MALAYSIA A LAND OF MILK AND HONEY

Malaysia is a land of opportunities for those who want to explore the known as well as unknown. It would not be surprising for a tourist to say, “I would like Malaysia to be my second home”. The scenic beauty, the awesome landscape and the multi-cultural ethnic practices will make one want to visit the place again or perhaps migrate to Malaysia.

Settlers from far and wide do settle in Malaysia. There are several Indians who want to migrate to Malaysia from India. IT professionals, businessmen, students, musicians and artists have their own reasons for making Malaysia their home. Malaysia migration is popular affair as the Malaysian economy is geared towards profitability, gainful employment and higher standard of living. The way to become rich lies in your effort and bring forth your hidden talents to fore.

But the situation was different some 150 years ago.

Large-scale migration of Indians from the sub-continent to Malaya followed the extension of British formal rule to the west coast Malay states in the 1870s. As early as 1901, the Indian population in the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States was approximately 120,000, and by 1947 it had grown to almost 600,000 for Malaya and Singapore. At the time of Independence in 1957, it stood at a little over 820,000.

The overwhelming majority of migrants from India were Tamilspeaking from the south of the subcontinent.

One family that joined the exodus during the migration was the Govindasamy family. A migrant from Vellore District in South India, he arrived in Malaya in 1930s to work in the oil palm estates. Together with his wife Madam Salamah, they settled down in an estate in a coastal town of Morib, Selangor.

G. Vizayer Raj or Vijay (the writer) as he is fondly known to his friends and family, is the ninth child of the ten siblings in the family. But life was full of hardship for Vijay, who grew up in a family of ten children crammed up in workers quarters in an oil palm estate in Gadong, Banting, Selangor. He remembers having to wake up as early as 5.30am so that he could catch the day’s first bus to school 20km away.

“My parents may have not schooled, but they were determined to give their children education. Because of their foresight, my siblings and I have secured a better life today”.

Thirst for knowledge took Vijay up the ranks. Extremely motivated to succeed, he had to juggle between his job, family and studies.

“I know from experience that every individual can make a difference in whatever cause he or she chooses to engage. The key is to make a conscious choice to get involved and then do it. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time and founded the Malaysian Indian Hope Foundation in 2015. I have never looked back. I have, however, looked back every now and again to better understand why I decided to do what I did and because I know that remembering where I come from renews my resolve to stay on course and keep on keeping on”.

The plight of the Malaysian Indians today can be attributed in part to a dependency mindset nurtured on the plantations and this has to be overcome. There is a significant and emergent need for a change in the leadership of the Indian parties in power to take up the cause of the Indians to get them their due rights and have full access to jobs and education. We must rebuild the community, redeem the dignity, overcome problems such as the loss of self- esteem within the community, external derision and the absence of unifying factors to forge a single identity have to be addressed by the leading cultural, social and political institutions and embark on an action plan.

Inspired and self-driven by our vision for a better future it is up to each of us to keep alive our dreams and keep stoked that fire in the belly.

With a vision for the Indians in Malaysia to do better than what they are doing today will be a dream come true.

I am confident this can be our future, if we but listen closely for the heartbeat in our being that gives voice to our vision of uplifting our community. And it is our willingness to embrace this vision that will lift life into the light shining just the other side of hope.

Let’s live to leave a legacy to inspire the next generation.