Why I would not walk? : The long and the short of it
November 27, 2007
The long explanation is the mini series I mentioned in my rejoinder to Shar’s comment.
Let me take the short route first.
Like Imtiaz, I commend for your consideration and immediate reading, ‘The Hindraf Campaign : A Critique, by Dr. Kumar of the Parti Sosialis Malaysia.
Imtiaz has reproduced it in full at his blog and you can read it HERE.
Dr. Kumar’s paper has comprehensively set out all of my concerns and misgivings about the agenda, the methodology, the effectiveness and the ramifications of the Hindraf initiative.
Do look at it.
The long of it, if still thought necessary thereafter, will follow in parts.
November 27, 2007 at 3:13 pm
until hindaf came along, there were limited avenues for the downtrodden indians to voice out. hindarf strikes the chord of the hearts of this segment of neglected citizens. question is how to bring them into the fold to fight for a better malaysia, which is bangsa malaysia.
yh,
My thoughts, precisely, when I suggested a nationwide ’stand on the kerb / roadside and hold a lit candle’ in substitution of the march to the embassy.
November 27, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Without even reading his piece, I’m sure he criticized capitalism in there somewhere.
Why don’t you just give it a read?
November 27, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Haris,
I have just read the paper by Dr. Kumar of PSM and fully support the “Agenda Baru” of Anwar.
“Agenda Baru” sounds good to all malaysians regardless of race but how many who are the beneficiaries of the NEP would sacrifice and openly embrace this policy.That’s the question you need to ask.
Give me a few good reasons to trust Anwar to carry through his “Agenda Baru” if his party,keadilan comes into power.
Let’s be honest, BA will not form the next government, until we have a bersih election we can only hope BA will deny BN a two third majority for a start.
What then, will Anwar ditch Pas and DAP and join UMNO when invited by AAB????
Your guess is as good as mine.
Yes, I am still with you because I believe in your slogan” We are many colours,We are on Dream”.
Bryan,
Sorry, I am myself still trying to find a reason to trust Anwar.
If you come upon any, please share.
Agenda Baru and how to get the main benefactors to come round to the change that we want?
Let’s deal the what we cannot do.
In my view, an ‘in your face’ confrontational approach will not bring them round.
what needs to happen is for them to realise for themselves that in reality, the present NEP set up benefits the fat-cat politicians.
They need to realise that if you dismantle the present ‘race-based, implemented in secrecy’ NEP and put in place a needs-based affirmative program that is completely transparent in its implementation, the present day benefactors and their progeny will stand to benefit more and at the same time, other Malaysians get helped.
In short, the benefactors must be made to realise that the present-day non-benefactors are not the only ones getting screwed by the present set-up. The benefactors are, too.
November 27, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Enough have been said in this blog and in others and perhaps pride has hindered them to have consultation with others.
Threats are now being made by the Internal Security Ministry on subsequent rally.
It’s a mess.
November 27, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Have read the article. I agree. The only thing missing is the fact that 50% of the youths are not from PAS but from disgruntled youths? I am not sure about this.
I, too, wondered about this.
November 27, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Haris,
The major thrust of Dr Kumar is palatable to me, apart from the veracity of the hard figures. In any case, I’ll try the “spirit of the law” approach to reach out to very serious disenfranchise protesters. This is very clear in the various interviews captured by Al-jazeera and the graphic pictures. You can see it in their eyes the anger, frustration, and resentment of such harsh treatments on them as though they aren’t human.
Like most things, even though this rally came under the banner of Hindraf, there are as many viewpoints and opinions as they were participants. Not all share the strong views of Hindraf. They came because Hindraf gave them a sense of belief in themselves. I believe they can be reached out with openess and genuine trust in their struggle. BN can pontificate for all they want, but have anyone seen their determination to stand firm for their rights? Try and sit in the gushes of the chemical-laced water jet. This is a turning for Malaysia. I sincerely believe, that civil society really need to win their heart that we respect them, allowing them to remain in their diversity while co-existing with others with genuine respect.
I sincerely hope Mr Uthayakumar et al will not close their hearts nor minds to other possibility nor the hands of other goodwill Malaysians in building a civil and just society for all who are indigent and disenfranchised, Indians, those in Sabah and Sarawak, Malays, as well as being able to accept the marginalized in other communities. Here, I sincerely acknowledge my personal limitation in making larger contribution for now apart from sharing my thoughts here and get connected to those within my immediate surrounding, neigbhours, and those I meet along the ways due earlier commitments that need to be completed first, and as such need to rely on the wisdom of people like you, Malik, and so on to do more for a non-polarised society. Nevertheless, I hope HINDRAF can consider a broader views while striving for its goals for the marginalized Indians community.
From Desiderata, the poem:
…With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
It is still a beautiful world…
Best regards
November 28, 2007 at 10:54 am
I meant the letter to gordon brown
November 28, 2007 at 10:56 am
To most Indians there is really nothing new in what Dr Kumar has written. Either having experienced it directly or seen it happening to someone they know I would think all Malaysian Indians are only too aware of these chinks.
Indians needed to be shocked out of their LaLa land existence. Indians needed to be confronted with the honest truth of their condition. I would like to think Hindraf has managed to do just that. What next is the question.
