MAY 29 — If the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) or SEDIC think their response to our constructive criticism of the Malaysian Indian Blueprint (MIB) is a "gotcha moment”, they are completely wrong.

Firstly, it’s ironic that the government is still trying to solve Indian woes after 60 years. We are talking about the same problems, which they have claimed to look at all these years.

The MIC has always thumped its chest as the custodian of the Indian community, thereby creating a politics of disengagement, where the Indians were disengaged from the decision-making process of the ruling government.

Funds for Indians, allocated in the annual budget plans, are chanelled via the predominantly Indian party. And these funds were supposed to close the economic gap between the Indians and the rest of the Malaysian society, look into education issues, create business opportunities, address statelessness amongst the community and ensure an upward socio-economic mobility for the minority community: issues raised in the Malaysian Indian Blueprint.  

The Unit for Socio-Economic Development of the Indian Community (Sedic) and The Secretariat for Empowerment of Indian Entrepreneurs (SEED) were also set-up to identify and work on issues highlighted in the current document.

So why wouldn’t we be upset when none of these issues seem to have been effectively addressed? And please do not insult us by dismissing our natural concerns as slurs from the federal Opposition. I would think SEDIC director-general NS Rajendran and others in MIC could come up with a better argument.

And we are certainly up to no mischief.

In direct contrast it was rather mischievous of Sedic to not respond to my repeated requests over five years to make their impact assessment public. I didn’t hear a whimper from Wahid Omar, the then minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit.

It’s still not too late. Sedic and SEED must make their accounts and impact assessments open and accessible to the public.

Rajendran and others in the MIC must know that we are not easily fooled either. The timing of the blueprint is suspect as the general election is around the corner.

This is not about showing results to the Indian community but rather dangling carrots, just like the government and MIC have done over the last six decades. And mind you, Indian votes matter this time around, especially in three-cornered fights.

The current invitation to engage with Sedic, SEED, MIC or the government sounds foolish as the blueprint is already out. All stakeholders should have been consulted with, from the initial stages itself.

It’s simple: if you don’t know how to do it, please just ask us for help. Intellectual laziness, a penchant for cutting corners and hoodwinking the Indian community are gimmicks that simply won’t cut it anymore.

* Charles Santiago is Member of Parliament, Klang and Xavier Jayakumar is the Adun of Sri Andalas. 

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.