HINDRAF ( Hindu Rights Action Force)No. 135-3-A, Jalan Toman 7,
Kemayan Square,
70200 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
Malaysia.
Tel : +606-7672995/6
Fax: +6-06-7672997
Email waytha@hotmail.com
Y.A.B. DATO’ SERI ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Block Utama,
Bangunan Perdana Putra,
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan,
62502 Putrajaya
Email:
reduceredtape@pmo.gov.myTel: 03 8888 8000
Fax: 03 8888 3444 29/06/2008
Y.A.B,
Re:
1) RM 230 Billion mid term review of ninth Malaysian Plan by Prime Minister in Parliament on 26/06/2008 but zero allocation for Indians.
2) No specific allocation for the marginalised Indians unlike marginalised orang Asli and natives in Sabah & Sarawak. (RM 20Billion for Sabah alone)
3) This mid term review is “50 year old wine in a new bottle” for the Malaysian Indians.
4) Urgent formation of Royal Commission into the critical Indian issues as per Hindraf’s 18 point demands to the Prime Minister dated 12/08/2007
5) Urgent implementation of Race Relations Commission (to eliminate all forms of racism in Malaysia) and Equal Opportunities Commission to give effect to Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.
6) RM 5 Billion annual allocation (and to be fully utilised) to address the critical Indian issues.
7) Indians should not be put/lumped with the far economically superior Chinese in all government projects and policies.
8) UMNO should stop all forms of shadow play “wayang kulit” in this mid term review and all government policies and should get real in dealing with especially the critical Indian issues as UMNO is no longer dealing with our grandfathers and great grandfathers but the current, third and fourth generation Malaysian Indians.
9) In interim urgently setup a special Indian Focus Group to address the critical Indian issues to be headed by Chief Secretary to the Government.
10) Indian house hold income at RM 3,799.00 per month, yet again another intellectual dishonesty as at least 90% of the Indians don’t earn that kind of money.
We refer to the above matter and regret to point out once again the UMNO controlled Malaysian government’s deliberate refusal to address the critical Indian issues faced by the Malaysian Indian Community especially as per our 18 point demands to the Prime Minister dated 12/08/2007 and hand delivered to your goodselves’ Senior Private Secretary on the same day. The Malaysian Indian Community is greatly disturbed by your goodselves announcement of the UMNO government’s Mid Term Review of the Ninth Malaysian Plan (9MP) on 26/06/2008 which we deem as being vindictive as 90% of the Indians did not vote for the BN in the March 8th 2008 general elections.
By your own admission you have admitted that the Indian equity has further dropped to 1.1% in this mid term review of the 9MP from 1.5% in 1999. (NST 27/06/2008 Pg 8). We no longer accept (the failure to address the critical Indian issues ) the yearly repeat at the beginning of every new Malaysian Plan and mid term review that the policies of the UMNO government was good but it was the implementation that went wrong.
To start off with there has been zero allocation in the RM 230 Billion 9MP Budget to specifically address the aforesaid critical Indian issues as opposed to the RM 20.5 Billion allocated for the poor in Sabah under the 9MP (NST 20/06/2008/ pg 4).
Over the last 50 years the UMNO controlled government has unfairly lumped the Indians together with the economically powerful Chinese community as being the non bumi putera category in almost all government policies, allocation, economy and affirmative action plans. The latest and most evident is the replies given in Parliament on the bumi putera and non bumiputera participation in the economic sector, education, small and medium sized industries etc.
We also wish to register the intellectual dishonesty of your government in stating as a fact knowing the same not to be true that an average Indian actually earns RM 3,799.00 per month. Our estimate is that 90% of Indians do not earn this kind of money with at least 70% of the Indian population in the poor (earning below RM 1,500.00 per house hold) (NST 11/06/2008 Pg 2) and hardcore poor (earning below RM 698.00 NST 18/5/2008 Pg 26). Therefore the UMNO government’s target in this mid term review of eradicating poverty by 2010 (in 2 years time) is a near impossibility in so far as the Indian community is concerned.
Further there has been specifically zero allocation for Tamil schools and the UMNO’s controlled government skirted away from the issue by merely mentioning as usual “Tamil schools will continue to be given aid and upgraded”. The usual general and non committal game!
We suggest that UMNO stops playing “wayang kulit” shadow play and get real with the critical Indian issues as UMNO is no longer dealing with our grandfathers and great grandfathers but the current generation, third and fourth generation Malaysian Indians. In short this Mid term review of the 9MP is actually “50 year old wine but in a new bottle called the 9MP”. In the circumstances we demand for the following as we believe we have exhausted all our appeals:-
1) This mid term review of the 9MP is re-reviewed to include a : RM five (5) Billion is allocated annually and specifically to address the critical Indian issues especially as per our 18 point demands dated 12/08/2007.
2) Stop lumping the Indians together with the economically powerful Chinese as being in the non bumiputera group in all government policies, this mid term review of the 9MP and all affirmative action plans.
3) A Special Focus Group specifically for the Indians and to be headed by the Chief Secretary to the Government and to also be included in this group the Director General of the Economic planning unit, Implementation and coordinating unit, Central coordinating Unit, Secretary General of the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Senior Private Secretary to ensure the following:-
a) The 70% poverty level among the Indians is reduced to the national average of 3.6% as per the 9MP within one year.
b) To this effect RM Ten (10) Billion special allocation is made and fully utilised within the one year time period to provide RM 50,000.00 loans to the Indian poor without surety and especially for those Indians earning less than RM 3,500.00 per month providing especially small, micro and medium sized industries and creating 100,000 entrepreneurs and Indian human capital development.
c) With this RM Ten (10) Billion to help Indians purchase commercial buildings as done along the lines of UDA, Mara and Yayasan Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera etc.
d) Grant 10,000 affordable homes to the Indians within the next one year.
4) Urgently set up/form a Race Relations Commission with the view to end all forms of racism and religious extremism (along the lines of the British Race Relations Act) for a genuine and not name sake harmonious and united Malaysian society.
5) Urgently set up/form an Equal Opportunities Commission to give effect to Article 8 of the Federal Constitution and to specifically undo all the lost equal opportunities for the Indians over the last 50 years.
6) Establish/form a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the critical Indian issues especially as per Hindraf’s 18 point demands to the Prime Minister dated 12/8/2007.
Your kind indulgence in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Yours faithfully,
…………………………….
P.Waytha Moorthy
(Chairman)
