Letter to Edtior
AS I have always maintained, multi-racialism – the belief in the equality of races – is a sound concept.
If only the self-proclaimed multi-racial political parties are indeed truly and genuinely promote the equality of races.
However, if numerically disadvantaged and weaker ethnic communities are simply regarded as vote banks, then multi-racialism ceases its significance.
DAP and PKR need Indian votes during elections especially in tightly and keenly contested areas but their importance ceases after elections are over.
During elections, Indians are termed as “kingmakers” but once elections are over, they are forgotten.
For those Indian candidates who have been elected and given posts at the state or federal levels, they must be prepared to admit whether they are representatives of the Indian community or not.
If Malays and Chinese have effective representation and leadership, why can’t the Indian representatives say that they are primarily Indian representatives though not exclusively?
It is not that they have to forsake the interests of their voters but surely they can spend more time looking after the interests of the discriminated and marginalised Indians.
The particular objective situation of Indians requires more attention from the Indian representatives. They don’t have to forsake others to focus exclusive attention on Indians – a discriminated and marginalised community in the country.
No thanks to the primacy of the ethnic and religious agenda of the majoritarian community.
If there is requirement for the Indian elected representatives to disassociate themselves from the poor community, then they should publicly say so. At least it is better for them to be honest and non-pretentious.
They should be prepared to take stand to make a public announcement that they are not Indian representatives.
In future, they should just focus on the non-Indians for their bread and butter. If Indian elected representatives cannot take a political stand on the non-appointment of an Indian Tamil minister, they are certainly not deserving to be called leaders.
Maybe they are just sycophants to their non-Indian bosses! – Dec 18, 2023
Jason Raj*
Penang
Jason Raj is former DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) vice-chairman and a member of Urimai (United Rights of Malaysian Party).
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
