AN OPEN LETTER TO HINDRAF AND THE OPPOSITION PARTY LEADERS

The letter below appeared in Malaysia Today back in December 2007. 

Apart from the rants, slurs and namecalling by the PR and Hindraf supporters in MT and other forums, has there been any real change in the way the forces that constitute the Opposition are working today? 

Malaysians deserve better than the BN whether they realise it or not. But this will not happen until PR learns to counter the race politics of BN with a platform that extends beyond the middle class to cover the lowest levels of Malaysian society. That you will find Indians over represented in that area is a known fact, does that make the needs of the lower classes, i.e. right to identity (birth certs and mykads), basic education, and opportunities for upward mobility which are less prone to get the citizen shot dead by the police any less real? 

The ball is in PR’s court, and regardless of the rants of the urban middle class hard core PR supporters, the reality is that the vote that is crossed in the most ‘ulu’ kampung, estate, orang asli village, which can be bought for a pittance by BN because the people there having nothing to lose, is worth exactly the same as the votes crossed in ‘enlightened’ cities and towns. 

Unless you tell PR to give a damn about the poorest sections of society, the poor will sell their votes for crumbs. 

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AN OPEN LETTER TO HINDRAF AND THE OPPOSITION PARTY LEADERS.  

CTT (Citizen’s Think Tank) is going to form a Shadow Government (what this entails is still unclear) soon. 

When are we going to see a proper Shadow Cabinet by the opposition parties and a move beyond calling for Electoral reforms via BERSIH, to a common manifesto by the Opposition to take on BN in the next GE?? 

Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall hosted a forum on Post Hindraf Malaysia two days ago, with KeADILan and PSM being represented, and the PAS speakers unable to attend because of the BERSIH arrests at the Parliament the same morning . 

Yesterday, DAP hosted a talk  ” A New Deal For Marginalised Indians ” at NUBE in Brickfields. 

The message delivered by all the speakers is for Malaysian Indians to spread the news and to vote for the opposition candidates in the next GE, as well as an open invitation for them to join the respective parties. 

It will be a crying shame if the next GE sees a reduction in the popular vote to BN to below the 50% mark, and yet BN still forms the government because the Opposition parties can’t unite and work together in a more concrete manner. 

When this question was raised to the speakers, not a single one of them said they will speak to the other leaders to get the ball rolling, all we get is more rhetoric about the raw deal the Indians have had, how UMNO is bad, and the same old sob stories. 

Time for rhetoric is over. 

PAS, KeADILan, DAP, PSM and whoever else, put your heads together and show us that you can unite beyond ndividual ideologies to come with a blueprint for a better Malaysia. 

Decide on which is more important. Your individual ideologies or a better future for Malaysia and Malaysians? 

For Hindraf, take this opportunity to push all the parties that are ‘courting’ you for your support to force them to come together in a more visible and

viable manner. By this you will be doing all Malaysians a favour, not just the Indians. Do not allow your supporters votes to be in vain. 

All I ask is that you defend the constitution and ensure that the poor are given help regardless of ethnicity. 

Jeevan

13/12/2007