Indian NGO - Call for Paradigm Shift : Dr. Jeyakumar (fwd)

["M.G.G. Pillai" <pillai@mgg.pc.my>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 11:18:06 +0800
From: suaram <suaram@geocities.com>
To: dema1998@hotmail.com, dema@egroups.com, appasec@tm.net.my,
    c.choong@mailcity.com, dema-web@mailcity.com, eycool@tm.net.my
Subject: Indian NGO - Call for Paradigm Shift : Dr. Jeyakumar

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>From: "Parti Sosialis Malaysia PSM" <<parti_sosialis@hotmail.com>

>Subject: Indian NGO - Call for Paradigm Shift : Dr. Jeyakumar

>Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 01:00:11 MYT

>

>Call for a Paradigm Shift

>(Speech prepared for a gathering of Indian social and political activists)

>

>We have been gathered here today because there are some among us who are 

>strongly arguing for the need to form an all-Indian NGO that is closely 

>linked to the Barisan Alternatif. The proponents of this idea argue that 

>there is at present no “Indian” party that can claim to speak for the 

>Indians within the BA, and therefore Indian voters will remain luke-warm 

>towards the BA. There is therefore, so they argue, a need to form a  

>National Indian NGO that will help mobilise the Indian vote for the BA when 

>the next General Elections are held.

>Let me tell you at the very outset that I am very critical of this plan,and 

>I will spend the next 15 minutes explaining why I, and my friends in 

>Alaigal, CDC and the PSM cannot go along with this idea.

>

>The “Indian” Problem

>It is undeniable that the majority of Indians in this country come from 

>groups that are marginalised. These include the plantation community,those 

>living in Peneroka Bandar kampungs, those struggling to pay up their loans 

>for the low-cost house that they have bought, the factory workers and the 

>construction workers. All these groups are constantly facing severe money 

>problems – more often than not there is not enough income to meet the needs 

>of normal daily living, and the majority of them are in debt.

>

>In addition to the economic problem, and often because of this, these

>communities also face social problems such as alcohol abuse, drug

>addiction, delinquency in the school-going teenagers and wife batteringat 

>home.However would forming an Indian NGO help in the solution of these 

>problems? My group and I believe that taking an ethnic response to the 

>problems that have been listed above only obscures the real issues and 

>actually delays the resolution of the real problems. Let me enumerate 

>several points in support of this assertion.

>1) Ethnicity is not the main cause of the problems being faced by the

>Indian poor.The economic problems faced by the estate workers or by the 

>peneroka bandar do not stem primarily from the colour of their skin, but 

>from their subservient position within an economic system that favours the 

>owners of capital and fosters a philosophy of profit and “development” at 

>all costs. These groups are marginalised because the type of development 

>that is being implemented gives low priority to the needs of the workers, 

>and maximum priority to the needs of the entrepeneurs. This is not to deny 

>that their position as an ethnic minority augments their economic 

>marginalisation. True, in certain cities, the Land Office is kinder to Malay 

>peneroka bandar, and tries harder to arrange alternative housing for them. 

>True also, that the children of Malay estate workers can go to fully 

>residential schools and have all their educational needs taken care of by 

>the State.

>But it is important that we do not lose sight of the fact that the

>fundamental problem is the low and subservient status of wage labour in 

>relation to the developers and businessmen. And this affects all workers 

>whatever their ethnic background, though there is some “cushioning” effect 

>for certain ethnic groups.

>2) The situation of the Indian poor can only improve when their main

>economic problems are addressed.The main economic problems of the Indian 

>poor are A/ Low and uncertain wages

>

>B/ Inadequate and often uncertain housing.

>These have to be addressed in order to improve the economic situation

>and living standards of the Indian workers. And these can only be

>addressed by going down to the marginalised communities and mobilising

>them to demand a fairer share of the national cake. Such demands will

>meet serious resistance from the powers that be because it challenges

>the existing status quo. Redistribution of national income in a way that 

>favours the poorer strata is something that big business and their political 

>compatriots will not like and they will raise numerous

>obstacles, use and misuse the powers within their disposal to ensure

>that they still keep getting the lion's’share of the cake.

>Achieving a more equitable distribution of the national income cannot be 

>done from the top down. The middle and upper-class individuals who tend to 

>lead NGOs will face tremendous pressures the moment they raise issues 

>pertaining to wealth distribution. Without the strong support from the 

>grassroots they will not be able to withstand these pressures, but will have 

>to make compromises.

>3) An “Indian” NGO will obscure the real issues facing the Indian poor. 

>Ethnic based groupings or movements need to use ethnic symbols and issues to 

>mobilise their target audience. Issues such as language, the number of hours 

>of TV time, the quota of students admitted to the universities, Temple 

>related issues etc become the issues that ethnic based groups and movements 

>use to whip up ethnic sentiments (and thus support for their organisation.)

>But how will extra TV time improve the low wage situation of the Indian 

>poor? How much will a 2% increase in the intake of Indians to varsities 

>actually help the estate and peneroka bandar communities where more than 90% 

>of the children do not make it past SPM. (Actually if we look 

>dispassionately at it, it is clear that the real beneficiaries of an 

>increase in quotas for varsities would be the Indian middle and upper class 

>whose children do much better at school. I have nothing against improving 

>educational opportunities for the Indian middle and upper class, but should 

>we be mobilising the Indian poor to do this at the expense of neglecting the 

>main problems of the Indian poor?)

