The Malaysia Hindu Sangam has declared war on alcoholism among the younger generation with the first move being adopting a dual approach to exorcise this particular devil through legislation and enforcement.

"We want to make under-aged drinking an offence punishable by being locked up for two days," said its youth leader Arun Doraisamy today.

He said this at MHS's consultation forum entitled 'Alcohol Laws in Malaysia 2010: National Review of Alcohol Laws, Policies and Programmes'.

In addition there are also suggestion to raise the age limit for alcohol drinking from 18 to 21.

He also suggested that a tier-based taxation be adopted based on alcohol content instead of the standard 10%.

In the long-term, Arun called for the establishment of a research centre - which he said tentatively could be called the 'Malaysian Alcohol Prevention, Research and Rehabilitation Centre'.

These were among the 12 legislative proposals put forward today.

Need holistic approach

In addition to the proposals, participants at the session also called for a holistic approach to resolve the issue.

A Gunapathy of Yayasan Strategik Sosial suggested that MHS should concentrate more on families in high-risk areas.

Vice-president of the Education, Welfare and Research Foundation (EWRF) T Rajasegaran who has been working with Indian children, aged between 12-14, said that the root of the problem lies with the fathers who do not play their role in bringing up their offspring, hence the urgent need for a change in the mind set.

Maria Chin Abdullah of Empower and Ahmad Safarudin Yusof of Malaysian Muslim Youth Organisation (ABIM) along with a host of 20 Indian NGOs attended the discussion session.

Ahmad told the participants that ABIM would be conducting a program on alcohol abuse soon.