Better Late Than Never

By admin-s On Feb 26, 2014

My solution to counter this disparity is quite simple in theory but will surely require the support of the entire community. It does not matter who is in power now or who aspires to be in power; my solution for this community should be asked from all the other communities.

Win

They represent about 8% % of the population or roughly about 2,100 000. They constitute 16% of the nation’s professional workforce and their participation in the medical sector workforce is an astonishing 35% but yet their share of the nation’s wealth is estimated to be roughly about 1.8% which is sad compared to the second largest minority group in the country which controls 60% of the nation’s economic wealth.

It is anyone’s guess and many will have their own theories on why this community seems to be falling behind if we are to look at the statistics. There are those who blame the government’s affirmative action plan, there are those who blame their leaders for not doing enough for the community, there are those who blame it on Indian movies, there are those who blame it on wealthy members from the community who have failed to give a helping hand to the needy within their own community and the list goes on.

Many within the community would say the major culprits for their misfortunes is the government and equally to be blamed are their own community leaders who are only interested in lining their own pockets.

Whether the blame they have laid on the government and their own community leaders is valid or not is debatable to those at the receiving end of such an accusation.

Talking about the problems within the community and who is to be blamed will not solve the root cause of their problems. There needs to be action now and not later to help this community. Time is not on their side because as other larger communities speed ahead; this community is being left behind.

Being a community with just over 2 million in population and spread out across the country; even their representation in the government is slowly disappearing.

Many would now lambast me for underestimating or painting a picture as though this community does not represent a factor when it comes time for elections. They do play a role but with such a small community and spread across the nation and large pockets of the community located only in some states and constituencies within these states, we must accept the fact that their political clout on a macro aspect is minute compared to the other 2 larger communities. It is not my wish to undermine any community but to accept the facts before me and to find a solution instead of listening to rhetoric from politicians and debates that are a waste of time.

The last 2 elections have shown that a very large segment of the nation’s population is discontent with the government and they have expressed this sentiment via ballot boxes and demonstrations. The list against the present government cannot be overlooked and must be taken seriously by the government.

Those who have voted against the government is quite obvious; with the bulk of the second largest community leading the pack, followed by a segment of the largest community and lastly this community.

Whether this community wishes to accept my reasoning or not is beyond my control; but their role even within those who oppose the present government is akin to a small fish swimming among whales.

Will this affiliation produce fruitful outcome to help their community is also up for debate. The reason I say this is because this collective opposition is not only asking for stricter enforcement to ensure less corruption, etc. but also for equal playing ground to compete for the economic pie of the country.

My main concern for this community is with regards to the equal playing field. One cannot compete in an equal playing ground if one is already disadvantaged from the beginning. The idea of assisting those in need by leaders in the opposition is commendable but political rhetoric on how the affirmative plan will help all and not just the one community and with meritocracy being the back bone to everything is in my opinion just politicians playing politics.

I personally do not see the affirmative action that currently favours one community being abolished, nor do I see preferential treatment that is given to this community abolished. I nevertheless with some reservations do see a possibility that it might be administered stringently to ensure it is advantageous to only those who are truly in need and in addition, I see a formation of another affirmative action plan that will cater to the needy of the other two communities; but this plan for the other two communities will be a shadow of the original affirmative plan. This of course can only be confirmed if and when the opposition takes over the governing of the country and by then it will be too late.

With that being said, it is my opinion that this community needs to take a step back and determine if such changes, if they occur, will have the required impact to propel them forward to be on equal footing with the larger communities. One must remember when making this decision that even after decades of the original affirmative plan no matter how flawed it was in the implementation, a huge segment of the largest community have made huge improvements economic-wise but yet they are still far behind the community that controls the largest share of the economic pie.

One then needs to refer to statistics and compare the poverty rate per capita among these communities; it will then show exactly how far behind the community is when measured up against the rest.

If my logic makes sense then I would recommend that this community take a step back from concrete affiliation within any group and selfishly consider the best option for them. I believe in collective progress but this collective progress can only be achieved if everyone in this collective is on equal footing.

Ask for the same rights as per the original affirmative plan be applied to your community while realistically I am sure not all will be possible. Nevertheless, ask for equal discounts when purchasing property that applies to the recipients of the original plan; reimplementation and increased quota for university placements, larger quota for scholarships for students from the community (something like MARA with equal funding on per capital calculation), preferential hiring from those in the community who wishes to serve in government departments, increased government funding for loans to encourage SME startup, excess to land reserved for a certain community and so forth.

I sincerely believe the largest community here is sympathetic towards this community. I agree there are some right wing characters who will shoot their mouths off in protest but I also believe the majority of the main group will have empathy towards you.

The main community in this nation and your community are very much alike. Besides the obvious difference which is religion, some rituals and customs; if you were to look carefully, one will see more similarities than differences.

My recommendation is sincere in nature and it will be a disgrace in my opinion for the recipients of the original affirmative plan to deny you your request and to assist your community.

Your biggest enemy and obstacle will be the politicians from the different parties and leaders from within your own community who for reasons they only know will not want you to succeed in your demands but not all politicians have ulterior motives and I am sure many out there will view your request positively.

Lastly, a cohesive community that speaks in a single voice, no matter how dispersed they are and no matter how small they are will be a force to reckon with.