'MIC president was not making a threat'

Source : NST 27/04/2008

KUALA LUMPUR: There was mixed reaction to MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu's statement that he would seek support from other countries if the government continues to ignore the Indian community.

MIC Puteri chief J. Usha Nandhini said the statement must not be taken negatively as Samy Vellu had spoken as a guardian of Indians in the country."I don't think it's a threat. Previously, he spoke as a cabinet minister, now he is speaking at a different platform. He has to speak for the 600,000 MIC members and the 1.7 million Indians in the country," she said."As the party president and former senior cabinet minister, for him to say this shows that the government has to be fast in implementing whatever policies that it has promised."She said gone were the days when people were satisfied with mere promises. They now wanted to see how soon a promise could be delivered.
Usha said Barisan Nasional had always looked after the Indians, but sometimes it failed to look at some of the issues affecting them.Among their concerns were admission for critical courses in universities, the number of Indians in the civil service and whether the government was doing enough for them.

Federal Territory MIC exco member Datuk Daljit Singh Dalliwal said what the MIC president meant was to get education and business support from foreign countries."There is no harm in getting help in terms of economic improvement or to get education for people who have the qualifications," he said.Daljit said today's Indians had left the plantations and were now living in cities where they were looking for businesses to improve themselves.The government, he said, had not done enough for Indians."I would not say that the Indians were 100 per cent neglected, but there was some neglect, especially in the quota system.

MIC central working committee member S. Murugesan said Indians just wanted to be treated equally and that BN had got it right at the policy level, but the problem was in the implementation. "Indians want equal opportunities in government programmes, scholarships, job opportunities in business and in the government sector. "They also have problems in getting loans for small- and medium-scale enterprises."