There are ways to solve the problem (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)
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Having come from a big city like Kuala Lumpur, I did not realise the seriousness of the poverty in rural Terengganu. Many had to use wells and rivers for their water supply and oil lamps at night. And their children walked to school barefooted because they did not have shoes.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Poor but bright Indian girl’s ambition to be doctor, but unable to buy school workbook in prosperous Malaysia with world’s tallest Twin Towers.
The student’s mother can no longer work because of mental illness. Mother and daughter live in one room at RM100 rental per month where they cook, eat and sleep. When even their low cost flat went on auction, as they could not pay the RM200 or so installment.
To add insult to injury, the Welfare department gives them only RM80 per month.
Had they been a Malay Muslims, the Pusat Zakat, Baitumal, Jakim, some Yayasan or other corporate bodies, GLCs, etc., would have bailed them out.
But as poor Indians, made poorer in One Malay-sia by pure neglect, this is the pain and suffering they have to endure.
P. Uthayakumar
http://www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com/
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Let us get one thing very clear. What Uthayakumar said above is absolutely true. And this is a not a new problem, mind you. It is a problem that has existed for more than 50 years. But it is not a predicament that only Malaysians of Indian origin suffer from. Poverty does not recognise race. It hits everyone, irrespective of race.
I remember more than 30 years ago, back in the 1970s, when I first moved to Kuala Terengganu. I joined the Rotary Club and was its Secretary for about seven years. I actually served seven different presidents such as Gill Singh (Forestry Director), Raman (a lawyer who later became a Muslim and took the name of Rahman Abdullah), Raj (an insurance manager), Aziz Ibrahim (the Bank Pertanian manager) and many more.
Just to digress a bit, one day, when recording the Minutes of the Meeting, I accidentally recorded Raman’s name as Rahman. Raman came up to me and asked, “Raja Petra, are you trying to convert me to Islam?” Later, after Raman had become a Muslim, I told him, “There you are, don’t joke about such matters. Now God has fulfilled your ‘wish’. So be careful what you wish for.”
Anyway, those many years as a Rotary Club member and seven years as its Secretary were the most satisfying days for me. Having come from a big city like Kuala Lumpur, I did not realise the seriousness of the poverty in rural Terengganu. Many had to use wells and rivers for their water supply and oil lamps at night. And their children walked to school barefooted because they did not have shoes.
Raman (Rahman) and I used to ‘roam’ the rural areas of Terengganu to see first-hand what we were up against. We met the headmasters of a few extremely rural schools to see what we could do for the kids there and it was agreed we would supply them with shoes, at least as starters. We contacted the local Bata shoe dealer and told him to visit these schools and supply all the kids with shoes and just send us the bill.
A few months later we visited these schools again and found that the kids still walked to school barefooted. We checked with the headmaster and he told us that the kids would sling their shoes around their neck while walking to school barefooted and would put their shoes on as they entered the school compound.
We then arranged for the Bata dealer to visit the schools every six months instead of once a year so that the kids would not be too worried about wearing off their shoes. And each kid was to be supplied with two pairs of shoes.
Where was the government? Why did these kids not get government help? We don’t know and did not worry about that. We did not go and fight with the government or the political parties. Instead, we took it upon ourselves to supply these kids with their needs, starting with shoes and later with other things that they needed.
When I became the chairman of our residents’ committee I arranged for a few of us to visit the local orphanage and found that many kids could not afford to support themselves. Although the orphanage was government-run, it still lacked a lot of things, in particular scholarships or pocket-money for the students.
We then did a fund-raising drive and collected enough money to ‘adopt’ the poorer of the orphans (I had five ‘anak angkat’). We gave each destitute orphan RM50 per month to help them with their schooling (not all were destitute though because some had families such as working siblings or uncles/aunties who gave them money every month).
Where was the government? Why did these orphans not get government help? We don’t know and did not worry about that. We did not go and fight with the government or political parties. Instead, we took it upon ourselves to assist these destitute orphans with a monthly scholarship of RM50 each.
Raman and I also went to the psychiatric ward of the Kuala Terengganu general hospital to see what we could do for the inmates there. After discussing the matter with the doctors it was decided we should donate a sound system so that music could be piped into the ward.
Later, when I visited the ward again, I saw that the patients were no longer glum and miserable but were happily dancing and singing to the music. Well, at least I made them happy. And they appeared happier than me because they had no debts to pay and other things to worry about.
This was of course in Terengganu where the entire rural population is Malay. The urban population was not that bad off though. Anyway, the Terengganu Chinese had all sorts of foundations and community-supported Chinese schools so they were well looked after. And there was hardly any Indian population save for the business people and professionals. Therefore, there were no poor Indians as such.
You will probably now argue that we only helped the Terengganu Malays and not the ‘others’. The truth is there were no ‘others’ who needed help in Terengganu. If there had been very poor Indians and Chinese then they would have also got our help. After all, about 90% of our Rotary Club members were non-Malays, and well-off non-Malays at that. So it was not a ‘Malay-only’ policy that we practiced but it was just that we could not find any non-Malays who were destitute enough to warrant help.
We could, though, find quite a number of Chinese in the old folks home. And some of these Chinese in the home were from rich families who no longer wanted to take care of their old folks and had dumped them in the old folks home. And, yes, we also visited the old folks home and helped the inmates there, many of them Chinese. There were no Indians in the old folks home because, as I said earlier, there are not that many Indians in Terengganu — and for those Indians that are in Terengganu their old folks are not in Terengganu but back in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, etc.
At that time, it did not occur to us that the kids who walked to school barefooted were Malays, or that the orphans were Malays, or that most of the old folks in the old folks home were Chinese. We just helped them because they needed help and not because of their race. I now wish we had some Indians in those rural kampong, orphanage, or old folks home. Then, today, I can claim we also helped the Indians.
Actually, the Indians in Terengganu had plenty of money, even though it was a very small Indian population, and no one needed our help. In fact, these Indians donated money to help finance the activities of the Rotary Club. So the Terengganu Indians gave us money to help the Malay kids and orphans and the Chinese in the old folks home. They did not take our money.
Now, before you jump on me, I am talking about Terengganu more than 30 years ago. I have since left Terengganu and am no longer the Secretary of the Rotary Club. Have things changed since then? Today, are there poor Indians in Terengganu or Indians in the orphanage and old folks home?
I don’t know, but the last time I went to Terengganu and stayed there for about two weeks, more than a year ago, I met many of my old Indian friends and they appeared even richer than when I knew them back in the 1970s and 1980s. Many were driving Mercedes Benzes and have homes in the golf resort that cost a million or more. They were just oozing with money.
Why is Hindraf not able to tap the financial resources of these Indians? I am confident that Hindraf can raise millions from these rich Indians and use the money to embark upon various projects such as scholarships for needy Indian kids.
If Hindraf can find five or six Indians of strong social standing to act as trustees of an Indian Education Foundation then many of those rich Indians would gladly pledge money to this foundation.
But before these rich Indians would dare part with their money you have to convince them that the foundation will be professionally run and is headed by trustees who have impeccable records. Many are worried that the money they donate would be misused, as what has been the case so many times in the past.
I don’t believe the Indian community problem should be shoved to the government to solve. There are enough rich and super-rich Indians who can help their own community. Why are they not doing so?
Hindraf should also go and meet the Rotary and Lions Clubs and talk to them about the needy that need help. I can assure you most would want to help if you can point them to the right direction. But of course, if they see Hindraf as political rather than community service, then they would not want to open their doors — and more importantly, their purses.
Translated into Chinese at: http://ccliew.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-post_16.html
