Dear Sir/Madam

I have discovered yesterday after talking to our former Hindraf leader, Our Honourable Mr. P.Uthayakumar, that Makkal Sakthi Party and Human Right Party are two separate entities. Our Indian community currently made to believe that Makkal Sakthi Party and Hindraf are the same organisation and this is not true. Whoever believes this concept, please change your mind now. Our minds are being brainwashed slowly by the government. Makkal Sakthi Party is currently Pro Government, which means aligned to Barisan National Party. They highjack the slogan from Hindraf and formed this party. This is a genius strategy by BN in order to get quick support from our Indians without them putting a real effort. Whereas, Human Right Party is formed by Our Honourable Mr. P.Uthayakumar in order to shift back our main agenda of safeguarding of Indian welfare and needs in the country. Please safe this address http://www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com in order to access Human Right Party website. This website publishes articles concerning our Indian community’s plight in the country. To refresh your memory of what happens during the forming of MMSP is linked to below website, which gives details of the event happen. Item 4 gives the true picture of MMSP. Read this article slowly in order to digest the role of “Puppet” MMSP in fighting for Indian rights in our country!!!

1. http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/113670
2. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/19/nation/3934675&sec=nation
3. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/19/nation/3931308&sec=nation
4. http://www.indianmalaysian.com/sound/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2226

 

Hindraf have collected financial aids during their campaign and all the money is safe with an appointed certified accountant. You can visit HRP website and can see Hindraf information chief giving press conference and showing account details and records for verification. None of our mainstream media reported this event. Please refer to above attachment for on Book written by Our Honourable Mr. P.Uthayakumar during his detention under ISA and his future planning for next general election expected to take place somewhere between 2012/2013. I hope each and every one of us will be united under HRP for this noble cause in order to seek justice for our Indian community from being marginalised further down the road. Our help can be by financial means, article preparation, public talk, HRP awareness talk, gathering information, and etc. HRP needs calibre and educated candidates to be field in for next election and we need to support him for this cause. How long we need to be silent in our country we call “Tanah Tumpah Darahku” everyday in the school assembly. Just for the sake of the song only!!!. NO. We born in this country and we are rightful citizen of this country. None of any political parties can deny this and all our rights reserved in the Federal Constitution. I hope we all unite again under the leadership of Our Honourable Mr. P.Uthayakumar, to fight for Indian rights in this Democratic country peacefully and in accordance with Federal Constitution. Let us start today by spreading word of mouth telling everybody what had transpired and ask back our community to support our  “Human Right Party” for our noble cause. Please forward this e-mail to any of your friends so that this message can be spread to our community as soon as possible.

Thank you for spending your time reading the articles and this e-mail.

Yours Faithfully

M.Kumar

Wong Teck Chi

Twenty-four marginal seats are expected to play a major role in deciding which party rules Perak should a snap poll be called.

The Federal Court is expected to make its decision tomorrow regarding who should be the state’s rightful menteri besar, with the possibility of a snap election being called after that.

The majority of the critical 24 seats are Malay constituencies located in rural or semi-rural areas, and accordingly, Malay votes will be vital in determining the final winner of any snap election.

All these state seats were only won by a mere 10 percent majority in last General Election, and a 5 percent swing would result in a change of party.

12 marginal seats are now occupied by Umno, while the remaining seats are being filled by Pakatan.

There are total of 59 parliamentary seats in Perak, of which Pakatan won 31, in the last general election, with Barisan getting 28.

Malay constituencies

All of Umno’s marginal seats are Malay constituencies, while Pakatan have eight such seats, bringing 20 the total number of Malay-majority constituency seats.

Those marginal seats owned by Umno include Pengkalan Baharu, Kubu Gajah, Alor Pongsu, Manjoi, Sungai Rapat, Selam, Kamunting, Rungkup, Manong, Kampung Gajah, Sungai Manik and Lintang.

Pakatan’s eight marginal Malay seats are equally owned by PAS (Lubuk Merbau, Selinsing, Changkat Jong and Titi Serong) and PKR (Kuala Kurau, Kuala Sepatang, Changkat Jering and Behrang).

Interestingly, almost all the marginal Malay seats were contested between Malay candidates, with the exception of Kuala Sepatang; a seat with a significant number of Chinese voters and was contested by two Chinese candidates from Gerakan and PKR respectively.

Four marginal seats have a non-Malay majority, including Kepayang, Pokok Assam and Malim Nawar (won by DAP) and Teja (won by PKR).

It is widely believed that Malay voters – especially those in rural areas – will swing back to BN, as Umno has played up the issue of penderhaka and boneka against Pakatan MB Nizar Jamaluddin (left). It is further expected that more Chinese voters will turn against BN, and the Indian votes will be split.

Sources from Pakatan estimated that in last year’s Bukit Gantang by-election, they got and additional 15 percent to 20 percent of Chinese votes, while 4 percent of Malay voters went back to BN.

PAS face the highest risk

On the surface, if Malay voters swing back, Umno will have advantage in these majority-Malay marginal seats. However, it also depends on how many Chinese voters turn to Pakatan, and offset the swing in these constituencies.

On this basis, Umno should be able to wrest back those seats with a high Malay majority, while both parties will have a tough fight in constituencies with significant numbers of Chinese voters.

Hence, among the three Pakatan parties, PAS contestants in Malay majority seats face a higher risk in the coming election, as the party might lose most of its seats.

All six seats won by PAS have at least a 60 percent Malay constituency, including the seats of Lubuk Merbau (72 percent), Selinsing (71 percent), Changkat Jong (61 percent), Titi Serong (74 percent), Gunung Semanggol (80 percent) and Nizar’s Pasir Panjang (66 percent).

PKR also faces sizable risk because their seats are mixed-race constituencies, while most of the DAP seats are considered safe as they are located at Kinta Valley with non-Malay majorities.

Bad news

Adding salt to Pakatan’s wounds is that hasn’t been much good news for the coalition in the last year, but plenty of bad news including internal bickering- and, most notably, Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy case.

However, Perak PAS election director Asmuni Alwi remained confident about their chances. He analysed that those seats which the party lost marginally in the last general election were due to non-Malay voters, many of whom were still suspicious of the party.

He believes if the state held re-elections, PAS could gain more non-Malay votes, with the co-operation of Pakatan and the popularity of Nizar.

