About 30 percent of Indian Malaysians have fallen victim to the adverse impact of the country's modernisation, industrialisation and globalisation policies and process, said a social scientist.

This figure, based on estimated income, is gleaned from the Mid-term Review report of the 8th Malaysia Plan.

Yayasan Strategik Sosial (YSS) executive director Dr Denison Jayasooria, in an interview, said this reality was based on the foundation's grassroots work comprising more than 30 studies since its inception in 1998.

"Other social scientists have pushed the inverted pyramid theory depicting a smaller base representing the community's lower income population, compared to the top and middle segments," he told malaysiakini.

"My own take is that the community's biggest problem lies among the 30 percent at the bottom rung of what I deem as the pyramid."

According to the paper 'Malaysian Indian Issues & YSS Response', the bottom segment comprises displaced plantation workers and their families currently residing in squatter areas, low-cost flats and housing areas or suburban villages.

Others include contract labourers, local government workers such as road cleaners, road builders and manual workers.

Poor delivery system

The paper describes some major factors affecting the community as "socio-economic and structural in nature", including housing, job placement for displaced estate workers, land ownership, low monthly wages and lack of basic amenities.

"The plantation community was neither prepared nor empowered to face the challenges of the massive infrastructure development and industrialisation," the paper said.

Blame also fell on weaknesses in the government's implementation and delivery system specifically for impeding the growth and development of the poor in the Indian Malaysian community.

It also linked the rising trend of dysfunctional families directly to the number of under-achievers and anti-social, crime-prone youths.

The paper said the community's fatalistic attitude and culture of submission to authority, pessimism, passivity, worldview and belief system have served to compound the situation.

The paper also found that Indian Malaysians have remained comparatively backward due to several factors.

"If we say the (community's) captive mindset is the problem, then we need to look at the chain of consequences," said the paper.

It showed how unjust systems lead to captive mindset, prompting low self-esteem which in turn leads to low education, low skills, low wages and subsequently poverty before completing the cycle to cement the captive mindset.

"Breaking this vicious cycle and arresting its downward spiral should be the vision of every concerned citizen, especially that of the upper echelon of society."

Reaching out

Late September, YSS, MIC's social arm, held a closed-door dialogue on re-inventing itself and how best to effectively reach target groups such as dysfunctional families, single mothers, educational under-achievers and youths with criminal and anti-social behaviour.

The paper said low-income earners were not only disadvantaged, marginalised, socially-excluded and suffered from low self-esteem, but also lacked community leaders and role models to "wean them away from their woes".

Elaborating on YSS' role, Denison said key findings saw the light at high-level committees and forums including the Special Commission to Enhance the Operations and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police, National Economic Action Council II and Outline Perspective Plan 3.

YSS currently has a crop of about 200 ground volunteers, a number of specialist facilitators and is linked with about 60 Indian-based national and local organisations.

Of the RM20 million set aside for social programmes for the Indian Malaysian community, YSS received RM5.4 million for implementation at the grassroots between 2001 and 2003. Its monthly operational expenditure stands at RM45,000.

"Although we have been criticised for being on the side of the government, I believe it does help to work within the system because you can get a lot of things done," he said.

"For instance, our participation has reached policy-making level where we are regarded as a key group whenever the government wants something done in the community," he said, adding that the only downside after years of hands-on approach is that the foundation does not have an academic publication.