I refer to the Malaysiakini report Samy Vellu: MIC took Indian voters for granted .

The MIC and its president seem to be trying all sorts of public relation gimmicks and even resorting to trying to court the Netizens by putting in an article or two on the Net to show that they are trying to re-invent themselves in order to stop their fortunes from wasting away.

I understand their efforts and sympathise with their predicament because they still don't seem to get the right picture yet.

Malaysians of Indian origin needed a cause and some strong leadership as they were grappling with many contentious issues from body snatching due to religious ambiguities to child custody matters where one party converts to Islam to temple demolitions, deaths in police custody, poor conditions in Tamil schools, gangsterism and poverty.

They saw that the non-governmental organisations made better efforts to highlight their plight by lobbying the authorities be it at the state or federal level to ensure that their issues are heard.

After seeing this, and the complete silence from the party that they have been faithfully putting their hopes on for the past five decades since independence, the Indians finally found that courage to come out from their clustered thinking and vote with their conscience instead of along the usual racial lines that they had been taught and programmed to do.

This new-found freedom is a very cherished one which they will not want to let it go as they are now able to see the other side of the coin. In the past, all those with the right connections and ‘cables’ would be able to get what they want when in comes to state aid for education, scholarship, business licenses, business development, etc.

The key was that you must be ‘connected’ to an MIC member who has the ‘connections’. This is very similar to the method practiced by Umno for its 'Umnoputras'.

The common working-class individuals lost their confidence and faith in the MIC when it was very clear that the MIC will not dare question the supremacy of Umno in the BN. What Umno gives, the MIC takes and if one is lucky and with the right ‘connections’ and credentials, one will get some of the perks that is thrown out of this gravy train.

MIC can do this, it is not wrong, but what happens to the rest of the society? The grouses that the Indians had were about everyday basic living issues which if the MIC had taken up, the Indians would have reciprocated with their support.

But time and time again, what we saw was only happy cake-cutting and hugging amongst the leaders during festivities and no reaction when it came to the crunch. So when the people knew that they do not have to be scared anymore, they decided with their conscience and hence the mighty giant has now been reduced to a size that will make it realize that being humble and fearless at the same time is what that the people want.

The Indian voters want MIC to start questioning Umno and demanding answers for the people. Mere wool-pulling over our eyes and orchestrated statements will not do anymore. The people want participation. Social issues like deaths in police custody and religious conversion can be issues which the MIC could question and demand for answers.

MIC had the chance when A Kugan's matter was highlighted but it just failed to take the cue. It had another chance when Teoh Beng Hock's death while in the custody of the MACC was brought into the public sphere but again it did not bother due to the racial identity involved.

Therefore to now say that the party branch chairpersons and the divisional, state and federal leaders must be closer to the people is just too late. The time, however, is right for the MIC to begin anew by allowing debate within the party which will be the catalyst for the growth of new leadership.

To do this, the efforts must come from the top and positions should only be held for two-terms instead of the limitless situation that we have now. All members should be given a chance to vote for the president instead of the current chosen delegate system which only breeds corruption as leaders court the delegates to get elected. Instead of mimicking Umno and its mono-ethnic stand, MIC should start taking up multi-racial issues and stating its stand on them.

Real change is what the people are now looking for and gone are the days when the party loyalists register voters whom they think will only vote for the party. The people now know where to register as voters and more importantly, they want to know whether the party that they vote for will stand by them for the issues that they believe in ie, the equality for all races in Malaysia.