“The co-operation between the three parties was not so strong in last general election, but this time we are more confident of getting more non-Malay votes,” he said.

The seats which PAS lost marginally were Sungai Rapat (lost by 636, non-Malay percentage 38 percent), Pengkalan Baru (lost by 14, non-Malay percentage 36 percent), Kubu Gajah (lost by 66, non-Malay percentage 9 percent) and Selama (lost by 355, non- Malay percentage 17 percent).

Although Asmuni admitted that Umno still has strong support in Malay rural areas, he said PAS had expanded their grassroots after the last general election and the response has been good.

In the past, Perak PAS was strong in Kerian and semi-urban areas, while north Perak and rural areas were Umno’s strongholds.

PKR are expected to have tough fight in Kuala Kurau, Kuala Sepatang, Behrang and Teja.

Chinese support

Perak PKR vice president Chang Lih Kang (right) – who is also the Teja Assemblyman – believed that Chinese support is not an issue, but their main concern is their Malay support, which is relatively weak.

Besides, the Hutan Melintang seat – which won with a majority of 1721 votes – is also not comfortable, as it was part of Umno Vice President Zahid Hamidi’s Bagan Datoh parliamentary seat.

Road repairs

According to Chang, Zahid has aimed to wrest back the state seat and they have invested a lot of resources to woo the voters, including repairing roads.

Although DAP is relatively comfortable compared to PAS and PKR, the biggest Pakatan party in the state also has three worrisome marginal seats.

According to DAP Tebing Tinggi assemblyperson Ong Boon Piow, both Pokok Assam and Malim Nawar were held by MCA strongmen before the last general election.

Pokok Assam was previously won by former state exco Ho Cheng Weng while Malim Nawar was held by current Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Chee Leong.

For Kepayang, Ong said, “the state seat got a lot of postal votes from army and police, around 2000 to 3000.”

Meanwhile, the sole MCA seat which currently held by BN state exco Mah Hang Soon is considered safe, as according to Chang, the constituency has a lot of Orang Asli, who traditionally vote for BN.

 

Who are the traitors here? Are the traitors those who hijrah in search of a better life like what the Prophet Muhammad did? Or are the traitors those who ignore the patriotic contribution of Malayans from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s?

 

 

 

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Malaysians who ‘abandon’ their country and migrate to another country are traitors, says an Umno Minister. Is he speaking on behalf of the Malaysian government, on behalf of Umno, on behalf of Barisan Nasional, on behalf of the Malay race, or on behalf of the Muslim ummah (community)?

Malays always scream, rant and rave that Islam comes first and everything else goes to the bottom of the priority list. Even the Member of Parliament for Kulim — someone from what can be considered a liberal party, PKR — says that he puts Islam first and everything else second. So let us assume that Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, being a Muslim, speaks from the Islamic perspective. I doubt he would dare declare otherwise.

Islam stipulates that if you suffer persecution, oppression, injustice, and discrimination under a dictatorial regime, then it is your duty to hijah (migrate). And hijrah is very important to Islam. Hijrah is what the Prophet Muhammad was commanded by God to do. And the day of the Prophet’s hijrah is the day the Muslim calendar begins. That is how important hijrah is to Islam.

Is this Muslim Minister from Umno whacking Prophet Muhammad and calling him a traitor?

Many Malaysians died for their country. The Indians and Chinese migrated to British Malaya between the mid-1800s to about 1920 when the British started to tighten the immigration policy and no longer brought in labourers from India and China to work the railway, public works, plantations and tin mines in Malaya.

But this did not mean that immigration came to a complete stop. The British still brought in Indians to serve in the civil service and to serve as schoolteachers. This was because the local Malays, at that time, were not so proficient in the English language compared to the Indians. So the Indians were required as government servants and teachers.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s father is one example of an English language teacher from India who came to Malaya and eventually married a Malay woman, resulting in the birth of Dr Mahathir.

Many Indian and Chinese immigrants married in Malaya, sometimes to fellow Indians and Chinese and sometimes to local Malays (that is why many Malays look more Indian and Chinese compared to their Indonesian cousins). And understandably they sired children born in Malaya. And these local born sons and daughters of the immigrants are those Malaysian Indians and Chinese of today, many who have never stepped foot in India or China since the day they were born.

Their parents and grandparents (some are third or fourth generation Malaysians while some, like the Melaka Chinese, have been ‘locals’ since 500 years ago) came to Malaya to serve the country and died in this country. And some of these ‘immigrants’ have been in the country longer than even Malays who are only second or third generation Malaysians.

The question of who came first is an arguable issue. There are Indians and Chinese who have been in Malaysia for hundreds of years and there are Malays who have been in the country less than 100 years. Nevertheless, this article is not to argue about who is more Bumiputera — the Malays, Indians or Chinese.

Everyone — Malays, Indians and Chinese alike — are sons and daughters of immigrants. It would be very difficult to dissect the three different races based on generalising. You would have to look at it on a case-to-case basis. My family came to Malaya in the mid-1700s. Tian Chua’s family came to Malaya much earlier than that. Dr Mahathir and Khir Toyo are merely second generation Malaysians although one became the Prime Minister and the other the Chief Minister of a State.

Okay, the purpose of this article is not to argue who is more Bumiputera as we can argue till the cows come home and will never reach a consensus. What I want to talk about is who has served this country and, therefore, can be considered a true patriot.

The railway, roads, bridges and buildings, right up to maybe the 1980s or so (that means for more than 100 years), were built by the Indians and Chinese (not the Malays). I still remember even as recent as the 1970s when Indians would work in the hot sun building the roads and laying the railway lines. They also worked in the estates and plantations. And the same goes for the tin mines and the construction industry, which were mainly a Chinese affair.

And many died. There were numerous cases where entire Chinese communities were wiped out by disease and war and they had to bring in fresh loads of Chinese workers from China to replace those who had died. And the living conditions of these workers were pathetic. Trust me when I say detention under the Internal Security Act in Kamunting is luxurious compared to what these Indians and Chinese had to endure.

The Malayan civil service, legal system, education system, and whatnot, depended on the English educated Indians brought in from India. It was not until the 1920s or so, when the immigration policy was tightened, that the Malays were educated enough to start filling the ranks of the civil service. Even by the time of Merdeka the country still depended on the immigrants because there were not enough educated Malays to serve the country.

