THERE is a need for the Indian community and its leaders to move forward rather than be preoccupied with what happened past politics and the economy, said Batu Uban assemblyman A. Kumaseran.
Kumaseran, who helped organise a Penang PKR community engagement programme last evening with state party chairman Nurul Izzah Anwar, said that the community must get rid of its "ghosts of the past," over alleged discrimination and infighting within community leaders.
In the past decades, the community was besieged by the Hindu Action Force (Hindraf) street rallies, infighting among Indian leaders and scandals, which caused a trust deficit to envelop the community about Indian leaders.
Instead, he urged them to embrace the present and the future, especially since Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has allocated over RM300 million under next year's fiscal Budget.
"This sum is aimed at uplighting the economic status of the community."
Not to mention, Kumaseran said in an interview that aid agencies such as Tekun and Amanah Ikthiar Malaysia which previously only allotted funds for the bumiputras, have expanded their outreach to include needy Indians.
Last month, there was an Indian cooperative gathering in Kuala Lumpur where 200 co-operatives under the community attended, he revealed.
There are about 400 co-operatives in the country, some are dormant but some are part of the Indian community, and they are actively helping their members, he noted.
"The Indians are being looked at. Yes, there is much noise over the perceived lack of support. Some of it is attributed to the lack of communications over what the Madani government is doing for the community, but we are doing something on the ground."
There is a need to establish more small and medium enterprises among the community considering they are far behind both the Chinese and Malays in this regard.
He said that there are two aspects which can effectively eradicate poverty among the Indians - they are education and businesses.
For education, Kumaseran said that the government wants Indian youths to stay in the education sector by extending technical vocational education training (TVET) to them, especially to school dropouts.
There are also various scholarships and incentives on offer to ensure that the community can have access to better education prospects.
Although there are more than seven Indian political parties, Kumaseran said that it does not matter just as long as the community benefits at the end.
"I think the more the merrier as there would be competition to see who can best serve the community. But we must be service-oriented in the first place, and not be distracted by infighting and jostling for positions," said Kumaseran.
He said that Nurul Izzah was warmly welcomed as she browsed along the Little India commercial enclave to greet shoppers preparing for next week's Deepavali.
Penang PKR dished out Deepavali goodies such as packet masala tea and cookies. - October 20, 2024.
