At a Christmas Party in the house of a prominent Malaysian, a dato', the Malaysian Indian Congress president, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, was at his usual best and vitriolic. To the 30 or so guests who surrounded him as vultures to carrion, he said one man caused the Lunas byelection defeat, the Prime Minister no less. He, of course, wriggles out of responsibility, as indeed every National Front leader does, and blames it on someone else. Dato' Seri Samy Vellu is true to form: he takes the credit and others the blame. It is safe to assume the Prime Minister is aware of it; it could well be why a new deputy minister is not from MIC but from the PPP.

When the Indian Progressive Front of Dato' M.G. Pandithan asked to join the National Front, the Prime Minister said it should not; instead it should dissolve itself and its members join the Malaysian Indian Congress. That way there would be a united Indian community. In the same breath, he says UMNO would not object to PAS in the National Front if the other coalition partners allow it. In other words, IPF which wants in is out; PAS, which does not, can. PAS and UMNO, as Malay parties, can co-exist in the National Front but not Indian parties. Should not the Prime Minister insist PAS join UMNO to be in the coalition? After all, it was the religious wing of UMNO that left it when Dato' Sir Onn Jaffar walked out of the presidency in 1951.

Politically, the Indian community is ignored by the National Front, except at general elections. The mass of Indian voters, Tamils by no coincidence, would vote for it. But they are not a majority in any constituency, state or federal. The non-Tamil Indians, especially the thinking ones, look to other political parties for their community's survival, making an impact more than the sheep in the Tamil community. This divide widens with their deliberate marginalisation, especially at times like Deepavali. The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) now wants Thaipusam as a national holiday. It should not. This festival is prevalent amongst Tamil Hindus; it should be Hindu New Year, for Hindus whose origins are the four corners of India. This MIC demand that only Tamil should predominate divides the Indian community. It does not accept the inherent cultural diversity in its ranks. And deliberately prevents other Indian communities from being recognised. This is reflected in how Indian festivities are celebrated, Deepavali more so.

The racial divide the Prime Minister mentioned in his Merdeka Day speech reflects not cultural or opposition perfidy, but a failure of the non-Malay parties in the National Front. They stood by while UMNO turned a multiracial government into one it dominated, with the non-Malay parties there to accept what ever it is told to but providing a non-Malay cloak of multiracial unanimity. The Chinese and Indians in Malaysia have been badly served by the Malaysian Chinese Association, Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia and the Malaysian Indian Congress. Their leaders, more interested in warming their seats in the cabinet, would not protest. The Chinese and Indian citizen therefore had to fend for themselves. But it has come at a time when the Malay citizen feels so too. It is this potentially explosive mixture that undermines much of the government's racial and religious policies. The National Front wants the people to do what it says, not what it does.

Pak Lah (1364)   United States (636)   Straits Times (412)   Samy Vellu (224)   Putra Jaya (200)   Chief Justice (200)   Saddam Hussein (188)   Vincent Tan (164)   Civil Service (154)   Parti KeADILan (148)   Islamic State (118)   Johore Bahru (100)   Sungei Buloh (94)   Bukit Tinggi (88)   Abdul Razak (80)   Pengkalen Pasir (68)   Ting Pek (64)   Armed Forces (59)   Soviet Union (58)

Malay Dominance (58)   Yong Teck (56)   Hong Kong (56)   Human Rights (56)   Syed Hamid (54)   Puteri UMNO (52)   Islam Hadhari (52)   Royal Commission (51)   Hussein Onn (51)   Rafidah Aziz (48)   Indian Congress (48)   Open House (44)   Vision Schools (44)   Shah Alam (44)   Malay Unity (42)   Chua Jui (42)   Abdul Taib (42)   Ampang Jaya (36)   Ras Adiba (36)

Osama Bin Laden (36)   Nik Aziz Nik (20)   Ling Liong Sik (18)   Lee Kuan Yew (18)

High Court Judge (14)   Wan Azizah Wan (9)   Lim Kit Siang (9)   Megat Junid Megat (8)

Mahathir (2960)

Anwar (2399)