addressing means the work is not complete. Its in progress. No deadlines, no KPIs, no evaluation. So, the work can continue in perpetuity. So, is it a good news when MIC chief Samy Vellu says government is addressing Indian woes?

Let’s look at the level of addressing done so far:

Many thorny issues that has swayed the Indian community from supporting the Barisan Nasional in the last general election are being addressed by the current administration of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, says MIC president S Samy Vellu.

MCPX

He said among the issues were the poor condition of Tamil schools and its status; location and allocation for Hindu temples, job opportunities in the civil service, higher intake into local public universities, share allocations, educational and business loan facilities and more business opportunities/government contracts. [this indicates 7 areas of concentration – 7 KPIs that can be used to evaluate MIC]

He said for Tamil schools, the government has agreed to convert all partially-aided schools into fully-aided schools, while a whopping RM130 million allocation has been set aside for the next two years to rebuild many of the schools. [the actual words were something that said “agreed in principle” to look into conversion of partially-aided schools into fully aided ones. The RM130 million is not for the purpose of conversion, but for repair work. One incident that took place recently comes to my mind – 70 over years old SJKT Ladang Kinrara which was always flooded and being planned to relocate to cemetery area. Readers would remember this case. When DPM Muhyiddin went there on his walkabout, he announced that the school will be relocated to a new .3 ha area (which was actually the cemetery area!). It sounded like something good. But then, what can you build on a 0.3ha area which is next to cemetery? You want students to see  and smell funeral daily or study in class? Where would  the field be?  Currently, there are 93 students there, and the new building expected to cater for 200 students. But in such a small place? The parents are totally unhappy but we see a “caring” DPM announcing a “good news” which was immediately praised by the MIC. So, in my opinion, one has to be careful when receiving good news, because it may not be good at all].

“As for Hindu temples, we have requested the government to increase the annual allocation for temples from the present RM1 million,” he said in a statement. [ increase how much? For which temples? How many temples? Either the journalist didn’t ask or Samy didn’t tell. Note the key word -” requested”. How about the reply? Successful or not? If just request, anyone can send in request la]

On job opportunities in the civil service, the government has set a quota of 7.4 percent for Indians, equal to the number of their population in the country. The intake is being monitored by (Human Resources Minister) Dr S Subramaniam,” Samy Vellu said. [this is more agreeable as there is a target – 7.4% and its being monitored. Can we see the results of the monitoring every 2 or 3 months? What kind of jobs are being offered? Across the board or in selected sector only?]

The government has also set a quota of 7.4 percentage for Indians to enter public universities annually, he said, adding that he met Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin yesterday to seek for more places for Indians to do professional courses in several public universities namely Universiti Malaya. [Back to quota system for Indians. When was the quota set? This year or last year? We have to wait till IPTA intake analysis is done – by course, by uni, by location etc. Intake results for SPM students are out but STPM-leavers not yet. Anyway, this is another KPI that can be used]

Stop complaining and help

Through the effort of the MIC, the government had also recently allocated 15 percent of the recently-launched 3.33 billion units of the Amanah Saham Malaysia shares for Indians worth almost RM500 million. [ Again, a good move, but lacking in implementation, perhaps MIC did not anticipate that many Indians are actually without money in hand to invest. So, having big cars and good jobs doesn’t mean have enough money. Our expenses are more than the privileged community who have many loopholes – avoiding tax, discount on houses, lower loan interest, and higher returns in ASB etc. Both the ASM and ASW is still available, meaning the community has no funds or there’s big gap between the haves and have-nots. So, next we have to see how long until a solution is found and implemented to allow community to invest in the schemes.]

He said MIC had 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.

“We are also currently discussing with the government to allocate at least 20 to 30 percent of the free Amanah Saham Wawasan shares for Indians,” he said. [Note the word ” currently discussing”. Guess we have to wait till the discussion ends.]

He also said MIC has secured more Public Service Department scholarships for Indian students and was discussing with the government to increase the numbers. [The question arises – why do we need to beg every year? last year 70-odd students got it on own effort before MIC people intervened. This year, will be same story. Next year same story. Not bored ah? If the competition is really tough, then just admit it that Indian students are not good enough. Can we justify giving PSD scholarship to 8A1s Indian student when his 11A1s scoring Chinese friend doesn’t get it? Doesn’t it make us just like the privileged community – 5As also can get scholarship or matriculation place? Our concern should be clear – do we want a quota for scholarship, or we want selection to based on merit/merit+financial/merit+financial+location ? ]

“The government has also introduced many business loan schemes to assist small and medium industries run by Indians and MIC has sought more and bigger amount for Indian entrepreneurs,” he said. [This is good move but misleading. There’s no “schemes”, only scheme as in the TEKUN one which is handled by MIC arm – YSS.  Secondly, where’s the statistics? How many “schemes”, how many applied, how many successful, how many rejected and why rejected. How many require some “recommendation” from MIC people? Another key word – “sought”. Get or not? How much is “more and bigger” amount? ]

He chided certain quarters who kept harping that the government has neglected the Indians and that they were being sidelined while the other races were progressing. [ Well, that’s the reality on the ground. Why is a school being relocated next to cemetery? Why temples only get RM1 million allocation per year? Why Pendidikan Moral is not usable for any course application in university unlike religious subjects which can even be used to apply for IT diploma course? Why we don’t have something like zakat? Why ASM/ASW offer less than ASB? Why got 7% discount for houses even though its a posh semi-dee? Why no ban on samsu and toddy?  Why no news on SJKT Simpang Lima new building until the parents raised funds to build it? Why government can get IOI donate land to relocate Chinese school from Perak to Puchong but Tamil school  on IOI-owned land (in Negeri Sembilan) where sons and daughters of its own employees study is in deplorable condition? So many whys….. And to top it all, Samy Vellu himself admited that the government have not done much in the past. Look at what he saying now. Is this credibility?]

“Instead on harping and bad mouthing the government day in, day out without realising what the government is doing, they should assist the Indians to plug into the system made available by the government and channel their grouses to the proper authority,” he added. [Some of the problems is raised by those who are part of the system. They realise how hard it is to “plug in”. But now, as we can see, the community is daring to come forward and voice out the unfair treatment they get. That’s why there are more issues being raised everyday in papers – from medical negligence to discrimination in schools, everyone got a story to tell.]

I don’t mind if the truth is told, even though it may be painful to hear. Call a spade a spade. Put up the number, don’t just gloss over with ambiguous words. Follow up the talk with proof. Then people can try to believe.

Footnote: One year since last elections, we only had two meetings by the cabinet committee on Indian community. It was supposed to once every few months, ended up once every 6 months. So, what progress did the committee achieve?