Full of complex, complicated and peculiar issues
STATELESS people living in abject poverty in Selangor will be given a helping hand to change their situation.
Kuala Langat MP Dr Xavier Jayakumar said those who know of such people should start approaching the state authorities.
“We must help them with their documentation and need people who can represent them to come forward,” said Dr Xavier.
He said stateless people must first change their status to be recognised and become a part of the system, which can render them the necessary help.
“It is very clear in the rules and by-laws that if you have a red MyKad or are undocumented, you are not privileged to receive government aid,” added Dr Xavier, who was a previous state executive councillor.
The problem can also be easily solved if Pakatan Harapan makes good its election manifesto promise of allocating the Indian community RM4bil over a span of 10 years.
“That comes up to RM400mil a year and the government can do a lot of things with the money,” said skills training organisation MySkills Foundation director S. Pasupathi.
He said while sorting out the documentation for stateless Indians, the government should also look at elevating the socio-economic status of some 225,000 hardcore poor Indian families identified by the previous Barisan Nasional government’s Malaysian Indian Blueprint.
“There is no need for the new government to start on fresh research and data collection.
“The blueprint has all the details and exact locations of these families,” said Pasupathi.
What should be new, added Pasupathi, is a concrete and holistic programme to pull these impoverished families out of their current situation.
The old method of holding empowerment and motivation seminars should also be done away as they don’t really help the recipients.
There is also a need for a dedicated team which can work with the local NGOs to touch base with the recipients of the programme, said Pasupathi.
“It has to be a race-bassed approach to reach out to these people and if the Pakatan government has the political will and puts in place a good mechanism, we can easily eliminate abject poverty in the Indian community within the next 10 years,” he noted.
The authorities must also acknowledge that the issues revolving around marginalised and impoverished Indian families are complex, complicated and even peculiar to a certain extent.
Various groups have made many attempts over the years to change their fate, but most ended up with little or no results.
The biggest attempt to elevate the marginalised Indian community was initiated in 2002 when middle-class Indians came to the fore to help underclass Indians via a conference dubbed The Malaysian Indian in the New Millennium – Rebuilding Community.
Klang MP Charles Santiago, who was not in politics yet during the conference, delivered a paper that stated the status of the troubled segment of the Indian community, was indicative of its lack of influence over government decision-making.
He had added the poverty and marginalisation encompassing this segment of the community was a breach of human rights since it
denied rights to the determinant basics required to sustain a decent standard of living and quality of life.
His solution was: “More Indians should be registered as voters to enhance the community’s political strength. A massive voter registration exercise must be exercised”.
Currently Pakatan has 14 MPs and 19 assemblymen of Indian origin while Barisan has two and three respectively.
The die has been cast and the game has begun.
Let there be no more dirt poor or stateless Indians in Malaysia in time to come. — Wani Muthiah