Taking Indians for a Ride?

The allocation of RM130 mil to the Indian community can be described as “pittance” or “peanuts”. The total budget amounts to RM395 bil. The RM130 mil will be allocated to Indians through the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA) (RM100 mil) and for Indian entrepreneurial activities (RM30 mil) through the Tekun programme.

For too long, the poor, marginalised and exploited B40 (Indians) have no real hope from their poverty cycle. Then there are numerous scandals of money allocated – only for some political elites to enjoy, just like MAIKA!

Enough about allocation. If the Madani Government is serious, then there are five areas that poor Indians require help:

• Education and scholarships (for local/overseas study);

• Employment (in major companies/civil service);

• Entrepreneur development (from start-ups to expansion);

• Endowment plan; and

• Empowerment

In education, good students from Tamil schools fail to shine after Primary 6. Why? They go to National Schools and get subsumed into the dominant culture and leave school by Form Five or even earlier. Some are gangsters by age 12, happy with the pocket money of RM400-500 p.m., wear sun glasses and better clothes. But live in PPR flats. If you don’t believe go visit these flats! So, scholarships from Form 1 and coaching in subjects may help break the cycle.

For employment, they are not educated and so are in the lowest rung of the labour force. If they are educated then there is hope. I know of two girls who have made it as doctors because their parents and the school persevered. So, there is a need to provide opportunities for education and employment.

For entrepreneurship, other than AK, do Indians have other role models? The percentage share of corporate wealth in Malaysia held by Indians is firmly below 2% since 1970. In an article by Jesrina Ann Xavier/Ponmalar N. Alagappar/Lee Kean Yew presented and I quote in italics: 

With regards to share capital, by 1970, Indians owned about 1.1%, while the Malays owned 2.4% and the Chinese owned 27.2%. By the end of 1990, Indians owned less than 1% of the country’s corporate wealth, compared to their 1% in 1970. The declination in the Malaysian Indians’ socioeconomic status was owing to the dramatic changes in the nation’s economic position. In fact, Indian ownership of share capital in Malaysia dishearteningly increased from 1.1% in 1970 to 1.2% in 2004 and later to 1.6% in 2008. (Extracted from the article referenced below)

Why is this so? Partly because Indians don’t look up to business or entrepreneurship as the Chinese community do. They prefer employment especially in government or large MNCs. It is a cultural phenomenon! The other is, if they do some form of business, they are basically MSMEs. In the same referenced article below, the following was stated:

Micro firms, with entrepreneurs of basic education and minimal experience, continue to build strong family ties to enhance their business management. While, SMEs are showing strong co-ethnic ties to build or develop their ethnic enterprises. This is changing as generations change and as businesses grow. On the other hand, entrepreneurs of large corporations have realized that strong inter-ethnic ties are imperative for the rapid growth of businesses, especially in Malaysia. These changes through transgenerational succession are shown in the conceptual framework below.

These MSMEs have difficulty to grow because access to finance is limited. There is no real help from the Government for the Indian community. The only bank that Indians had was in the 80s – UAB. That too, collapsed eventually into CIMB!

The best way forward is an Endowment Scheme – similar to ASB for bumiputras. If the Government provides RM1 billion for this purpose and is run by PNB on behalf of the Indian community, then there is hope!

Finally, empowerment – many Indians have an “estate” mentality of dependency. A mindset breakthrough is needed. That will only happen if people are empowered, motivated to change!

So, the 5E plan is key to lifting the B40 Indian group from their current predicament.

Happy Deepavali!

References:

Madani gov’t should stop taking Indians for a ride by dishing out peanuts funding sum, Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy, FMT, 29 October 2023

Disparity in the progress of ethnic Indian enterprises: a study on transgenerational succession in Malaysia, Jesrina Ann Xavier, Ponmalar N. Alagappar & Lee Kean Yew, Asian Ethnicity