And almost all these people died in this country (only some went home to die) and their Malaysian-born children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are those Indians and Chinese you see in the country today.

To sum up: this country was built by the non-Malays. What we see today is the result of the contribution by the non-Malays. Initially, Malaya’s economy depended on rubber and tin, long before we had factories and heavy industries. And it was because we had immigrant Indians and Chinese is why we saw a thriving rubber and tin industry. If not because of rubber and tin, Malaysia would be amongst the poorest countries in this world.

Then we had three wars – the Second World War, the Malayan Emergency, and the Konfrantasi with Indonesia. And not just Malayans, but many foreign ‘Mat Salleh’ (white skins), as well as Africans, Fijians, Gurkhas, Indians, Punjabis, Bengalis, and many more, died in these wars. Of course, Malays died as well. But Malays were not the only ones who died in these three wars. See the statistics in the addendum below to get an idea of those who sacrificed their lives for this country.

But is the contribution of these patriots ever remembered? The Malays scream, rant and rave that this is a Malay country. They declare that this is Tanah Melayu (Malay land). But we might not even have a country, at least not in the form that we see it now, if not for the fact that many not of Malay origin laid down their lives for this country. If the non-Malays, including the ‘Mat Salleh’, had not died for this country, Malaysia would no longer be an independent nation but just a small province of Indonesia.

When Malays talk about dying for your country, they just look at the three wars. But the death toll for these wars does not even come close to the death toll of those who died serving this country in other ways. Some died defending the country in wars. But many more died in the effort to build this country to what it is today. And many also died of mere old age after serving this country their entire life and then retired here as citizens.

But how do we repay these patriots or children and grandchildren of patriots not of Malay origin? We insult them. We threaten them. We discriminate against them. We oppress them. We persecute them. We treat them as second-class citizens. We refuse to recognise the patriotic contribution of their parents, grandparents or great grandparents in defending this country and in building this country to what it is today.

So these people feel hurt. So they feel that the sacrifices and contribution of their forefathers are not remembered and appreciated. So they decide to leave the country and go to another country that can better-appreciate their talents and skills instead of threatening and subjecting them to screams of “go back to your own country”.

Who are the traitors here? Are the traitors those who hijrah in search of a better life like what the Prophet Muhammad did? Or are the traitors those who ignore the patriotic contribution of Malayans from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s?

The Umno Ministers should be made to pass a history test before they can be appointed as Ministers. And they should also be made to pass a lie detector test every time they make a statement.

As the Malays would say: bodoh (stupid) is bad enough. Bodoh sombong (arrogantly stupid) is unforgivable. And Umno Ministers are just that — bodoh sombong.

ADDENDUM
Combatants in the Malayan Emergency

United Kingdom

Australia

New Zealand

Federation of Malaya

Rhodesia

Fiji

Various British East African colonies

Breakdown of the combatants in the Malayan Emergency

250,000 Malayan Home Guard troops

40,000 regular Commonwealth personnel

37,000 Special Constables

24,000 Federation Police

Casualties in the Malayan Emergency

Killed: 1,346 Malayan troops and police (of many races) and 519 British military personnel

Wounded: 2,406 Malayans (of many races) and British troops/police

Civilian: 2,478 killed, 810 missing (of many races including ‘Mat Salleh‘)

Malaysian-Indonesian Konfrontasi

Combatants in the Konfrontasi

Malaysia

United Kingdom

Australia

New Zealand

And with support from the United States

Allied Casualties

114 killed

181 wounded

Indonesian Casualties

590 killed

222 wounded

Civilian casualties

36 killed

53 wounded

4 taken prisoner

The forces that served during the Konfrontasi period to secure Malaysia’s freedom and independence

United Kingdom

Royal Navy:

40 Commando Royal Marines

42 Commando Royal Marines

Sections of Special Boat Service

Detachments of 845 Naval Air Squadron (Wessex)

Detachments of 846 Naval Air Squadron (Whirlwind)

Detachments of 848 Naval Air Squadron (Wessex)

849 NAS Fairey Gannet AEW on HMS Victorious

British Army

Squadron of Life Guards

Squadrons of 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards

Squadrons of Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars

Squadrons of 4th Royal Tank Regiment

H Squadron of 5th Royal Tank Regiment

4th Light Regiment Royal Artillery (comprising 29 (Corunna), 88 (Arracan), 97 (Lawsons Company) Light Batteries)

V Light, 132 (Bengal Rocket Troop) Medium Batteries (of 6th Light Regiment Royal Artillery)

T (Shah Sujah’s Troop) and 9 (Plassey) Light Anti Defence Batteries (of 12th Light Air Defence Regiment)

30 Light Anti Defence Battery (Roger’s Company) (of 16th Light Air Defence Regiment)

53 (Louisburg) Light Anti Defence Battery (of 22nd Light Air Defence Regiment)

11 (Sphinx) Light Anti Defence Battery (of 34th Light Air Defence Regiment)

40th Light Regiment Royal Artillery (comprising 38 (Seringapatum), 129 (Dragon), 137 (Java) Light Batteries)*

70 Light, 176 (Abu Klea) Light, 170 (Imjin) Medium Batteries (of 45th Light Regiment Royal Artillery)

8 (Alma), 7 (Sphinx), 79 (Kirkee), 145 (Maiwand), Commando Light Batteries (of 29th and 95th Commando Light Regiments, Royal Artillery)

1st Battalion, Scots Guards

Guards Independent Parachute Company

1st Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers

1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders

1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles

1st Battalion, Queen’s Own Highlanders

1st Battalion, Queen’s Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment

1st Battalion, Durham Light Infantry

1st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

1st Battalion, Royal Leicestershire Regiment

1st Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd)

2nd Green Jackets, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps

3rd Green Jackets, The Rifle Brigade

2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment

D Company, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment

1st Battalion, Royal Hampshire Regiment

22 Special Air Service

1st and 2nd Battalions of 2nd Gurkha Rifles

1st and 2nd Battalions, 6th Gurkha Rifles;

1st and 2nd Battalions, 7th Gurkha Rifles;

1st and 2nd Battalions, 10th Gurkha Rifles;

