Towards a better tomorrow
PM: This is the most comprehensive plan ever drawn up for M’sian Indians
Using the meaningful phrase Naalai Namadhe ( Tamil for ‘ Tomorrow is Ours’), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak vowed to bring change to Malaysian Indians with what is the first concerted government plan to improve their lives. He launched the Malaysian Indian Blueprint which will focus on achieving specific economic, education and business targets for the community over the next decade.
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak launched the much-awaited Malaysian Indian Blueprint (MIB) with a pledge that most of its main components will be delivered within a decade.
The Prime Minister said the detailed study to improve the lot of the community had been done and it was now time to turn it into action.
“This blueprint must and will be delivered. This is no election gimmick or political rhetoric.
“We guarantee this,” he said, shouting Naalai Namadhe (Tamil for Tomorrow is Ours) several times as the mainly Indian crowd at the Putra World Trade Centre roared in approval.
Hailing the MIB as a first for the community, Najib said the Government had engaged Malaysian Indians at the grassroots to develop a plan for their socio-economic improvement.
“In the past, MIC had proposed a plan.
“But this is the first time that the Federal Government got involved to drive things forward.
“This is the most comprehensive plan ever drawn up for Malaysian Indians,” he added.
Najib said he had pledged to draw up the MIB when he tabled the 11th Malaysia Plan in 2015.
“The blueprint took two years because the Government insisted on a bottom-up and inclusive method in its preparation.
“We also consulted hundreds of NGOs, community groups and civil society leaders, besides the experts.
“So this is not vetti pechi (empty talk),” he said in remarks directed at critics who claim that the document was primarily aimed at wooing Malaysian Indians at the next general election.
Najib reiterated that the MIB was drawn up with a deep-rooted desire to directly impact the lives of as many Malaysian Indians as possible.
MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the Indian community “will be the final judge of the blueprint”.
“The voice of a critic is present in every democracy, but the eventual judges are the targeted beneficiaries of the blueprint, which is the Malaysian Indian community.
“They are definitely reasonable and rational enough to know of the Government’s intention,” he said in his speech.
Dr Subramaniam said the document was not one that was created in a hurry, as it was a commitment by the Prime Minister and the aspiration of MIC.
Also present at the event were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Cabinet ministers, MIC leaders, NGO leaders and think-tank representatives.