>

>An “Indian” NGO will definitely take a strong position in support ofTamil 

>Schools. Indian Politicians, Tamil newspaper reporters and Tamil school 

>teachers have over the past 20 years been blocking any meaningful reforms 

>within Tamil schools. Proposals to bring in more BM and at an earlier stage, 

>to amalgamate and consolidate the schools etc have all been shot down by the 

>eloquent and emotional arguments of these 3 groups. But if one pauses to 

>take a head-count – how many of these “defenders” of the Tamil language and 

>culture actually send their own children to Tamil Primary Schools? One 

>shouldn’t be too surprised that it is only a very small minority. To 

>clarify, I am not against Tamil school education. In fact our group, 

>Alaigal, began in the mid 1980’s as the Education Group in Sg Siput where we 

>worked very hard with the students from the Tamil schools, trying to improve 

>their academic performance. But one has to face the facts – at present the 

>performance of students going to Tamil Schools is

>quite dismal. This has to be addressed. But whipping up ethnic sentiment 

>over the issue – which is exactly what our “Indian” NGO will tend to do

>– will not help lead to an improvement of the Tamil School 

>children’speformance.

>4) The starting point should not be big meetings to form a 

>nationalorganisation. There are totally different dynamics operating in the 

>forming of a national organisation. The kinds of leaders that you will get 

>with a top down approach will be those who are good at speaking, those who 

>can awaken our emotions and ethnic loyalties, those who are good at wheeling 

>and dealing and forging alliances that favour them, those who have definite 

>personal agendas eg standing at the next general elections,etc. Mark my 

>words, it is almost certain that there will be intense politicking in the 

>determination of the members of the EXCO of this Indian NGO. Many aspiring 

>Indian politicians within the BA framework would like to share the limelight 

>and get some political mileage out of the NGO. Very likely, factions will 

>form and there will be power struggles. What a terrible waste of the time 

>and energy of a group of people who came together out of concern for the 

>predicament of the Indian poor. In the midst of all this political 

>manouvering the primary intention of addressing the problems of the Indian 

>poor will get buried.

>5) The starting point should be the mobilisation of the affected strata of 

>society.Any attempt to seriously address the problem of the Indian poor must 

>start with grassroots mobilisation of the affected people. This is essential 

>because

>A/ only by going down to the affected community will one find out what

>exactly their problems and their views regarding how to overcome 

>theproblems.

>B/ only by working with and thus mobilising the affected people can we

>build a social force that can withstand the resistance from the powers

>that are so well entrenched in government and in the business world.

>C/ only by starting bottom up, and dealing with resistance from the

>political and business elite in each locality (who often try to use the 

>police to frighten people), will we get leaders who are sincere, who have 

>the commitment and who are brave enough to stand up to the

>pressures that will be applied by the elite and who have developed the

>skills for these struggles in their local struggles. Once genuine leaders 

>have been developed and identified in the course of

>the struggle, then we will be in a much better position to decide who

>shall be the spokesmen and the standard bearers for the group at thetime.

>

>What is to be done?

>

>Many of those who are here today came because you feel concerned by the 

>plight of the poorer strata of Indian society in Malaysia. To those of you I 

>would like to suggest

>i) It is absolutely essential that we are clear what the main or primary 

>causes of the predicament that the Indian poor find themselves in. Concern 

>is good; action arising from this concern is laudable. But if that action is 

>not based on a clear and dispassionate understanding of what the primary 

>causes are, then it might all be misguided and ultimately of not much use.

>Our stand is that the primary problem is class based. The Indian poor

>are from the working class in a society that favours businessmen and

>developers much much more than workers. I shall not ask you to simply

>accept this analysis. But I shall certainly say that you must take it

>seriously, and think it through. (If you wish, you can take a look at some 

>of the following books - “Race Class & Colonialism”  Michael Stenson “Sucked 

>Oranges”  Insan Publication “Othukkapadum Samuthayam” (Tamil) Alaigal 

>Publication  “Ezhuchi” (Tamil) Alaigal Publication

>ii) Go down to the grassroots. Identify poor communities in your

>vicinity and visit them to try and understand their problems. Talk to

>them, see their documents, and try and form an overall understanding.

>Try hard not to prescribe solutions to their problem right away. You may be 

>middle-class and educated but that doesn’t mean you know enough to “solve” 

>their problem. The aim here is to learn about their situation from them.

>iii) Form a small group of like-minded people to do the 2 things above. Meet 

>regularly to discuss and plan small actions. Challenging the system is not a 

>small action and one needs the support of a group.

>Once you have already done the above 3, contact existing groups that are 

>doing grass-root organising work. Invite them for a dialogue, share your 

>experiences with them, visit them to see how they have developed the 

>struggle of their communities for a better deal. I could help put you in 

>touch with such groups.iv) Most important of all, you have to move!

>

>Minta Maaf

>

>I have been blunt about my views. I hope I have not offended too many

>people. I believe that one should say what one believes, and not simply play 

>along with the tone and mood of the meeting.

>The ideas that I have put forward are not merely from books or from

>discussion groups, but are those that my group and I have developed in

>the course of working with estate communities, peneroka bandar

>communities, small farmers, cattle rearers as well as workers from

>various sectors of our society. These ideas have been drawn  from the

>struggles of the marginalised sectors of our society.

>I hope that you found our input of value, and that some of you will be

>working alongside with us in the future.

>

>Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj

>Parti Sosialis Malaysia.

>20th January 2000

>

>PSM website : http:///zip.to/psm

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>

>

>

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