Unlike Barisan Nasional before the 14th general election, Pakatan Harapan (PH) is not directly represented by any Indian-based party. However, Indians are still indirectly well represented in PH. Indians are members of at least two resilient parties – PKR and DAP – and they are well represented in the PH Cabinet team.

Now with the dawn of a new Malaysia, hopefully the marginalised Indians will be able to change for the better. They – especially their women – have to be empowered to bring their families out of poverty. Indian leaders in the new government must do the needful while the poor Indians have no choice but to change their lifestyle in order to uplift their economic status and compete with the other races.

In the 2019 budget, RM100 million was allocated to support the Indian community, including through technical and skill-set training to enhance career opportunities for the youth. The onus now is on them to grab this opportunity, as the government has provided the funds and opportunities. The poor or underprivileged Indians must reinvent themselves as their destiny lies in their own hands. Their destiny depends on whether they want to change or sink in this land of opportunities.

Teach them a few sound business and financial principles

The amount allocated is rather small and may not reach all the poor, especially those who want to engage in small businesses. Taking loans from normal banks is almost impossible for these people. The government should work towards a local micro-finance institution to help the poor Indians go into small businesses and enable them to take loans that are repayable in monthly instalments. There has to be a plan for the repayment structure that is harmonised with the cycle of business returns to ensure they can use their loan profitably. Make the repayment terms more realistic so that they will not face a cash flow disconnect.

This will help especially the single mothers among them and the women in general use the money to develop their small businesses. There are about 100,000 Indian families from the B40 category (bottom 40% of household income). One-off payments to poor Indians are a short-term strategy. Using shares like the Amanah Saham 1Malaysia Scheme (AS1M) shares for poor Indians to uplift people from poverty could be a long-term solution. But this is not going to generate sustainable income for the poor to meet their immediate needs.

Moreover, depending on one-off aid and subsidies may only create complacency. The poor Indians have to be taught to generate more income by going into small businesses. It is therefore imperative for them to increase their financial knowledge as doing so will help improve their understanding of basic business concepts. Such understanding is needed to ensure they make informed decisions with their money, and know how they can better grow their wealth through smart investment decisions.

Indian leaders may want to think along the lines by which Grameen of Bangladesh was established. Grameen is a bank devoted to providing the poor in Bangladesh with minuscule loans. This has generally helped to eradicate poverty, and shows how access to even a small amount of credit can transform lives and help them break the cycle of poverty.

Many poor Indians in the country just do not have the means to start a business in order to become even micro-entrepreneurs. Efforts can therefore be made to eradicate poverty through micro-lending. Lend the poor Indians money on terms that are suitable for them, teach them a few sound business and financial principles, and they will help themselves. This could help lift them out of poverty.

Transform their mindset

To achieve change, the poor Indians also need to go through a sort of mental transformation with the help of volunteers in order to change their outlook on life. Successful Indians, social leaders, volunteers and Indian politicians in the country could play a very influential role in helping them transform their mindset and to assist the community to uplift their social and economic status.

They have to keep on showing them the path of optimism. Hopefully, with efforts to motivate them, they will soon shed their negativism, discover the value of quality life and transform themselves to flourish in life. A mindset shrouded in pessimism, fatalism and obsession with religious matters will only drag them further back. Continually expecting others to offer them one-off goodies is not going to resolve their quandary in the long run, either.

Poverty, no doubt, has affected the livelihood of the marginalised Indians. To rub salt into the injury, a striking percentage of the poor – especially the men – are mired in chronic alcoholism and other social delinquencies such as drug abuse, gangsterism and other forms of social aberrations. Many of them are also in prison.

All this is in part due to an un-constructive upbringing and a misguided way of life following displacement from the estates where they and their parents lived for many years. There are no affirmative role models for them to emulate.

Designated as squatters

Many became displaced in society after the post-independence period and the country’s subsequent economic changes. As a result, many Indians who worked in estates were left jobless with not even a roof over their heads. Many are now seen as squatters in the periphery of the city, and own no land or house. These are the poor who belong to the bottom 20% of the population. If the government really wants to help them, it should also help them resolve their housing problems.

Deprived of a proper education, many displaced Indians are also stateless. Their children end up involved in vice activities like alcoholism and substance abuse.

The Tamil education they received over a few years, for many in dilapidated and rickety estate schools with inept teachers, has not contributed much to their progress. In most cases, these children never make it further than the six years of education received at such schools.

Despite the myriad of problems faced by Tamil schools in most areas, some Indian politicians are still adamant that they should continue, and they keep hoping that the government will help them. There is no community support for these schools, unlike the Chinese schools.

They perhaps do not realise that many Tamil school pupils drop out the moment they enter secondary school. The dropout rate among Indian pupils is second only to the Orang Asli. One of the reasons is that they do not speak or understand the national language or English when they enter secondary school.

Change their fortunes in life

Social leaders, politicians and successful Indians should make the disadvantaged Indians realise that in the context of the Malaysian society, it would help a lot if their children attend national schools until completion. They have to learn to accept the reality that ultimately, they have to complete their studies in national secondary schools. They will then learn to mix with other races from the start, and end up with a better outlook on life.

How much can the government do if the community itself does not have the tenacity to change its way of life? It’s the way of thinking of the poor in the Indian community that has to be shaped by the leaders and support groups. What’s more, there has to be a strong will among the poor Indians themselves to change their fortunes in life. This must come through proper family upbringing, progressive education, conducive surroundings and exposure.

This marginalised group of isolated Indians are not there to seek power in politics or to become filthy rich. They just wish for a decent livelihood. They are too naive and would generally vote for the incumbent government no matter what hardships they face in life. Despite their plight and downtrodden life, they are still subservient to their leaders with the hope that they will help them lead a better life.

Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.