Gurkha Independent Parachute Company

Detachments 656 Squadron Army Air Corps

Various units from Corps of Royal Engineers

Various units from the Royal Corps of Signals

RAF

Detachments 15 Squadron RAF Regiment

Detachments 34 Squadron (Beverley) stationed in Singapore

Detachments 48 Squadron (Hastings and Beverley) stationed at RAF Changi, Singapore

Detachments 209 Squadron (Pioneer and Twin Pioneer)

Detachments 52 Squadron (Valetta) stationed at RAF Butterworth, Malaya

Detachments 66 Squadron (Belvedere) stationed at RAF Seletar, Singapore

Detachments 103 Squadron (Westland Whirlwind HC 10) stationed at RAF Seletar, Singapore

Detachments 110 Squadron (Westland Sycamore then Whirlwind) stationed at RAF Seletar, Singapore

Detachments 205 Squadron (AVRO Shackleton MR Mk2) stationed at RAF Changi, Singapore

225 Squadron (Westland Whirlwind HC 2)

230 Squadron (Westland Whirlwind HC 10)

81 Squadron (Canberra PR 9) stationed at RAF Tengah, Singapore

20 Squadron (Hawker Hunter) stationed at RAF Tengah, Singapore

60 Squadron (Gloster Javelin) stationed at RAF Tengah, Singapore

64 Squadron (Gloster Javelin) stationed at RAF Tengah, Singapore

45 Squadron (Canberra) stationed at RAF Tengah, Singapore

74 Squadron (English Electric Lightning) stationed at RAF Tengah, Singapore

15 Squadron Handley Page Victor stationed in at RAF Tengah and Butterworth)

Australia

102 Field Battery Royal Australian Artillery.

3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment

4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment

A and B Squadrons of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment

Malaysia

Malaysian Army

Squadron of Malaysian Reconnaissance Regiment

A and B Batteries (of 1st Regiment, Malaysian Artillery)

3rd Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment

5th Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment

8th Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment

1st Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment

Royal Federation of Malay States Police

Police Special Branch

Battalion of Police Field Force

New Zealand

1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment

1st Ranger Squadron

41 Squadron (Canberra)

Detachments 41 Squadron (Bristol Freighter)

 

Translated into Chinese at: http://ccliew.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-post_1137.html

 

Translated into BM by Tan KY:

Menurut seorang Menteri UMNO

Menurut seorang Menteri UMNO, rakyat Malaysia yang “berhijrah” ke negara lain adalah pengkhianat. Adakah beliau bercakap bagi pihak kerajaan Malaysia, atau UMNO, BN, atau kaum Melayu atau umat Islam?

Orang Melayu selalu memaki-hamun dan berpekik yang Islam adalah segala-galanya dan selebihnya tidak penting. Contoh terbaik ialah ahli parlimen Kulim, daripada parti PKR yang dianggap liberal, berkali-kali berkata bahawa beliau meletakkan Islam mendahului segala-galanya, termasuk tugas beliau sebagai ahli parlimen. Sekarang mari kita anggap bahawa Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, sebagai seorang Islam, juga bercakap daripada perspektif Islam. 

Islam berkata bahawa jika anda ditindas, didiskrimasi oleh sebuah regim yang kejam, adalah wajib untuk anda berhijrah. Hijrah merupakan konsep yang amat penting dalam Islam. Allah mengarahkan Nabi Muhammad untuk berhijrah, dan kalendar Islam bermula pada tahun hijrah. 

Sekarang renung-renungkanlah. Adakah Menteri UMNO tersebut menuduh Nabi Muhammad seorang pengkhianat? 

Ramai orang Malaysia berkorban kerana negara kita. Orang India dan Cina datang ke negara Malaya di antara tahun 1800 ke 1920. Selepas itu, British mengetatkan polisi imigrasi dan tidak lagi membawa buruh daripada India dan China untuk bekerja di landasan keretapi, ladang dan lombong di Malaya. 

Tetapi ini tidak bermakna imigrasi telah berhenti selepas itu. British masih membawa rakyat India untuk bekerja di sektor awam dan untuk bekerja sebagai guru sekolah. Ini kerana pada masa itu, Melayu tempatan kurang menguasai Bahasa Inggeris berbanding rakyat India. Oleh yang demikian, rakyat India diperlukan sebagai kakitangan awam dan guru. 

Ayah Tun Dr Mahathir ialah contoh seorang guru bahasa Inggeris yang datang dari India, dan mengahwini seorang perempuan Melayu tempatan. 

Ramai pendatang India dan China berkahwin di Malaya, setengahnya kepada rakyat senegara dan setengahnya kepada Melayu tempatan (ini sebabnya banyak Melayu hari ini mempunyai iras Cina dan India). Anak-anak mereka dilahirkan di Malaya, dan merupakan rakyat Malaysia hari ini yang berbangsa Cina dan India. Ramai di antara mereka tidak pernah menjejak kaki di India atau China dari hari mereka lahir. 

Ibu bapa mereka dan datuk-nenek mereka (ada yang merupakan generasi ketiga atau keempat di Malaysia dan setengahnya, seperti Cina di Melaka, telah berada di sini sejak 500 tahun lalu) datang ke Malaya untuk bekerja dan menghembuskan nafas terakhir di negara ini. Dan sesetengah “pendatang” ini telah berada di negara ini jauh lebih lama daripada sesetengah Melayu yang merupakan generasi kedua atau ketiga. 

Perdebatan tentang siapa yang datang dahulu adalah perkara yang tidak mudah diselesaikan. Ada Cina dan India yang telah berada di sini sejak beratus tahun dahulu, dan ada Melayu yang hanya berada di sini kurang daripada seratus tahun. Namun demikian, artikel ini bukanlah untuk betengkar mengenai siapa yang lebih layak digelar “Bumiputera” 

Semua daripada kita merupakan anak kepada pendatang. Sukar untuk kita mengkategorikan tiga bangsa ini secara umum. Ia sesuatu yang harus dilihat satu-persatu. Keluarga saya datang ke Malaya pada tahun 1700-an. Keluarga Tian Chua datang lebih awal daripada itu. Dr Mahathir dan Khir Toyo merupakan rakyat Malaysia generasi kedua walaupun seorang pernah menjadi Perdana Menteri dan seorang lagi Menteri Besar. 

