Well, many people have the same idea me – the makkal should be given some funds to buy the ASM/ASW units. If not, high possibility that we won’t be able to take the quota allocated to us.

Renewing their call  is MIC. Samy Vellu says the following:

…  MIC president Samy Vellu expressed concern that many Indians may not have the financial capabilities to take up the 15 percent quota of Amanah Saham Malaysia shares allocated for the community.

He said according to Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), as of last Wednesday, Indians had only taken 10.71 percent or 53.5 million units of their quota of 499.5 million units offered compared to the Chinese who have taken up all the 999 million ASM units, or 30 percent quota, offered to the community.

He proposed that the government assist the Indians by providing a partial grant or loan to buy the shares through any of its agencies or financial institutions.

“If there is no financial assistance provided for them, the 15 percent quota will not be met and such a scenario will disable our (Indians) target of achieving 1.5 percent equity participation as envisaged under the Ninth Malaysia Plan by next year,” he said in a statement here.

He said MIC has set up a monitoring team headed by him and assisted by Subramaniam and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economic Planning Unit) SK Devamany to ensure that the target of 15 percent was met.

“The team will identify the problems faced by Indians to purchase the shares and submit a proposal to the government for further action,” he said, adding that the party’s Social Strategic Foundation would be roped in to carry out surveys.

Samy Vellu said many Indians were keen to buy the ASM shares but could not do so as they could not come up with the money.

He also called on Indians who have the purchasing power to buy more ASM shares so as to double or even triple the amount. “This is the best savings mechanism for our future,” he said.

He also suggested that Indian-based cooperatives, associations and NGOs with sound financial standings to buy the ASM shares on behalf of their members.

Meanwhile, Subramaniam said he would discuss with Prime Minister and Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak on a mechanism to ensure Indians could purchase the entire ASM shares allocated to them.

“I will also request the prime minister to reserve a specific percentage from the two billion Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 shares that will be on sale next week,” he said.

The prime minister had announced last Tuesday that of the two billion ASW 2020 shares, 51 percent would be reserved for bumiputeras while the balance 49 percent were reserved for non-bumiputeras.

Well, your guess is good as mine. Will we get a grant or loan? Can it be channeled to the poor family, like those registered with Welfare Department, MHS, and other NGOs? Will some allocation provided for those in the middle class bracket who are also suffering due to economic downturn?

On another note, MIC should have anticipated or known about this, if they have done their homework properly. They keep on saying Indians are doing well, got good jobs, lots of money, not marginalised. But look at the situation, we can’t even generate RM50 million, let alone RM499 million.