The statement made our Honourable Youth and Sports Deputy Minister M Saravanan which was published in a local Tamil daily (Sept 21, 2015) was a great shock. “Indians in Malaysia are still seeking alms from the government to study”, Saravanan said during the closing ceremony of a debate competition. “Besides the students, the mothers and entire family are also begging for seats to pursue education”, he added.

I am very much bewildered to see how a deputy minister failed to recognise the difference between claiming our neglected or denied rights and begging. First and foremost, the Indian community here would never be able to lead a perfectly good living by sponging off others. In such a situation, the statement by a deputy minister, who is also a representative of the community in Malaysian cabinet, is totally unfair for the community and the taxpayers.

This proclamation is as though blaming the entire community for fighting for their rights in this land. Ultimately this also shows that the minister has failed to understand the socio-economic status of the community.

We generally are not in the situation of sending the kids to private institutions or abroad to pursue their tertiary level education as this will only increase the education debt of the community, which will eventually become a threat to the human capital development and stable economic status of the Indian community.

Instead of carrying out necessary steps to help the Indians to climb the ladder of economy in Malaysia, provoking and accusing them with such a public announcement will never help the deprived community in any way but will only bring more difficulties and bafflement in the society.

We do not need leaders who are willing to compromise with the development and needs of society. Leaders of the community must be able to amend and create policies to uplift the community in a bigger scale rather than conducting workshops on tailoring, baking cakes, and stringing flowers solely.

The lack of leaders engaging widely in national policy is the greatest setback of the leadership that they are portraying and it is also an act of unjust to the society.

Before commenting on the ability of the community, I think leaders should work on rebranding their race-based political party that they are affiliated with. Again, I would like to emphasise that, conducting activities like an NGO is neither the duty of a cabinet members nor political party.

Along with lending a helping hand to the community, be aware of the ways to tackle national policies so that the entire community can bear the fruits. Politics is neither a money-making ground nor fame-seeking platform. Thus, be more concerned about the growth of the community.

Editor's note: M Saravanan contacted Malaysiakini later to explain that the Tamil daily report had taken what he said out of context. He said even the Tamil daily’s heading and context of its article were different. The article had attributed the remarks to him when it was mentioned by someone else.