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P. Waytha Moorthy writing from London
After 53 years of achieving independence Indians in Malaysia have remained permanently colonised by the UMNO Government. My forefathers were part of that great day on 31st August 1957.
My people equally celebrated the day Malaysia was born, 16 Sept 1963, and through Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak as well. We had hope. We hoped to build a new generation and society in the new nation.
Alas, we were played out right from the beginning by Tunku Abdul Rahman, followed by his successors.
One of the major concessions for the non-Malays in Peninsular Malaysia agreeing to Article 153 was the granting of citizenship to all Malaysians born after Merdeka and the existing non-Malays who pledged their allegiance to Malaya be given citizenship.
Never did our forefathers dream that we would be re colonised by the UMNO led government. Today, an estimated of 450,000 Malaysian Indians are stateless. This includes an estimated 150,000 stateless children. Pardon me, these are estimates and the Government would most certainly refute these estimates. But they know the problem is real and exists.
Our forefathers bought the story of Tunku and Razak that by virtue of Article 8 and the second limb of Article 153 that the rights of the non-Malays would be protected as well. That Article 153 would be revisited after 15 years. Even the Conference of Malay Rulers provided guarantees to the British that after 15 years the non-Malays would be treated equally as citizens of this country. I sincerely belief the May 1969 riot was engineered by UMNO to divert from their promises to revisit Article 153.
Little did our forefathers realise that we were falling into the trap of a neo-colonialist UMNO.
UMNO took the role of the colonial masters and managed the country by a mandore system “employing” political parties, MCA and MIC as mandores to fulfil their racist, supremacist Malay agenda of Ketuanan Melayu.
The MCA and MIC leaders were dished out privileges, perks and positions in Government. They were used as a front – window-dressing and tokenism -- to portray to the world at large that Malaysia is a truly multi-racial country where power-sharing among the races has created the success story of a new nation.
In turn these mandore political parties divert and indoctrinate their people to believe that they have been given an opportunity in this country for which they are grateful to their tuans (masters) UMNO.
On the other hand, UMNO portrays their political rival PAS as an extremist Muslim party which would turn the country into an Islamic state and therefore it was in the best interest of the Chinese and Indians to swear allegiance to them rather than run the risk of being converted by the sword, so to speak.
And so the Indians and Chinese were enslaved by UMNO, their new masters.
The Chinese controlled the economy and were the tax payers in the majority while the Indians were the backbone to the main export industry to the new nation Malaysia in the plantation industry. The Indians were cheap labourers to man the plantations, build roads and railway tracks (as well as maintaining them). The revenue that was contributed by the Chinese and Indians were usurped by UMNO in the name of Ketuanan Melayu. We were the hambas (slaves) of UMNO, the new tuans.
So are we people of a nation that had achieved independence?
UMNO refused to provide citizenships to tens of thousands of Indians particularly those who lived deep in the plantation areas. In those days driving out 10 miles away from KL means you were going into deep jungle into the wild and here and in other states hundreds of thousands of Indians served their new nation as plantation workers.
The country underwent rapid development from about 1970 onwards and plantation estates were gradually acquired by the Government in the name of development.
In a study conducted by the Centre for Public Policy Studies, an estimated 300,000 plantation workers were uprooted from their established plantation background between 1975-1995 and were displaced. In my meetings with United Nations officials in 2008 they confirmed that I could use the term “internally displaced people” (IDP).
These Internally displaced plantation workers were not given compensation, training opportunities, housing ect and they became the new urban poor and underclass who were neglected by the UMNO tuans.
Compare these loyal workers who contributed to this nation for almost 200 years and the felda LBJ in Negeri sembilan who were equally displaced. The Felda settlers were compensated up to RM3.5 million per family for a contribution of almost 30 years. It is plainly obvious the Indian workers were simply driven out of the estates and were no longer needed as they have been “sucked” for more than 200 years. The Government knew they had a responsibility for these people but deliberately ignored them. When these ex-plantation workers were ejected from the estates most did not have their citizenships and till date have remained so. Many are 4th and 5th generation Malaysians but are not recognised, not only as Malaysians but as HUMAN BEINGS.
They do not have birth certificates so they can never enrol their children (who in turn are denied BC’s) in schools (now urban areas). The child is denied education. He or she can never avail himself to a decent job. Even if he finds a job, there are no Socso or EPF contributions and he is paid even worse that the Bangladeshi worker. He can never obtain treatment in a government hospital. He can never get married legally. He can never obtain a motorcycle licence or any driving licence that would yield an income. Bank accounts are out of the question. Bidding or even purchasing a rumah murah (low cost house) is out of the question.
They are the invisible people of Malaysia. You know them, you see them, but they don’t exist. I would dare say this is amongst the greatest evil acts committed by UMNO. I would go further to say this is a brand of ethnic cleansing which is best defined before international tribunals. The seed of Projek Ketuanan Melayu planted by Tunku 53 years ago has now blossomed into almost ½ million stateless/invisible people.
It is difficult to comprehend why these Indians are blatantly oppressed by UMNO when in this modern age and time even cats and dogs have birth certificates.
This is nothing but stripping the dignity out of these people. Their marriage are not recognised, their children anak harams (illegitimate children). They don’t exist!!.
Thanks to UMNO’s PROJEK KETUANAN MELAYU.
And they have the audacity to say they are managing a fair Government.
For the first time in the country’s history, in 2010, Malaysians heard of a good number of demonstrations by Indians who were denied places in public universities. These were no ordinary students. They are the top scoring students in SPM who had 10-12 A’s.
Hindraf Makkal Sakthi organised various demonstrations and press conferences to highlight the plight of these students. These were the sons and daughters of the working class downtrodden Indians. These children were grilled by their poor parents that only through education that they would be able to come out of the shell of poverty and excel in life.
Many students were in tears in these press conferences that their fellow Malay colleagues with 2A’s were offered scholarships into matriculations and universities. It is not that they are jealous of these Malay students but they can never understand why the Government segregates them based on their race. If these top most deserving students are denied opportunities what more the equally good students with 5A’s.
Isn’t this not striping away their dignity? UMNO have killed the ambitions of these young children of the country who would have been the cream of the country. Isn’t this not telling them, hey you can be good but I don’t need you because I am the tuan and you are the slave. The son of a slave does not deserve to pursue equal educational opportunities. We the tuans decide what is best for you.
Let us now look at the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak. They too were promised by UMNO with equal opportunities and the “bumiputera” status. They were through manipulation brought into the Federation in September 1963. Both states are rich in oil and natural resources.
To maintain the status quo, the Muslim natives are indoctrinated with Muslim brotherhood sentiments and divisions created by UMNO.
Fear is instilled that if they do not unite and stand with UMNO, the Christians would rule Borneo and eventually secede from Malaysia and declare Borneo Christian states. Now, even these local Muslims have been disenfranchised in Sabah by the entry of illegal Muslim immigrants who are entering the electoral rolls with MyKads issued via the backdoor.
My conclusion is UMNO and its leaders right from Tunku to Najib are master manipulators and neo colonialists.
We the Indians, Chinese, Dayak, Dusuns, Muruts, Bajau, Suluk and others are never independent nor would we ever enjoy the true fruits of being independent in a truly independent country which has respect for the Rule of Law, practices equality and Freedom of Religion, among others.
In 2007, I said the Malaysian Indians are a permanently colonised community.
I now say we the non-Malays will forever be slaves of these neo colonialists UMNO tuans.
But will a change of Government bring about true independence?
I doubt it because they are not ready for a truly Merdeka (independent) society.
Selamat Hari Malaysia
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