During the 59th annual general meeting of the MIC recently, I was away and missed the thrill of the proceedings. But I read a local daily saying that there wasn't any thrill and excitement during the assembly.

Maybe the delegates and leaders are people of discipline and adhered party rules and regulations.

But as the sole party that claims to represent the Indian community and in wanting to spearhead challenges and solve the problems of the community, I am surprised that the party has failed to put pressure on the government to address issues facing the community.

For instance, education seems to have become MIC's sole challenge. The party is struggling hard to manage fund and manage the Tafe colleges in Kuala Lumpur and the Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED) in Seremban.

MIED debtors, mainly party men are not paying back the money they borrowed from the party. With all this on its plate, the party has now embarked on a new university in Kedah.

You need strong a financial base plus professionals to run a university. And minimum political interruption like now the MCA runs its Tunku Abdul Rahman College. Can the MIC do this?

In politics, MIC still has only a single minister in the cabinet. The community is not represented at all important meetings. Politically the party is not at all well-represented at the decision- making level .

In economics, the MIC - like its bigger brother Umno - does not have professionals running its investment arm. The failure of Maika Holdings in not returning its its shareholders investment is well-known. Was there any recovery exercise made that benefitted the community in total? A resounding 'no' is the answer.

The acceptance of the failure of the 8th Malaysia Plan to increase the community's share of the economic pie is another setback. Where we did we go wrong? A party well-known for carrying out research and surveys has failed to check on the progress of the 8th Malaysia Plan as it was being implemented.

The MIC should take a cue from PAS as far as the election of leaders are concerned. The new deputy president of PAS is only in his 40s with energy and a new way of thinking.

The MIC, meanwhile, has a leader wanting to rule for his tenth term. Isn't that too much? Are there is no potential leaders to manage the party? The MIC's top leaders seem to be going all out to deny the younger members a chance to assume leadership.

If the party continues to keep the door closed to the young ones, I warn the party will become irrelevant and the PPP will be the option for young Indian professionals .

Sooner or later, it will be inevitable that Indian Malaysians drift away from the political arena, The community will stand on its own by choosing an alternative way of surviving outside the political equation. The MIC, then, becomes a dinosaur.