Sekali lagi, artikel ini bukan untuk membincangkan siapa yang lebih Bumiputra, kerana kita boleh berdebat siang dan malam dan sehingga kucing bertanduk pun kita tidak akan mencapai kata sepakat. Apa yang saya ingin ketengahkan di  sini ialah siapa yang telah berjasa kepada negara ini dan oleh yang itu, layak digelar sebagai rakyat yang cinta negara. 

Landasan keretapi, jalan raya, jambatan dan bangunan di negara ini, sehingga ke tahun 1980-an (lebih daripada 100 tahun) dibina oleh India dan Cina (bukan Melayu). Saya masih ingat pada tahun 1970-an, saya melihat pekerja India bertungkus lumus di bawah matahari yang terik membina jalan dan landasan keretapi. Mereka turut bekerja di estet dan ladang. Sama juga bagi lombong timah dan industri bangunan, yang kebanyakannya diusahakan orang Cina. 

Dan ramai yang terkorban. Banyak kes di mana pekerja Cina maut akibat wabak penyakit dan perang dan pekerja baru terpaksa dibawa daripada China untuk menggantikan yang terkorban. Hidup mereka penuh kesengsaraan. 

Di Malaya pada masa itu, sektor awam, perundangan, pendidikan bergantung kepada rakyat India yang menerima pendidikan Inggeris (India pada masa itu di bawah naungan British). Selepas 1920-an, Melayu tempatan mula mengisi jawatan di sektor awam setelah menerima cukup pendidikan Inggeris. Walau bagaimanapun, ketika negara kita merdeka, negara masih bergantung kepada golongan pendatang kerana rakyat tempatan masih kurang yang menerima pendidikan yang cukup. 

Hampir kesemua golongan ini yang pada mulanya dibawa dari Cina dan India, anak, cucu mereka yang dilahirkan di Malaysia merupakan rakyat Cina dan India yang anda lihat di Malaysia hari ini. 

Kesimpulannya, negara ini dibina oleh yang bukan Melayu. Apa yang kita ada hari ini merupakan keringat bukan Melayu. Pada awalnya, ekonomi Malaya bergantung kepada getah dan timah, sebelum kita mempunyai industri berat dan kilang-kilang. Dan hanya kerana adanya pendatang India dan Cina kita mempunyai sektor pelombongan dan peladangan yang berjaya. Kalau bukan kerana ini, Malaysia hari ini mungkin di antara negara termiskin di dunia. 

Selain itu, kita pernah mengalami tiga perang, Perang Dunia Kedua, perang Komunis dan Konfrontasi dengan Indonesia. Bukan hanya orang Malaya, tetapi juga orang putih, orang Afrika, orang Fiji, orang Gujerat, orang India, Punjabi, Bengali dan banyak lagi, terkorban dalam peperangan ini. Tidak dinafikan, Melayu juga banyak yang terkorban. Tetapi mereka bukannya satu-satunya golongan yang terkorban. 

Pokoknya, adakah pengorbanan golongan bukan Melayu diingati hari ini? Ada Melayu hari ini yang terpekik terlolong bahawa negara ini kepunyaan mereka. Mereka kata ini Tanah Melayu. Tetapi kita mungkin tidak ada negara yang kita ada hari ini tanpa pengorbanan bukan Melayu. Jika bukan kerana mereka, kita mungkin hanya satu wilayah Indonesia hari ini. 

Apabila Melayu bercakap tentang berkorban untuk negara, mereka selalunya menumpukan kepada tiga perang ini. Tetapi angka korban bagi perang adalah kecil berbanding dengan yang terkorban kerana berkhidmat untuk negara ini dalam aspek lain. Dan ini tidak termasuk yang menignnggal dunia kerana usia tua selepas menghabiskan seluruh hidup mereka di negara ini sebagai seorang rakyat. 

Tetapi bagaimana kita membalas budi mereka, dan anak-anak dan cucu-cucu mereka yang bukan Melayu? Kita menghina mereka (pendatang!). Kita mengancam mereka (jangan cabar Melayu!). Kita mendiskriminasi terhadap mereka (hak-hak Bumiputra!). Kita menindas mereka dan menganggap mereka sebagai rakyat kelas kedua. Kita tidak menghiraukan budi datuk nenek mereka yang menghabiskan hidup berbakti untuk negara kita. 

Jadi mereka berasa terkilan. Mereka berasa bahawa pengorbanan dan bakti datuk nenek mere tidak dihargai. Jadi mereka mengambil keputusan pergi ke negara lain di mana bakat mereka lebih dihargai. Mereka meninggalkan Malaysia kerana tidak tahan dengan kecaman “baliklah ke China atau India. Ini Tanah Melayu!”.

Siapa pengkhianat di sini? Adakah pengkhianat mereka yang berhijrah mencari kehidupan yang lebih baik seperti apa yang dilakukan oleh Nabi Muhammad? Atau pengkhianat mereka yang tidak mahu mengiktiraf pengorbanan dan jasa pendatang di Malaya dari tahun 1800-an ke 1900-an? 

Menteri Umno patut mengambil ujian sejarah sebelum mereka menjadi Menteri. Mereka juga patut mengambil ujian bohong setiap kali mereka membuka mulut mereka. 

Bak kata orang Melayu: bodoh suduh cukup teruk. Bodoh sombong tidak boleh dimaafkan. Dan Menteri Umno hanya satu: bodoh sombong. 

 

 

Who is  a Mandore?

Historically, a Mandore was a supervisor in the rubber estates, whose role was to ensure the estate bosses got their work done by the Indian rubber tapper – the daily paid wage workers. Besides just supervising to get the job done these Mandores also had the role of goading the workers on, on  unpopular policies. They resorted to manipulation, force and deceit, in many cases to do this. Then, when dissatisfaction brewed and the workers began to speak out they also played the role of the spy for the master – telling on trouble makers. In many of these situations they connived with their masters because of their understanding of the nuances of the tappers lives and communities.  

 The master for his part always remained in the background.  He used many ruthless schemes to maximize his personal gains from the background. He skillfully used his Mandore to be his fall guy. In return for the fronting he did for the master, these Mandores enjoyed a few more perks in life.  The master gave a very small portion of truly what should all have gone to the tappers, to the Mandores and set off with the rest. Those tidbits gave the Mandores a status that they strutted while the master got the large chunk of the value that was created by the tappers. The master got off with the loot. The Mandores got a few crumbs and was always humming and hawing for more. The tappers got the short end of the stick.

