According to Malayan history, the relationship and the link between India and Malalya (currently Malaysia) commenced around 11th century in the areas of diplomacy, trade, religion and language.

While the above prolonged until the 1500s, it was on a descending trend. After the Malays embraced Islam, the Indian and Malayan relationship concentrated mostly on trade. The Tamil and Malayalam Muslims settled in Malaya as they enjoyed brisk business, especially by doing petty trade and managing food outlets.

A considerable number of North Indians and Tamils (Chettiars and Pillays) too settled in Malaya for trade and finance purposes.

It should be noted that Munshi Abdullah (half Tamil, half Arab) gave a significant boost to the Malay language around 1800s. He enriched the Malay language with additions to its vocabulary taken from Arabic, Sanskrit, Tamil, etc. He also contributed a lot to simplify the language for the layman to use.

During the earlier part of the 1900s, during the British rule, HN Ridley decided to plant rubber trees in large scale in Malaya. At that time, rubber was in demand as synthetic rubber was not available.

Rubber plantations need a lot of hardworking, strong and brave labourers. The locals shunned working in rubber plantations. The British had no choice but to refer to another of its colonies, India, to fill up the vacancies.

The recruitment was carried out in Madras(Tamil Nadu). Many of those who volunteered were desperate and uneducated, even by Indian standards. They were eventually shipped, together with their family members, to Malaya. These people were paid miserably low compared to their efforts and contribution.

They were not even given the basic necessities. None or limited supply of electricity, substandard water quality, small houses to live in, unreliable transport facilities, etc.

However, the alcoholic beverage, toddy, was made available in most of the estates to tame the labourers.

To supervise these estate labourers, the British brought the Keralites of India. They were employed as clerks in the estates. There were a lot of Indian Tamils who could occupy those positions but as we all know, the British practiced a ‘divide and rule’ policy.

In order to assist the British in their urban administration, they brought in the Ceylonese (Sri Lankan Tamils). Again, needless to say, the Indian Tamils were not brought in for the urban administrative positions.

During World War II, the Japanese forcefully recruited more Indians than any others for the Death Railway project.

After synthetic rubber became a near perfect substitute of natural rubber during the 1960s, rubber estates were converted into oil palm estates. Palm oil was more profitable than rubber.

However, it was a tedious job. No doubt they were paid extra but it was still low by Malaysian standards.

Many of those families couldn’t send their children to towns for schooling as they couldn’t afford it. Hence, most of them stop schooling after primary school, if there was no secondary school nearby.

Many of those in the estates rarely went to town unless it was pay day. It is because of this the Chinese and Malays remained oblivious to the living conditions and plight of estate workers.

The only Indians they knew were those from the middle or high income group in towns.

Dr Mahathir Muhammad became the fourth prime minister of Malaysia in 1982. His economic policies were mostly industrial development and service based. His Plus (North South Highway) project was a turning point (both good and bad) for the estate folk dotted along the highway.

The properties along the Plus highway was in demand for residential or commercial purposes. Thus, a considerable number of estates were sold to developers and industrialists. It was also during this period that estate workers started to leave for greener pastures.

The remaining workers in estates had to put up with low pay and a worsening way of life. Now, many workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh and India are working in the estates for much lower wages.

The Indian families which came from estates settled in towns, usually the suburbs. For many it was a culture shock, especially the teenagers who found urban life different from what they were used to.

This made them frustrated and lonely. Eventually, they had to mix with teenagers in the same boat. This is where, the problem started for Indian youth.

Initially, many formed gangs which were involved in fights, snatch thefts, car thefts, extortion, etc. In my opinion, this will only end in the next generation when they completely forget their roots.

The upcoming generation is showing some promise as their parents and the community put adequate concern on education and healthy activities. Until then, the image of Malaysian Indians will remain tainted.