“INDIA mabuk” (That Indian fella is drunk).
As always, many aspects of life are tied to a person’s ethnicity in Malaysia. While most of the civilised world will shake its collective head at this racial profiling, there remains a modicum of truth in some of the stereotyping.
Not least with the aforementioned Indians and their fondness for an alcoholic tipple or three. Nothing wrong with that but all too often, their drinking session spills into violence.
This was indeed the observation made by staunch Indian/Hindu activist Arun Dorasamy in a recent Facebook post as he lamented the behaviour of Indian men after imbibing alcohol.
It shared a video purportedly distributed by the police themselves which shows Indian youth getting all feisty and violent after a few drinks inside a nightclub.
The legal unit director of Indian NGO Hindu Agamam Ani Malaysia teased if the family and friends of the thugs are proud with their behaviour while also hoping that the owner of the night club initiates legal action against them.
The problem is widespread enough to warrant a total ban on alcohol, argued one netizen.
This draconian view did get more than a few ‘ayes’ from fellow commenters, suggesting that a ban would not be unwelcome.
However, others felt the misbehaviour of a minority should not curtail the rights and freedom of others.
One contended that it was illogical to ban alcohol to solve societal problems, highlighting a number of other issues as examples where banning an item would do nothing to solve the problem.
One commenter attributed the social woe to a person’s upbringing. Such rowdy behaviour spoke volumes about the way a person was brought up, notably the desire of wanting to flex one’s muscle upon getting some Dutch courage.
Another netizen clearly didn’t see alcohol as being the problem as the crux of the issue lie within the community itself.
Regardless of the scenario, it seems Indian men are hell bent on picking a fight – whether at funeral, party or even a holiday in Thailand. Then the blame is heaped on the government of the day for side lining them.
One commenter pointed out that regular outbreaks of violence is why other communities look down on Indians. Just because of a few bad apples, the entire community gets a bad rep.
Another concerned netizen lamented that alcohol consumption was turning into a lifestyle. He urged Indian youth to break the cycle by choosing wisely.
10 strokes of the rotan and a stint in detention centres was the cry of one who obviously believed that stiff penalties are necessary as a deterrent.
One even went to the extent of stating that this is the reason why people needed to vote PAS into power – it would initiate a complete alcohol ban!
Alcohol consumption brings about a whole raft of social ills. It is a vice, make no mistake about that.
But it is also an individual choice. Personal liberties should not be sacrificed for the sake of the few who cannot hold their drink.
Cheers to that. – May 31, 2025
Main image credit: OpenArt