 That was the process of yore, devised by the plantation owners of those days to ensure they got the maximum possible yields. They allowed only enough to be paid to the tapper and his families’  subsistence , some toddy and maybe a little for his festivals, but not more.

Then the white masters left and the brown and yellow tuans took over in the 1960s. This system remained and evolved. What started as a system for maximizing the profits in the plantations became in time a system for subjugating the Indian poor to maximize the returns for the tuans in the economy as a whole wherever the Indian worker was involved. The tuans influence now extended to all aspects of the economy and politics.

Mandores become Mandorism.

 

What is Mandorism?

Mandorism in short, is a system for subjugation of the Indian working class by Indian middlemen fronting for the power elite of the country.

With Independence came an opportunity for a better life for all. But it was not to be. It was independence for The Malay, Chinese and Indian elites only. It was not Independence for the workers. It was really not any different for the workers – in fact it got worse for the workers.

 

At this stage of the nation, there was collusion and contention between these 3 sections of the elite. They colluded where their collective self preservation was concerned and they competed where their individual self preservation was concerned. It was in the collusion mode that Mandorism arose.

The new Mandore’s  role now, was to hold the down the Indian poor so the elite could pole vault off their backs undisturbed into their newfound opportunity for prosperity. The new system was such that it benefited the elite but it impoverished the workers and the workers had to be kept ignorant and they had to be kept down.  One policy which clearly impoverished the Indian workers was the fragmentation of the estates and the ejection of the estate workers en masse into the urban centers. The dislocation created was massive, the negative effects of which are still being felt.

 

How did this happen without any effective opposition from the people so thrown out. Enter the new Mandore – the MIC. Their historical role now, it is clear was to mollify the effects of all this deprivation and dispossession. Mandorsim was born.

 

Here are some key features of how mandorism operates/operated:

 

1) The new Mandores assumed leadership for the Indian workers through the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) beginning in the 1950s. They extended the Mandores role from inside of the estates to the outside and to all aspects of the economy and politics that involved the Indian workers.

 

2) The interests of the workers were increasingly compromised by these MIC Mandores for positions in the Federal Cabinet, in Parliament, in other Governing councils for the Mandores  at all levels in the MIC.

 

3) The MIC Mandores were made responsible for resolving the issues and the problems of the Indian community through the ethnocentric political arrangement of the Alliance. The elder brother UMNO took on the role of the Tuan and MIC became their Mandores.

 

4) The Mandore was not really expected to solve the problems of the community – they could not anyway, because of the miniscule allocation of resources. They were just to hold the Indian poor down so the tauns could take away the resources to their higher priorities without questions from the Indian poor. The MIC mandores were expected to give a perception that they were solving the problems. So, whenever problems arose and there were plenty of them, UMNO would just pass the buck to the Mandore MIC and Mandore MIC would create mirages of doing something about the problems and the poor were fed with a steady diet of such illusion.

 5) So what kind of things does the Mandore MIC do to create these illusions– set up illusory  bodies like the National Land Finance Cooperative (NLFCS), the NESA scheme, the MIC Unit Trust Scheme, the Koperasi Pekerja Jaya company, the Maju Jaya Cooperative,  the MAIKA Scheme, The AIMST  and MIED funds. These bodies were the Mandores answers to the woes of the Indian community. Not only did they all not provide any tangible benefit to the Indian poor , they bankrupted the Indian poor further in many cases.

 Compare this with what the tuan was doing on the other side –  FELDA, FELCRA, PERDA, KEDA, KEJORA, MARA, PNB, PNS, KHAZANAH, PETRONAS, FAMA, all the other Government Linked companies, to name just a few. Look at the net effect of all those development efforts and the opportunities they had created and how they have brought about sea changes to the Malay community. The Indian poor achieved zero with all the illusory schemes of the Mandoreswhile the Mandores continued to sell off the rights of the Indians with impunity and connivance with UMNO and destroyed the future of several generations of Indian .  

 6) The MIC Mandores did not consolidate and develop the position of the Indians in the country at all. They compromised all that for the crumbs of positions as Minister, Deputy Ministers some other positions in Government, stole whatever little crumbs that were thrown at the Indians, obtained grants of lands, shares  for themselves, their cronies and their relatives.  

 7)  For the problems of the Indian community, elder brother UMNO would always send in the Mandore MIC to front for them. And what does the Mandore do – he says, I will raise it in Parliament, he says, I will raise it in the Cabinet meeting, he says I will raise it to the PM. He creates an illusion of representation. Result – zero.

  They put up pictures of handing over some mock cheques in the Tamil newspapers, they issue statements in the Tamil newspapers that the PM gave a 100 million Ringgits, the PM gave 65 million Ringgits, a new school building has been approved, the Indian entrepreuners would be given loans, the Indian poor will be allotted low cost houses, the temple demolition will be stopped or postponed and such other lies and nonsense. Net effect, the Indian newspapers which anyway were owned by the MIC Mandores sells more copies (Samy Vellu owns the Tamil Nesan and Subramaniam owns the Makkal Osai) and the Mandores look like they are busy settling the problems of the Indian poor. The truth is that nothing has changed, the tuan loots, the Mandores get some crumbs and the poor keep getting shafted.

 9) For some other problems that seems to be getting out of hand for the tuan UMNO and which could cause some embarrassment or hurt, they send in the Mandore MIC to sweet talk, to bribe, to threaten and to coax the key individuals into submission and kill the offending problem off. We see this in so many instances – the temple demolitions, the squatter home demolitions, the police murders to name a few.

 All of this represents just a facet of the whole system in the country – a pernicious one nevertheless. There is just no political will in the system to resolve the Indian working class problems, so mandorism steps in and keeps the problem at bay. There is a lot of play acting,but no real substance of a long term and sustainable solution.

 

Enter the Newest mandores  - the PR mandores

 In the last general Elections the Indian poor for the first time threw off the illusions created by the MIC Mandores and kicked them out and put in place in 5 States, Governments that they thought would have more political will to address their longstanding issues.  They placed a lot of hope in the Pakatan Rakyat Coalition. But much to their disappointment what they got was just more of the same.  Old wine,  just new bottle.

