I refer to Datluk s letter entitled Who will feed the non-bumi children? in response to MIC president S Samy Velu's call to Indians to have more children. The writer appears to stage his emotions very erratically.

I have never hidden my contempt for the wayward views and actions of Samy Vellu, but I belief this is one call for which he deserves credit. My father, like many others during his time, had enough children to form a football team. Those were difficult times when we had to scrape through with water and a few grains of rice. My parents, day in and day out, tilled and toiled to give us a decent education. Added to the burden of bringing up their own children, my parents had to take care of my uncle's two children. And my parents were just ordinary workers.

When Indians of that generation were able to raise that many children in such difficult conditions, Datluk's comments come as those from a pampered and spoilt lot who wait and yearn for handouts, typical of today's kids who seem to complain of everything.

Having one child or two children who later become professionals would be no equal to parents with up to 10 children with even the basic education. That is how the numbers work out in this country. No matter how well qualified or well-placed in life, it would be just one or two votes, while 10, irrespective of what their station in life is, means 10 votes.

When the Indian votes have become negligible due to reduced numbers, we lose many things, including our rights. Rights for the minorities on paper, as it is in this country, are very shallow and if this does not cause concern to Datluk, then you are definitely not for the Indians.

Of course, I would like to live in a country and society where numbers, and numbers alone, do not impose an encumbrance on what you would like to be but the reality and truth is less than comforting. Even as we are treated this lowly, relegated and dismissed as a warped out component of society, they still come to get our votes. Didn't we feel wonderful when they come to seek our votes? For that few minutes, our might is reflected.

I do not deny that our leaders, particularly our Indian leaders, have warmed their own dens rather than sticking out their neck for our rights and interests but here, this is not the issue. We have to think of the future generations and while there are Indians who have become part of criminal society, there are also decent and hard-working Indians who, with little or no handouts, are making in-roads into a number of businesses and professions. Let us be proud of them.

However, most of the time, their paths to success have been slippery and if only the strength in numbers among us exists, strong enough to make the government take notice, then we will be noticed, as our votes will matter. If anyone is oblivious of this fact, then they seriously need some lessons in democracy, Malaysian-style.