Nurul Izzah: Silence on Indian issues doesn't mean inaction

Summary

• PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar defends her quiet approach to addressing Indian Malaysian issues, saying silence doesn’t equate to inaction.

• She says she prefers working behind the scenes to achieve concrete results, rather than engaging in public theatrics.

PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar emphasised that her perceived silence on issues involving the Indian Malaysian community does not equate to inaction.

On the contrary, she said she prefers to work quietly with a focus on concrete results.

“Some say I’m too quiet, that I need to be more vocal like before. But being silent doesn’t mean doing nothing.

“I believe in substance before theatrics,” she said in a statement today, when commenting on proposed initiatives to empower the Indian community under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP).

Elaborating further, Nurul Izzah shared her experience working with then-Klang MP Charles Santiago and other teams in a series of roundtables to discuss issues affecting Indian Malaysians.

She said the initiative, seeking transformative solutions, involved economists, government officials, NGO leaders, and community representatives.

“This isn’t just a ‘feel-good’ meeting. We’re serious about building an action plan. This issue isn’t just about the Indian community, but about justice for all Malaysians.

“This isn’t about winning votes, but about ensuring no one is left behind,” said the former Permatang Pauh MP.

She said that based on the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia (APPGM) report on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Indian Malaysian community, particularly the B40 group, still faces problems such as school dropouts, intergenerational poverty, statelessness, low-income employment, and domestic violence.

Proposals for reform

Earlier, at a press conference in Petaling Jaya, Charles said Yayasan Iltizam Malaysia and the Sustainable Initiative for Community Change (SICC) had submitted proposals to the Economy Ministry on June 23, regarding empowering the Indian community.

He said the groups also hope to meet Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“We’re waiting for a response to set a meeting date,” said the SICC chairperson.

Charles said the two groups proposed 40 initiatives and 11 action plans across five pillars under the 13MP to address systemic barriers faced by the Indian community.

The five pillars are education reform, women and youth development, small and medium enterprise advancement, institutional reform, and governance.

He said the proposals were formed after months of consultation with over 200 people, including women, non-profit leaders, academics, and Indian community members.

Among other things, the group called for preschool education to be made compulsory for all children, as part of addressing the “very high” dropout rate among Indian students, estimated at between 30-50 percent.

They also proposed 40 community laboratories over the next five years to support Indian women and youth in education, training, and entrepreneurship.

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