 What do they get, a new set of Mandores who facilitate their new tuans to demolish, to destroy, to delude, to throw more crumbs, to mollify. If we go back up this story and replace the MIC Mandores with the PR Mandores the story will not read much different, only these Mandores are doing in these last two years what the MIC Mandores have been doing for over 50 years.

 They help their tuans break Indian settlements, demolish Indian temples, demolish Hindu burial grounds, give mock cheques in the newspapers, promise secondary schools after the next elections, give a little bit of land for a school here, a school there, give some handouts to fire victims and play it big in the newspapers. They support the Srilanka Tamil refugees in a big way, they want to kill off the MIC Mandores, burn their effigies, they want to kill off Hindraf, the emerging champion of the poor Indians, they lie, they twist, they do everything what MIC has been doing for the last 50+ years.

 They propose no permanent solutions to any of the problems. They develop no master plan to address any of the problems. They have no no vision for a healthy and thriving Indian community as part of a larger healthy and thriving Malaysian community, they have no political will to address these problems head on. They are interested only in supporting their new tauns, keeping their political positions, looking good within their respective political parties and hoping to get nominated by their parties for the next general elections and then maybe retire with a lifelong pension.

 So what is the difference – MIC Mandores or PR Mandores. All the same stuff, just different in name and style.

Mandorism as a system must be demolished

Time has come for us to completely kill off this Mandorist system. Mandores do not represent the poor and marginalized. They represent the interest of the tuans. What is needed now is a true representation of the poor and the marginalized in the halls of power. Only then will policies be forced in place for the poor and the marginalized. Not just for the Indian poor and marginalized but for the poor and marginalized of all of Malaysia. The current two coalitions really do not represent the poor and the marginalized, that is why they have similar policies and methods  in spite of their avowed differences– an example of this similarity is this policy of the continuation of Mandorism. The powers-that-be must deal with the true representatives of the poor and the marginalized, they should not try and manipulate their way out of their obligations to the poor of the country. The Mandorist system has been a way for them to do it.

 

Powers that be must get out of the denial syndrome

 

The powers-that-be now need to stop denying that the poor are beginning to speak up and that this is not reversible anymore. They must accept that the expectations of the people cannot be bottled in any more. The likes of me who do not quite belong to the category of the poor and marginalized are increasing, as more and more become aware of what is really happening and why. No matter that the poor may still be inarticulate themselves, the numbers who are speaking up for them are increasing and are doing so increasingly fearlessly. The process is set. You cannot put the genie back into the bottle.

 

This truth must be accepted and  the denials and the petty intrigues must stop and realism must set in, to prevent further pain and further loss for Malaysian society as a whole.

 

The powers that be must demolish the Mandorist system and start negotiating a better future with the poor and marginalized themselves through their true representatives. There is no other way out of this problem of the poor and marginalized Indians.

 

So let us all start getting real and initiate positive moves to go on forward. Start with killing off the Mandorist system.

 

Viva la Makkal

Naragan

Utusan Malaysia ‘pandai’ cipta tajuk berita !
Saya merujuk pada Utusan, 8 Disember, 2009. Berikut ialah kandungan berita yang disiarkan …
(Ahli Parlimen Taiping yang juga Timbalan Bendahari Agung DAP, Nga Kor Ming berkata, walaupun mengalu-alukan usaha kerajaan memartabatkan agama Islam tetapi pada masa sama berasa kesal kerana rakyat bukan Islam telah dianaktirikan sedangkan mereka juga adalah pembayar cukai.
Kor Ming menegaskan, prinsip pertama Rukun Negara adalah Kepercayaan Kepada Tuhan dan oleh itu semua rakyat Malaysia termasuk rakyat bukan beragama Islam harus menerima ajaran agama yang betul.
Menurut beliau, justeru adalah menjadi tanggungjawab kerajaan membantu pembangunan pendidikan rohani rakyat Malaysia yang bukan beragama Islam juga.
‘‘Semua rakyat adalah pembayar cukai, adalah tidak adil penganut agama bukan Islam dianaktirikan,” jelasnya.)
Itulah kandungan beritanya !
Ini pula tajuk yang diberi – ‘Kor Ming persoal kerajaan bina banyak masjid’ ! Wajarkah tajuk ini berdasarkan kandungan berita di atas? ‘Senyum Kambing’ di muka depan pula mengatakan bahawa tindakan Kor melampau !
Kor Ming sebenarnya tidak mempersoalkan pembinaan masjid sebaliknya ingin tahu mengapa peruntukan yang sama tidak diberi kepada penganut-penganut agama lain. Namun, Utusan Malaysia memutarbelitkan berita, setidak-tidaknya pada tajuk berita untuk mengelirukan orang ramai (terutamanya orang Melayu/Islam) serta memberi gambaran seolah-olah Kor anti-Islam.
Hakikatnya ialah isu tanah untuk kuil Hindu, kubur dan sekolah Tamil belum selesai ! Jika ada pihak yang cuba mengetengahkan isu-isu ini maka mereka dilabelkan sebagai anti-Islam dan anti-Melayu. Saya harap anda masih ingat bagaimana Utusan memutarbelitkan berita dan sengaja mengelirukan orang Melayu/Islam dan rakyat Malaysia ketika demonstrasi dan perjuangan Hindraf pada 2007/2008. Mujurlah banyak orang Malaysia tidak percaya pada Utusan !
Utusan sepatutnya mempunyai tanggungjawab sosial bagi melaporkan perkara sebenar daripada perspektif yang dimaksudkan oleh pihak-pihak yang terbabit, bukan daripada perspektif mereka sendiri yang berkepentingan politik.
Jadi, ingatlah bahawa apa-apa yang dibaca dalam surat khabar seperti Utusan tidak semestinya perkara yang benar !
 
- CikguParu -

---

By Farish A. Noor ~ December 1st, 2009 According to Malaysia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kohilan Pillay, the number of Malaysians who have decided to up their roots and emigrate abroad has almost doubled this year to about 340,000. 3,800 Malaysians have given up their citizenship and simply opted to leave the country of their birth. Furthermore it has been noted that almost half of those who have left are professionals who have chosen to seek greener pastures abroad, citing better pay and working opportunities as well as marriage as the most common reasons given. Malaysia is the loser in this sorry equation, and though the right-wing communitarians among us used to quip ‘if you dont like it, leave it’, this sorry reply will sooner or later be exposed for the vain boast that it is.

