Subang MP R Sivarasa voiced his displeasure over the government initiatives for the Indian community. Playing peekaboo, he was reminding people of his existence as the 14th general election nears.
Truth be told, Pakatan Harapan (PH)-controlled states Penang and Selangor have large chunks of semi-urban areas where Indians have migrated after being displaced from the estates in the hope of finding better job opportunities.
In past elections, PH won comfortably by riding on these poor Indians who were pinning their hopes on a better future. Indians wholeheartedly placed their trust in the ballot box, thinking a PH leadership would bring change.
Disappointingly, two terms have passed since PH took over and the landscape remains the same. Their lives remain in ruins. They have been struggling to make ends meet ever since their displacement from estates, living in dilapidated housing schemes. This has led to a high crime index and brought on other social ills.
Yet, these MPs keep jumping on BN while flinching from their own responsibilities. Now, the opposition is repeating the same charade, this time promising the people that justice can only be served if they grab Putrajaya. How remarkable! Perhaps they’ll want to conquer the moon next.
The government, on the other hand, has made bold commitments to tackle Indian woes since 2009, regardless of political jurisdiction.
Recently, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced his most ambitious plan to date for the Indian community: the Malaysian Indian Blueprint.
This started bearing fruit within months of its launch, with government departments rallying together to heed the PM’s call to provide solutions to long-standing issues facing the Indian community.
One prime example is the building of new houses for free in PPR Ampar Tenang in Dengkil, Selangor, for displaced estate workers.
These 400 families from the Taman Permata flats will see their long-standing housing issues resolved with the construction of 400 single-storey terrace houses, to be completed by next year.
In 1999, they were displaced along with their families to make way for the development of Putrajaya after the government under former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad acquired the estates.
Residents in Jinjang Utara, Kuala Lumpur, have also received the keys to their new homes at the brand-new PPR Sri Aman.
Najib has been undoing the years of neglect and marginalisation caused by current PH chairman Mahathir.
The very fact that the blueprint indicates that Indians are at the bottom of the economic ladder, and lists out the various initiatives that will be carried out through various ministries, shows complete honesty and commitment by the government to tackle these issues.
Going by the logic of the honourable MPs from PH, is it too late to help the Indians? Should they be left to rot so they can win more elections by singing their plight without any solution in sight?
Whatever happened to the Gelang Patah Declaration and numerous other plans, supposedly for the benefit of the Indians?
They go around proclaiming that by winning GE14, PH will be in the best position to reverse the fortunes of the Indian community.
How is that possible when the person who is going to head it is the one who deliberately obliterated the socio-economic status of the Indian community more than 20 years ago?
Raghavan Nair is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.