I refer to MIC president S Samy Vellu's threat to 'close shop' if the government doesn't help the Indian community to achieve its 3% equity share in the nation's wealth.

Surely such an ultimatum should only be given when it is clear that the government has failed the Indians as a whole and has turned a deaf ear to MIC's requests for assistance.

The Indian community did not become a marginalised community overnight. Indians were not displaced and excluded from the civil service, thrown out of the estates and left to languish in under-resourced Tamil schools only yesterday.

The Indian community such as it is, subsists in squatter settlements and a disproportionate number of Indian youths have taken to crime, indicating deep social problems.

The Indian share of equity has stood at 1% for a long, long time. When did the MIC wake up to the Indian problem? For such a long time there have been public acclamations of satisfaction with government assistance.

Now the tune has changed. Why? All for 1.5% equity? Our priorities must be reviewed.