For Malaysians are indeed leaving, and many of them happen to be among the most precious human resource that the country cannot afford to lose.
For what is a nation, and what is Malaysia?
Malaysia, it has to be remembered is not a patch of land where the mountains and trees realise that they happen to be part of a nation they are not even members of. Neither do the roads, bridges, buildings and flagpoles that litter our urban landscape make up the essence of what is Malaysia.

Malaysia is made up of Malaysians, and if and when there are no more Malaysian-minded Malaysians left then we might as well turn the lights off and call it quits. Malaysia exists as an idea, an ideal and a value only when there are enough people who regard themselves as Malaysians first, and who place citizenship and national belonging above all other concerns of ethnicity and communitarian politics. And right now, many of those Malaysians are heading for the exit.
What is interesting for the historian here is that this pattern of migration mirrors the modes of passive mass protest of old, dating back to the pre-modern and pre-colonial era when Kings were Gods (Dewarajas) and where there was no such thing as a nationalism and national identity. Loyalties were bound to kingship, and rule was affected through force and violence. In the pre-modern polities of Southeast Asia, democracy was an alien and distant concept and politics was likewise absent as there was no independent public domain and no public participation in governance. In short, power was absolute and absolutely monopolised by the ruler and the ruling elite.
Our poor ancestors realised that theirs was a sorry lot. Under the best of circumstances they might have been lucky enough to live under a benevolent ruler who was wise enough to share the riches of the land, or at least not tax and plunder his helpless subjects into total subjection and poverty. At worse, some rulers were despotic and almost homicidally so, slaughtering their own subjects, forcing them into forms of debt bondage and slavery, taxing their meagre earnings and grinding down the few bright sparks and independent-minded individuals among them.

The Hikayats of old are replete with such stories of wanton oppression at the hands of tyrants and egomaniacs, and the poor people of the Indonesian-Malay archipelago were left with little in the form of effective resistance.
After all, what could one do if one happened to be one of the unfortunate subjects of a vainglorious God-King/Dewaraja? Vote the king out? There was no such thing as voting with one’s hands, and so the only form of resistance was to vote with one’s feet, and to leave.
This explains in part the fluid character of the pre-modern polities of Southeast Asia in the past, where kingdoms would rise and fall according to the performance of the rulers themselves. Wise and benevolent rulers would attract more and more migrants to his realm, for the word would spread that a wise and benevolent king rules there.
But tyrants would soon find themselves deserted, and their kingdoms would falter and decline thanks to the modes of passive resistance that included reduction of work and production, and eventually migration and depopulation. Ironically, despite the vast repertoire of the symbols of sacred power that the God-kings had at their disposal, even they could not stop their people from leaving in the dead of night to better climes and safer lands. In an age where polities depended on human resources and where there were rarely any substantial standing armies, migration was one of the most powerful forms of passive resistance that was available to the ordinary people of Southeast Asia.
So from that historical perspective we may want to look at what is happening in Malaysia today. The outflow of human resource – the most precious possession that any country can claim – is perhaps one of the few political acts that the ordinary citizen can perform today. The country loses, and we all lose too in the process. But the ruling elite in Malaysia today has to ask itself this simple question: If and when so many Malaysians chose to leave the country of their birth, what were the factors that prompted them to do so, and what could the elite have done to win and retain their confidence in the Malaysian project. Set against this context, all talk of a ‘United Malaysia’, ‘One Malaysia’, ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ seems stale and ineffectual.
Malaysia is most in danger not when it is invaded, but when Malaysians themselves have lost faith in it. And for that loss of faith in the national project, we have no-one else to blame save the politicians of the country themselves.

By Malini Dass

On 25th November 2007 will go down as the greatest demonstration of the expression of a state of hopelessness of the Malaysian Indians living in independent Malaysia. It was a day of showing outwardly years of displacement and marginalization by selective policies, their actual state of mind.. It was a culmination of a long journey of neglect that has made many Indians more disadvantaged than others .

The irony is the bulk of Tamils who came to Malaysia under the indentured labour system of the British were from the lower economic strat of the Indian society. Post independent India evolved an affirmative action program that has moved this lot up mainstream society, by educational support and government programs. Those who came to Malaysia lost out on this post Independent Indian program but on the contrary faced further discrimination and hardship by the UMNO government . With India’s emerging economic growth and the political conviction to create an equitable society, India has become a land of opportunity thus proving the decision of the forefathers decision to get on that ship to Penang wrong.

The tear gas canisters that were indiscriminately fired on that 25th Nov. 2007 was a classical demonstration of a reminder by the government of the day that it has no human compulsion or moral responsibility to those who were trusted upon them by the British colonial masters. Thus the initiative by Hindaf Chairperson Waythamoorthy to submit a memorandum to the British government on that day was a symbolism, to show the world that there is an historical distortion of responsibilities between pre independent Malaya and post independent Malaysia governments.

The issue today we are still struggling to realize is not peculiar to Indian causes alone, just because Hindraf has presented an Indian case. If the government both BN/PR does not realize its failure to create an equitable society based on pure economic parameters it will eventually lead to multi faceted social consequences which will be more difficult and costly in terms of remedy in years to come.

Hindraf is just a forerunner of similar marginal community support groups and they need to succeed because the ramifications will be great as Hindraf’s success will pave the way for other minorities groups who are in a similar plight to seek representation and attention for their cause. Hindraf is the catalyst for the expression of those who need attention, who need support, who need affirmative programs. Such groups need not be limited to race based or religious based, it could be the disabled, the single mothers, the homeless, the urban squatters and so forth. Hindaf actions could be well equated with that of the civil rights movement in the 60’s. Once the civil rights bill was endorsed by congress other marginalize communities were also able to raise their plights and problems too.

It is therefore very pertinent that all level minded, civic conscious true Malaysian look at Hindraf as an expression of the disadvantaged then to look at it from a racial prism. It will be for the nations good if movements like Hindraf succeed in the democratic space to bring about changes in the socio-economic landscape of this nation of ours .It will set the pace for others to follow through and will enable the evolution of an empathetic, and caring Malaysian generation.

We should also look at the hindraf rallies as a real cry for freedom. Their success will endorse greater democracy in the country and will turn the page of old politics of misrepresentation and distortion. We will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, religion against religion.