I will forgive Hindraf their indiscretions if they will now abandon their narrow tunnelled vision and embrace the wider civil society objective of Bangsa Malaysia. You might want to ask what indiscretions. You just need to read the suit that they have filed in London as well as their letter to Gordon Brown. It is distasteful and there is no honour for the Indians should their lot benefit anything at all from these attempts. Fine, I do believe the intention was to highlight the Malaysian Indian problem and take it out of the closet. So Hindraf, you have done it. Now, unless you guys in the Hindraf leadership want to be heros, then go on without taking into account the rest of civil society. The problem is that you guys seem to be already embracing the opposition politicians, what with Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang coming around to be seen with you guys.
If the Malaysian Indians Hindraf claims to be representing has indeed been left behind and they have been positively been discriminated against, it has surely got to do more with them having allowed ths to happen int he first place. Fact of the matter is there have been many other Indians who have come from the same circumstances who have managed to shake off the shackles that have bound them to a life of misery and poverty. And why? Because you guys are Tamils and maybe being Hindu has also got something to do with it. You guys honour, respect and listen to leadership and you wait on your leaders to lead you forward.
Well, first you had MIC. Now you have Hindraf.
Please ask your Indian friends who have shaken off the shackles as to how they did it. Most will tell you, they did it out of their own accord and no thanks to MIC or anyone else. I honestly, don’t know any successful Indian, whether, Tamil or otherwise, whether Hindu or otherwise, who owes his or her success to MIC or any other political bodies. If you were to look at the Indian Diaspora only in Malaysia do the Indians have political representation. No where else. Everywhere else Indians have thrived. In Malaysia alone Indians have not. To be more specific, Tamil Hindus have not thrived.
Don’t blame the government. Don’t blame MIC. MIC is in the business of keeping themselves relevant, and they will remain so as long as you guys provide them the numbers to point at to say, our people need our help. Just like UMNO needs its kampong Malays, especially poor kampong Malays so that they can continue perpetuating NEP into infinity. But then that is their business. Otherwise the politicians will soon find themselves out of business.
I would like to think the Tamil Hindus who rallied on 25/11 have shown true grit, resolve against adversity, and that you can be committed. Now my wish is that they will channel all of that energy towards themselves.
I don’t need to go far for examples. I myself was failed by the system. Yet I took the one tiny little window of opportunity that I found for myself and have run the course. I know of hundreds who have done the same. My good friend, a successful accountant in New Zealand, came from the same circumstances as rubber tapper parents, candle and paraffin for lighting and many children. Hindu like all of you. But he was a Malayalee. So quite naturally not dependent on MIC. The whole family has come out of the rut that many of you continue to find yourself in.
I do not see your future getting any better through gaining any political advantage or any preferences bestowed on you by the government or any political patronage. It has to come from you. You showed you got what it takes on 25/11. My sincere hope is that you the individual are now galvanised to shake off the shackle that you have allowed to remain tied to your ankles. If your gaze has now moved only from Samy Velu to rest on Uthayakumar, then I think it would all have been a waste. You will fail and more importantly Hindraf and Uthayakumar would fail.
November 28, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Paul,
1. Undeniably, there IS the inbuilt structural bias against Hindu Tamils in our M’sian system. Protesting against this aspect on a race & religious basis is supportable, without crossing the line to racism and religious bigotry.
2. Yes, anyone can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. But if you look at the Chinese who are success-driven & business-oriented, you will need to grant that this endeavour takes its toll. The nature of their condition – “there is only us to help ourselves” – in M’sia makes the Chinese here flinty in the way that the average non-Umno Malay isn’t (in my humble opinion, anyways). To me, there’s the price to pay: it hardens the Chinese nature further, their second-class status. Now, if Indians are third-class …
3. The mass of Hindraf supporters do not have the luxury of reading you & i here cogitating in impeccable English. Not that I’m disputing your conclusion about exchanging new (Uthayakumar) for old lamp (Samy). But perhaps we’re being too nuanced when it’s a stark, harsh reality staring Hindraf followers in the slapped face.
Cheers & friends, Paul.
November 28, 2007 at 2:32 pm
We really don’t know how empty or hollow downtrodden people feel until we are in their shoes. As bystanders, we are too locked up in our comfort zone to fully empathize with the downtrodden. Feeling warm here must on the air cond. “Kak tolong buka air cond dan angkat satu bir mali”
November 28, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Howcan, not just in their shoes but is in the condition that they are in for as long as you can remember.
Ya, tuan.
November 28, 2007 at 9:10 pm
My dear Helen
You tellingme that we both write in impeccable English and being too nuanced. How can that be when everytime I read what you write, I sit gaping in awe the way you use words. Cogitating in impeccable English? How can I be doing that when this is the first time I have even seen that word! My Readers’ Digest Book of Synonyms tells me that to cogitate is a a rather pompously formal word that means to think seriously or continuously. Thank God, it countinues to say that it is used jestingly!! O.k. nice word..I shall cogitate about this tonight!
November 28, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Hi Paul,
Long time no touch base. Yeah, I too have said to Helen her writing is awesome. MSM’s loss is our gain.
See you one day, Paul, on a yellow Saturday!