In the midst of unseemly scenes and self-serving statements in the party of which I have long been a member, I have been asked several times which faction I belong to. My answer, then, is that I will support whomsoever will genuinely advance the cause of Indian Malaysians.

This is no empty statement. I was born next to a cow-shed into a large family, and grew up in poverty in the rural town of Bedong, Kedah. If I advanced myself, it was through education and hard work. I neither got nor expect to get anything easily.

Nevertheless, there are many more of my fellow Indians who were, and are, worse off than me. They are trapped in a vicious circle of abject poverty from which there is no escape. Politicians who do not understand their situation, who have not walked the bitter path of the dusty red estate roads, are fond of exhorting the poor to improve themselves.

Only a caring government can pull the Indians out of their current state, and that is why I joined the MIC, so that I could contribute to that noble effort. I had already been successful in business and wanted to use my entrepreneurial skills and management expertise to help my fellow man.

The MIC seemed the ideal party for my efforts as it was a party that had been formed with the most noble aim of representing and helping the Indians. Together with Umno and MCA, MIC fought for Malaysia’s independence. The MIC’s ranks were filled with energy and idealism as they set out to better the lot of Indian Malaysians.

Yet we must ask ourselves if we continue to tread the righteous path laid out by our forbears, do we with sincerity carry the torch that they lit for us, or have we degenerated into squabbling little bands of self-serving rent-seekers?

‘Best and only hope of Indian M’sians’

There is no doubt that we are a much-weakened party from what we once were. We took the Indian votes for granted, and we lost it spectacularly in 2008. The main complaint of the people was that we no longer seemed to represent them, but only ourselves. And so they abandoned us.

Yet we remain the best and only hope of Indian Malaysians. Not the tiny little parties that would threaten to disperse the Indians into quarrelling groups made up of different castes and creeds, nor the loud but ineffective oppositionist.

It is the MIC that must pick itself up, and stoically shoulder the burden. We have the members, and we have the machinery; now we must again find our collective will to fully and effectively serve our community.

The ROS decision to order the MIC to hold re-elections is a blessing in disguise, it is an opportunity for us to examine and correct that which is wrong.

We cannot escape the scrutiny of an intelligent, well-informed electorate in 2018 if we continue to tolerate weakness and indecisiveness in our leaders and members. Let every member examine himself and answer what he has done for the community.

Let us lead with honour, for the good of the many, not for self-enrichment or aggrandisement. We must stand on principle, not ill-constructed pedestals of our own making. And let us return rejuvenated and united after this most necessary of elections, and finally win the battle against poverty, drink, disease, and all manner of social ills that have haunted our community for too long.

JASPAL SINGH is a senator.