Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

20. Politics of Indian Representation in Malaysia

355 20 POLITICS OF INDIAN REPRESENTATION IN MALAYSIA P. Ramasamy INTRODUCTION Formal฀ political฀ representation฀ in฀ the฀ ruling฀ coalition฀ of฀ the฀ Barisan฀ Nasional฀ or฀ National฀ Front฀ (BN)฀ is฀ organized฀ on฀ the฀ basis฀ of฀ ethnicity.฀ Such฀a฀principle฀is฀not฀something฀unique฀to฀Malaysia.฀There฀are฀many฀other฀ societies฀that฀follow฀this฀method.฀However,฀not฀all฀ethnically฀differentiated฀ societies฀adopt฀ethnicity฀as฀the฀guiding฀principle฀for฀political฀governance.฀ This฀chapter฀argues฀that฀political฀representation฀on฀the฀grounds฀of฀ethnicity฀ is฀not฀without฀merits;฀in฀many฀countries฀such฀a฀formula฀is฀quite฀effective฀ in฀addressing฀the฀cultural฀and฀political฀concerns฀of฀different฀ethnic฀groups.฀ However,฀ ethnicity฀ ceases฀ to฀ be฀ of฀ any฀ political฀ value฀ if฀ ethnic฀ groups฀ in฀ a฀ country฀ do฀ not฀ enjoy฀ equal฀ rights฀ and฀ opportunities.฀ More฀ specifically฀ it฀ will฀ be฀ shown฀ that฀ Indians,฀ one฀ of฀ the฀ significant฀ ethnic฀ groups฀ in฀ Malaysia,฀ do฀ not฀ seem฀ to฀ benefit฀ from฀ ethnic฀ representation฀ within฀ the฀ BN.฀It฀will฀be฀discussed฀that฀the฀present฀weakness฀of฀ethnic฀representation฀ of฀Indians฀is฀related฀to฀the฀way฀politics฀is฀organized฀within฀the฀BN฀under฀ the฀ domination฀ of฀ United฀ Malay฀ National฀ Organization฀ (UMNO).฀ It฀ is฀ the฀ hegemonic฀ role฀ of฀ UMNO฀ in฀ championing฀ the฀ political,฀ economic฀ and฀ cultural฀ interests฀ of฀ Malays฀ that฀ have฀ excluded฀ non-Malay฀ ethnic฀ groups฀such฀as฀Indians฀from฀effective฀political฀participation.฀In฀multi-ethnic฀ countries฀where฀one฀dominant฀ethnic฀party฀dominates฀other฀political฀parties฀ is฀described฀by฀Ian฀Lustick฀(1979)฀as฀the฀control฀model฀of฀politics.1 ฀Thus,฀ the฀relationship฀between฀the฀various฀component฀parties฀in฀the฀BN฀under฀ 20฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀355 8/20/08฀฀฀2:20:39฀PM 356 P. Ramasamy the฀ domination฀ of฀ UMNO฀ quite฀ resembles฀ the฀ control฀ model฀ of฀ politics฀ as฀suggested฀by฀Lustick.2 SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE In฀Malaysia,฀the฀often฀used฀concept฀of฀Indian฀is฀employed฀primarily฀to฀ describe฀Malaysians฀of฀Indian฀descent,฀those฀who฀migrated฀to฀the฀country฀ during฀the฀time฀of฀the฀British฀colonial฀rule฀in฀the฀late฀eighteenth฀and฀early฀ twentieth฀century฀(Sandhu฀1969;฀Arasaratnam฀1979;฀Rajeswary฀1981).3 ฀ Although฀Indians฀primarily฀came฀to฀work฀in฀plantations฀and฀urban฀sectors,฀ a฀ segment฀ of฀ Indians,฀ mostly฀ non-Tamils฀ came฀ to฀ work฀ as฀ clerks฀ and฀ supervisors฀in฀colonial฀establishments.฀The฀concept฀of฀Indian฀might฀be฀ used฀in฀a฀legal/juridical฀sense,฀in฀the฀real฀everyday/cultural/emotional฀sense,฀ Malaysian฀Indians฀would฀like฀to฀identify฀themselves฀as฀Tamils฀(from฀Tamil฀ Nadu),฀Sikhs฀(Punjab),฀Malayalees฀(Kerala),฀Telugus฀(Andra฀Pradesh)฀and฀ other฀smaller฀categories฀of฀sub-communal฀groups.฀Within฀the฀larger฀Indian฀ community,฀Tamils,฀those฀who฀migrated฀from฀the฀southern฀state฀of฀Tamil฀ Nadu,฀constitute฀the฀largest฀ethnic/sub-ethnic฀group,฀about฀85฀per฀cent฀of฀ Indian฀population฀numbering฀about฀1.6฀million฀out฀of฀the฀total฀population฀ of฀23฀million.฀Unlike฀Tamils฀who฀were฀mostly฀recruited฀to฀work฀as฀labourers฀ in฀British฀establishments,฀non-Tamils฀due฀to฀their฀educational฀attainment฀ came฀to฀be฀located฀in฀the฀middle-level฀categories฀as฀clerks,฀administrators฀ and฀supervisors. Indians฀constitute฀about฀9฀per฀cent฀of฀the฀country’s฀population.฀The฀ numerical฀strength฀of฀Indians฀has฀gradually฀declined฀vis-à-vis฀ethnic฀groups฀ such฀as฀the฀Malays฀and฀Chinese.฀There฀is฀fear฀that฀if฀the฀Indian฀population฀ continues฀to฀decline฀in฀relation฀to฀other฀ethnic฀groups,฀the฀political฀strength฀ of฀the฀community฀might฀be฀affected.฀On฀behalf฀of฀the฀Indian฀community,฀ the฀MIC฀has฀been฀allocated฀a฀few฀parliamentary฀and฀state฀assembly฀seats.฀ This฀allocation฀is฀based฀not฀so฀much฀on฀the฀electoral฀strength฀of฀Indians,฀but฀ on฀bargaining฀and฀compromise฀that฀operates฀to฀a฀limited฀extent฀within฀the฀ Barisan฀Nasional฀component฀parties.฀Furthermore฀the฀amicable฀relationship฀ between฀the฀Malaysian฀Indian฀Congress฀(MIC)฀and฀UMNO฀leaders฀for฀ the฀past฀few฀decades฀have฀ensured฀among฀other฀things฀that฀MIC฀would฀be฀ allocated฀its฀limited฀share฀of฀seats.4 ฀While฀it฀is฀true฀that฀the฀electoral฀share฀ of฀Indians฀have฀been฀considerably฀reduced฀over฀the฀years,฀they฀still฀have฀a฀ sizeable฀presence฀in฀a฀number฀of฀constituencies฀enabling฀them฀to฀determine฀ the฀actual฀outcome฀of฀elections.฀ Unlike฀ the฀ Chinese฀ who฀ had฀ the฀ historical฀ advantage฀ of฀ capital฀ accumulation,฀Indians฀being฀confined฀to฀the฀plantation฀economy฀for฀long฀ 20฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀356 8/20/08฀฀฀2:20:39฀PM Politics of Indian Representation in Malaysia 357 did฀not฀experience฀the฀same฀kind฀of฀social/class฀differentiation฀(Ramasamy฀ 1994;฀De฀Silva฀1982).฀Today,฀the฀majority฀of฀the฀community฀is฀located฀ in฀the฀west฀coast฀states฀of฀the฀Malay฀Peninsula฀as฀labourers฀in฀plantations฀ and฀urban...