Being a weekday during office hours, the ambiance around Royal Selangor Club (RSC) was rather busy with no empty parking spaces around the clubhouse.

I attempted to park my car in the underground parking lot but was quickly ushered out by security as the parking lot was only for those who had a valid sticker.

Hence, I hurriedly drove around the clubhouse, anxious to find an available parking space, and my prayers were answered when I did.

Despite being lucky with parking my car, I was less fortunate to be on time for the event.

Dashed into the President’s Room at RSC to find it filled with attentive listeners who had come to support the plight of the Indian community in all aspects.

Organized by Selangor Indian Consultative Council, this gathering was to show support for the Madani government headed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

It was graced by the participation of 70 Indian leaders representing various political parties, NGOs, CBOs and LBOs (language-based organizations), the Chamber of Commerce, academicians, economists and a retired prominent judge.

Addressing the audience, Charles Santiago, ex-MP for Klang, and YB Dr. Gunaraja, state assemblyman for Sentosa, concurred that it was clear we must lend our support to the Madani government with the prime minister’s recent announcement of the allocation of funds for Tamil studies at Universiti Malaya and suggesting Tamil a subject in secondary schools.

This was an obvious fact that the PM had and has been listening intently to the Indian community and has openly stated that they are the highest in the hardcore poor in Malaysia.

At this point, the air of discontentment and frustration had peaked. Various representatives began to present their queries, voice out their opinions, and vent their frustrations.

Elanjelian Venugopal, a member of the Tamil Foundation, was the first to ask, “What is the track record of the representatives of the Indian community in Parliament and state in delivering the promises made during the last election under the buku harapan?”

This question garnered greater support from the participants.

“We need affirmative announcements by the government on the issues affecting the Indians in this country,” quipped the PIBG Chairman of Midlands Tamil School.

Bhupati Rai, from the Gujerati Association of Malaysia, made a call to all Indians to unite, especially the MIC which is still a critical member of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

“The Malays feel the Chinese are a threat. The Chinese and Indians feel they are being sidelined. These are the root causes of our problems in this country. We must unite to give a strong mandate to Madani government.”

Another participant, Dr. Manokaran Mottian, was of the opinion that the ideas and plans were good, but the execution at the macro level proved poor.

“We must make an immediate announcement on the low-hanging fruits. By placing one Indian officer at every district office, we can help to channel the problems of the Indian community to the appropriate ministries and should be able to overcome issues like IC, BC and other basic issues like water, electricity, study scholarships.”

YB Dr. Gunaraj further reiterated his support for the Madani government.

All the issues the event’s participants mentioned were well-known and much discussed in every forum whenever issues regarding the Indian community were raised.

However, he believed that the scenario has now changed. He said, “Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is different. He has the political clout. We supported Mahathir and got nothing from him. We also supported Najib, but all was derailed after GE14 in 2018. We supported Mahathir again despite all the discrepancies and misdoings. We were cheated again. We did support Ismail Sabri and Muhyiddin Yassin and saw nothing but more issues culminating among the Indians.

“Today, we have a leader who has gone through much, physically, psychologically and emotionally. He subscribes to a unique Madani concept where he openly believes and states that the Indians need serious attention as they are worst off in terms of poverty.”

We need to give our full attention and vote for Anwar Ibrahim so as to ensure that we have a government that emphasizes concern over all races and ethnicities.

Personally, I think the proof of the pudding is in the eating. As I say this, I am also mindful of the fact that it was clearly stated in the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025) — the setting up of a poverty unit in every district office, and it was done at all 156 administrative offices across the country.

This initiative and action have now brought about the exact data on the hardcore poor in the country.

There are 6,055 Indian households earning below RM1,198 a month, out of 160,000 hardcore poor households across the country receiving this meager amount to survive on.

This information provides us with the best and most focused way to address the poverty issue in the Indian community.

It was also agreed that by the end of 2023, the Indian poverty issue would be resolved.

The other nagging issue of the Indians is education. This is an issue which has been exploited rather than solved.

 At the recent World Tamil Research Conference at Universiti Malaya, the PM promised an allocation of RM5 million for the purposes of secondary Tamil education, translation and research for secondary Tamil education.

This is an excellent indicator of the new government’s attentiveness and heed to the grievances of the academics and education sector of the Indian community, and the government’s willingness to find a workable solution to this issue.

The Madani government’s goal to bring Malaysia’s economy from the 35th position to the 30th rank is a great sign. This will attract and bring in more investors and provide more opportunities for all.

Plans also encompass the income derived from labor from 32% to 40%, with 60% of women participating in the workforce; to move from level 62 to 25 in the UN Human Development Index, and to achieve the ambitious top 25 in the TI Corruption Index from the current 61.

This will also follow suit with reducing the fiscal deficit from 5% to 3%, increasing wages from 32.4 per cent to 45 per cent of GDP, and reviewing minimum wage and introducing a new progressive wage model that links with productivity.

These socioeconomic measures will only materialize if the Madani government is in power, politically.

We need to give our full attention and vote for Anwar Ibrahim so as to ensure that we have a government that emphasizes concern over ALL races and ethnicities.

We cannot vote for a person who says the Chinese and Indians are pendatang (immigrants); nor can we ever think of voting for a leader who chastised saying that non-Muslims will go to hell.

Let’s put our differences aside and ensure Pakatan Harapan gains our full support and votes to bring the change every Malaysian has been hoping for.

The Madani government stands by its definition of SCRIPT – sustainability, care and compassion, respect, innovation, prosperity, and trust.

Have faith and start with just that – trust in our new government.

A new Malaysia inclusive of Indians is in the making.

(Ravindran Raman Kutty is an active social worker.)