YOURSAY 'Niat's approach for Indian Malaysian DPM is wrong. It is not important if the cat is black or white so long as it catches the corrupt rat.'

Niat lists GE demands - seeks Indian M'sian DPM

Cannon: Apparently National Indian Rights Action Team (Niat) leaders only woke up yesterday, having slept through the past 50 years. Malaysians have long awaken to reality of communal politics and are striving to move away from it.

They have realised that race-based politics does not deliver the goods. It cannot solve the poverty of the disfranchised across all communities. The minority communities are especially vulnerable to marginalisation and have borne the brunt of racial discrimination under Umno-BN.

The ethnic elites will arrogate the opportunities for themselves, families and their close supporters while leaving out their poor brethren. Just look at how MIC ‘took care' of the Indians under BN. This is what happens when each community is left to take care of their own kind.

Niat is conditioned by race and unable to think beyond race. Its leaders are fighting for position. When empowered, they will in all probability end doing the same thing as the self-servers in Umno-BN.

Raja Chulan: I am glad that finally someone credible and non-political such as Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim and Ambiga Sreenevasan are standing up for the Indians in Malaysia. Seeking and protecting minority rights should not be left to politicians alone.

Not withstanding the above, Malaysia as a whole should move forward based on merit and a level-playing field for all its citizens, irrespective of race and origin.

Faz: As long as we still think in term of races for everything, then we are not moving forward as Malaysians. This is contrary to promotion of merits in every field.

We have to start now after wasting 54 years using Umno-BN ideas or interpretations associated with race. Malaysians, to the fore.

Fairnessforall: Can all these parties stop making demands, especially based on race, and just support Pakatan Rakyat? When they win, then you can make some reasonable demands and see if they are met.

It is ridiculous to make demands before the election and to hold them to ransom. I especially don't agree with the Indians DPM and Indian ministers and deputy ministers thing although I am an Indian Malaysian.

The reason is because I believe the best person should be selected for the job, irrespective of race. For 55 years, we have S Samy Vellu and other MIC leaders as a ministers, what did they do for the Indians? Who said that only an Indian minister can help the Indians?

This race-based thing should be stopped immediately and positions should be given based on merit and capability, only then we can have a country that is run effectively which will benefit all Malaysians, irrespective of race.

I did have some respect for Thasleen, but now I think he is another self-serving individual thinking he can get one of the ministers' or DPM's post.

Azlan Ahmad: Come on Niat secretary Arun Dorasamy. Win the election first and win convincingly. Don't start with wishful thinking. If you are not careful, the Indians will be worse off.

Don't be like Mat Jenin in the Malay folklore, who let loose his grip on the coconut trunk while daydreaming about wooing the princess. Eventually he landed dead on the ground. Emulate some other characters if you want to.

Onemalaysian: After attending Niat briefing, I began wonder about my support for BN but at the same time, I thought it would be better to deal with a 'known devil than an unknown angel'.

However, the more I read Niat's booklet, the more it makes sense to me that 'change must come'.

Let me quote a paragraph from Niat's booklet, "The Indians died because of snake bites, malaria, tropical diseases, malnutrition, exhaustion and slave-like conditions to transform those thick Malayan virgin forests into green paradise plantations that we have today."

God bless all Malaysians and please drive carefully and Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Let us all celebrate the festival as Malaysians and be united again.

Ex-Wfw: Wouldn't Sabahans and Sarawakians demand for their own deputy PMs, too? Why should they share the post with Indians whose population is less than theirs and when they have a 'special' relationship on joining the federation.

Such demands for a DPM's post will not guarantee the interests of those poor sector of any community. Once ‘embedded', just like many BN leaders, they will do 'business as usual'.

Are you suggesting that since Indians are concentrated in only four states, they shouldn't have any representation in the other states?

It seems the BN practices all these years have indeed permeated through the Malaysian society that people have forgotten that the final test should be the credibility and honesty of any leader, no matter what community.

Boonpou: I am all for getting rid of racist BN, especially Umno. But, please, the next DPM or PM should be considered not because of race or religion.

We need to transcend race and religion in politics. Otherwise we will still be stuck in the very politics that have divided us Malaysians, something the British and the Alliance/BN politicians have tricked so many Malaysians for the past six decades.

So, please stop this nonsense of demanding the next DPM or PM to be of this or that ethnicity and religion. It's the ideology and policy of each candidates that count and not about her/his race or ethnicity.

Dark Archon: Frankly, I don't see a need to have any position to be race specific. So long the person placed in the position performs, be he or her a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan or what not.

It is when BN start to say such and such positions have to be a Malay that we end up with the mess we are having today.

Kee Thuan Chye: This is not right. This is harping on racial politics, which is what most sensible Malaysians want to eradicate. Besides, the demands are not proportional and unrealistic.

In the US, before Barack Obama became president, the blacks didn't go around making demands that the vice-president must be black. Or that a certain number of secretaries in the cabinet have to be black.

They respect the idea of a meritocracy. We should too. We have not been a meritocracy for so long that we have forgotten what it's like.

Yahoo: Why can't we think all citizens of this country as Malaysians? Why is it that we don't trust another race to do the right thing for the other races?

It is more important that the party that forms the government practices universal values... meaning help the poor, bring up the level of education of all Malaysians, especially in the rural areas, raise the standard of living of its citizens, practices true democracy, ensures the independence of the three branches of the government, reward the hardworking, etc.

Kelate: The intention is good - ensure equitable treatment to the minority/neglected group. But the approach is not. Penang CM LGE (Lim Guan Eng) and Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim both manage their respective states well.

So has Kelantan, though it lacks financial muscle. It is not important if the cat is black or white so long as it catches the corrupt rat.

Didn't we have a part-Indian PM for 22 years?

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