"Those who say that Indians are backwards are mad."

Quote from MIC President S Samy Vellu as reported in the New Straits Times on Aug 20.

Those who cannot see the plight of Indian Malaysians after 50 years of independence are blind, especially those who have the assumed responsibility for them. I would like to take this to ground level with some case studies.

Visit Malaysia Year 2007, celebrating 50 years of independence, is advertised world-wide to attract tourists to see Malaysia. However, some people and places are made invisible.

I had been engaged with Indian communities in the plantations and squatter areas over 30 years ago.

I had the opportunity recently to interview some Indian families in an estate (oil palm plantation), a low cost housing area and in a long house within the outskirts of the Federal Territory.

I was surprised but not shocked to find that their socio-financial situation has not only not improved but has gotten worse.

Indians in an estate which is within the suburban area of KL live in an environment that has hardly changed. The estate is closing down in three months and the workers have no jobs and no shelter and nowhere to go to.

The real scenario

One woman, Nagama (not her real name) has 11 children, husband is bed-ridden and they are illiterate.

This is contrary to Samy Vellu's view that "Today all Indians are educated and some doing very well." (ibid).

Five of her children have no citizenship or birth certificates. They would be among the 20,000 ethnic Indians who have been denied their rights to identity and citizenship in Malaysia.

The children cannot be admitted in schools or find employment because they do not have identity cards. She approached the MIC officials who took whatever papers she had and she never heard from them again.

There is no one to open any legal avenues for her to pursue.

In a low-cost flat lives a woman whose husband has a chronic illness but works as an office boy. They have two daughters who are disabled. The building is not disabled friendly. They survive on a meagre diet of mainly plain rice with a colouring of curry.

They receive no help from the government. They have received no help from the MIC. They have met with local party leaders and answered numerous questions but to no end.

She is asked if she is a member of the party. No. They say they can only help party members.

They approached the welfare department and the first thing they asked was if she subscribed to Astro (Satellite TV Channel). Yes. They were not entitled to welfare aid because they could afford to subscribe to Astro.

The Astro subscription was made by her sister for the sake of the disabled daughters, a gift.

They are at a dead end. The daughters are 18 and 20 but look like mere children because they are stunted in growth. The older girl is smaller in size and suffers from epilepsy. The mother says she prays to god everyday that he would take her daughters while she is still alive so that she can give them a decent burial because nobody will ever marry them.

Another family lives in a long house, below the skyline of the twin towers. They have been moved from one long house to another with the promise of a permanent house for 15 years.

All they can hope for now is something for their grandchildren. They have been turned down by the MIC again for not being a member. She has no idea how to become a member.

When she was told that she has to pay a membership fee, she said she had rather not be a member.

The MIC members did come once on the pretext of collecting donations for the poor. Being poor themselves, they, nevertheless, collected some money and gave it to them. Later they found out that the MIC had used their money to buy saris and distribute them in another area as coming from their own benevolence with no mention of their contribution.

They have no knowledge of government policies or human rights or any rights to which they are entitled. They are caught in the vicious cycle of poverty, illiteracy and ignorance.

Their livelihood is being snatched away from them by the immigrant labour force. Immigrant labour is cheaper with no employment benefits. They are preferred by employers.

Behind the facade

The whole scheme of low cost housing and long houses is a clever strategy of the government to erase the ugly scenes of squatter settlements and relocate the poor behind facades, thereby making poverty invisible.

The Eye on Malaysia, similar to the London Eye was transported from Paris and hurriedly constructed and introduced by the Ministry of Tourism to woo tourists as part of Visit Malaysia Year 2007 to showcase Malaysia.

At the 60 meter height, if one knew what to look for, besides the Twin Towers and the KL Tower, and with a good pair of binoculars, the above mentioned scenes might just become visible.

Vision 2020, the target date for developed status, will have come and gone.

If Malaysia is serious about achieving developed status, the living conditions found here will not meet required standards of approval

The poor invisible Indian Malaysians will remain poor! Readers are neither mad, blind nor stupid, Mr Samy Vellu!

David Anthony is a PJ-based freelance writer and a member of the Association of Freelance Writers, Manchester.