Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

21. Indians in Malaysia: Towards Vision 2020

375 21 INDIANS IN MALAYSIA: TOWARDS VISION 2020 S. Nagarajan We฀tapped฀the฀rubber฀that฀beautified฀your฀homes, We฀built฀the฀roads฀that฀produced฀your฀bountiful฀economy, And฀now฀we฀live฀in฀non-descript฀squalor. You฀pass฀us฀by฀and฀snigger฀at฀our฀sub-human฀status, Not฀in฀the฀least฀realizing฀how฀our฀blood,฀sweat฀and฀tears, Contributed฀to฀the฀comfort฀and฀the฀opulence, You฀now฀enjoy!1 Malaysia฀saw฀robust฀economic฀growth฀from฀the฀late฀1980s,฀bringing฀general฀ prosperity฀ and฀ a฀ new฀ confidence฀ among฀ large฀ sections฀ of฀ the฀ populace.฀ Divisive฀debates฀over฀lingering฀ethnic฀issues฀were฀submerged฀in฀the฀“feelgood ”฀ environment฀ of฀ the฀ 1990s.฀ A฀ series฀ of฀ mega-projects฀ took฀ shape฀ after฀the฀federal฀government฀launched฀its฀thirty-year฀national฀development฀ blueprint฀ in฀ 1991฀ to฀ attain฀ developed฀ nation฀ status฀ by฀ the฀ year฀ 2020.฀ Dubbed฀ Vision฀ 2020,฀ it฀ envisioned฀ a฀ nation฀ that฀ is฀ “fully฀ developed฀ in฀ terms฀of฀national฀unity฀and฀social฀cohesion,฀economy,฀social฀justice,฀political฀ stability,฀system฀of฀government,฀quality฀of฀life,฀social฀and฀spiritual฀values,฀ national฀pride฀and฀confidence”.2 ฀ Paradoxically,฀ the฀ socio-economic฀ situation฀ of฀ Indian฀ Malaysians฀ deteriorated฀during฀this฀period฀with฀many฀in฀the฀community฀increasingly฀ feeling฀angry,฀neglected฀and฀victimized,฀a฀theme฀articulated฀by฀Andrew฀ Willford฀in฀chapter฀24฀in฀this฀volume.฀Academic฀and฀journalistic3 ฀writings฀ began฀to฀refer฀to฀the฀Indians฀as฀the฀“disenfranchised”,฀the฀“marginalized”,฀the฀ 21฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀375 8/21/08฀฀฀6:03:18฀PM 376 S. Nagarajan “new฀underclass”฀or฀the฀“forgotten฀community”฀in฀Malaysia฀and฀the฀popular฀ media฀began฀to฀stereotype฀them฀as฀violent฀criminals฀and฀gangsters.฀ By฀the฀turn฀of฀the฀twenty-first฀century,฀Vision฀2020’s฀goal฀of฀creating฀ “a฀matured,฀liberal฀and฀tolerant฀society฀in฀which฀all฀Malaysians฀are฀free฀to฀ practise฀and฀profess฀their฀customs,฀cultures฀and฀religious฀beliefs฀and฀yet฀feel฀ that฀they฀belong฀to฀one฀nation”฀appears฀to฀have฀gone฀awry.฀In฀March฀2001,฀ ethnic฀violence฀broke฀out฀in฀southern฀Petaling฀Jaya.฀Ethnic฀and฀religious฀ tensions฀have฀resurfaced฀with฀greater฀intensity฀in฀the฀last฀two฀years. This฀chapter฀looks฀at฀developments฀in฀the฀Indian฀Malaysian฀community฀ since฀the฀1980s,฀the฀factors฀that฀led฀to฀its฀further฀marginalization฀and฀the฀ new฀challenges฀it฀faces฀with฀“creeping฀Islamization”. CONDITION OF MARGINALITY The฀socio-economic฀data฀on฀Indians฀in฀Malaysia฀has฀often฀been฀contradictory.฀ Official฀statistics4 ฀indicate฀the฀Indian฀community฀has฀been฀relatively฀better฀off.฀ Its฀mean฀monthly฀gross฀household฀income฀in฀2004฀was฀RM3,456฀(US$1,040)฀ (in฀current฀prices),฀which฀is฀above฀the฀national฀average฀of฀RM3,249฀and฀higher฀ than฀the฀RM2,711฀recorded฀for฀the฀bumiputra5 ฀community.฀Incidence฀of฀ poverty฀among฀Indians,฀as฀measured฀by฀the฀official฀poverty฀line,฀has฀decreased฀ from฀39.2฀per฀cent฀in฀1970฀to฀2.9฀per฀cent฀in฀2004,฀while฀it฀remained฀the฀ highest฀among฀bumiputra฀at฀8.3฀per฀cent฀in฀2004.฀The฀Indian฀community฀ has฀a฀disproportionately฀higher฀share฀of฀doctors,฀lawyers,฀veterinary฀surgeons฀ and฀dentists,฀even฀though฀its฀population฀was฀1.83฀million฀in฀2005,฀making฀ up฀only฀7.5฀per฀cent฀of฀the฀country’s฀24.36฀million฀citizens.6 ฀ On฀the฀other฀end,฀community฀leaders฀and฀non-governmental฀organizations฀ have฀repeatedly฀disputed฀the฀official฀figures,฀saying฀they฀understate฀the฀poverty฀ level฀among฀Indians฀and฀do฀not฀reflect฀ground฀reality.7 ฀They฀assert฀that฀official฀ figures฀have฀been฀manipulated฀to฀deny฀state฀development฀funds฀to฀address฀ the฀root฀causes฀of฀the฀community’s฀socio-economic฀marginalization.฀They฀ point฀to฀the฀fact฀that฀rapid฀industrialization฀and฀urbanization฀have฀uprooted฀ Indian฀families฀from฀their฀plantation฀settlements.฀Suicide฀cases฀are฀highest฀ among฀the฀Indians฀and฀the฀main฀causes฀cited฀are฀poverty,฀alcoholism,฀high฀ school฀dropout฀rates฀and฀unemployment.8 ฀A฀disproportionately฀high฀number฀ of฀Indian฀youths฀are฀held฀under฀preventative฀detention฀laws฀for฀suspected฀ involvement฀in฀crime฀or฀gang-related฀activities.9 These฀contrasting฀situations฀are฀rooted฀in฀the฀nature฀and฀composition฀ of฀Indian฀migration฀into฀Malaya฀from฀1786฀to฀1941.฀The฀overwhelming฀ majority฀(72.5฀per฀cent)฀of฀the฀migrants฀were฀labourers฀and฀only฀27.5฀per฀ cent฀were฀professionals,฀teachers,฀clerical฀staff฀and฀traders฀(Sandhu฀1969,฀ 21฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀376 8/21/08฀฀฀6:03:18฀PM Indians in Malaysia: Towards Vision 2020 377 p.฀159).฀While฀the฀urban-based฀professionals฀and฀clerical฀staff฀were฀able฀ to฀plug฀into฀the฀modernizing฀economy฀to฀accumulate฀wealth฀and฀prosper,฀ most฀Indian฀labourers฀remained฀cocooned฀in฀the฀rubber฀plantations.฀When฀ the฀country...