Indian youths want race-based politics binned, demand outcome-driven governance

Indian Malaysian youths want the government to move past ethnic-based politics toward outcome-driven governance.

In an Iman Research report titled “Kami Orang Sini Juga: Indian Youth and Democratic Belonging” unveiled yesterday, youths interviewed stressed that symbolic gestures are insufficient to secure the political trust of the community.

Instead, they said the government should earn the community’s trust through real policy reform and providing institutional equity instead of embarking on "headcount representation" and seasonal handouts.

Citing an example, one respondent from Malacca attributed the appointment of PKR vice-president R Ramanan as human resources minister in 2025 to political calculation rather than a genuine effort.

The respondent said: " I feel they reshuffle because they want Indian votes… Because, all these days, there is no thought of reshuffling. Why is it happening now?”

One respondent also described tokenism not as a feature of any single government, but as a recurring pattern across administrations, which at times does not allow younger Indian representatives to hold any authority within the leadership structure.

One youth said: "To be honest, I don't care at all about representation. I think we need to move beyond; the discourse needs to move beyond representation politics.

“What concerns me most is whether they're actually doing their jobs, and whether they're capable of doing their jobs. Those are the metrics I realise most of the time."

They also pointed to a persistent disconnect between the government and the everyday realities of economic precarity, educational barriers, and institutional inertia faced by the community.

‘Voting season’ goodies

Citing an example, the youths panned what they described as a "voting season" help cycle - a recurring pattern where government attention and financial disbursements soar during major cultural celebrations or ahead of elections, only to vanish immediately after.

While temporary relief packages and festive hampers are welcomed by low-income households, respondents emphasised that these seasonal gestures leave core structural grievances untouched.

One interviewee said: "Indians usually only get help during festivals like Deepavali or Thaipusam, often tied to voting.

“Why not start helping at the beginning of the year instead of waiting for the voting period? … I don't want to see this ‘voting season’ help cycle anymore; it's happening nationwide."

What is Mitra doing?

Apart from rejecting tokenism, respondents also did not mince their words in criticising the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra), an agency tasked specifically to help Indians.

Despite an annual budget of RM100 million, which was later increased to RM150 million, respondents remained sceptical of the agency.

Researchers also found significant information gaps in regard to Mitra’s functions, with many young people entirely unaware of the agency’s grant programmes.

"I don't know how these guys (Mitra) operate. If I'm being completely honest, I don't know what they do," admitted one respondent.

One respondent who did reach out to Mitra said: "Mitra for me is (a) useless thing because I have applied and I have helped people as well to help apply… (nothing) until today, three years already.

“For some, they've have been waiting for seven years."

READ MORE: Ramanan denies claims of crisis in Mitra

However, several other respondents spoke positively about Mitra, citing the agency’s work on upskilling workers.

One respondent said: “Actually, they do provide benefits. One of my relatives got retrenched, and Mitra provided a course.

“It helped them gain skills and assisted them in searching for new jobs.”

Lack of education opportunities

Respondents also pointed out that while the government has increased educational pathways for Indian youth, the push comes with the rigid preservation of the 90:10 bumiputera-to-non-bumiputera matriculation admissions quota.

This, they added, resulted in high-performing Indian students from underprivileged backgrounds frequently getting rejected from public matriculation feeder streams.

Describing this barrier, one student recalled: "I applied for matriculation but didn't get it, while people with lower grades got in. It was very surprising for me.

“Even recently, friends of mine who got straight A+ couldn't get into matriculation, while those who are Malays get in easily just because of the quota system."

Offering solutions, the respondents called for several key reforms focused on systemic safeguards.

This includes a comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation governing housing and employment, a transition from ethnic quotas to needs-based admissions for low-income families, and strict oversight mechanisms to ensure agencies like Mitra operate with full transparency.

Commenting on the report, researcher James Chai said that while people can assume many things about the youths, one should remember that they are actually watching what’s happening around them.

“Indian Malaysian youths are making it clear that their political belonging cannot be bought with festive goodwill.

“It must be earned through institutional equity and real policy reform,” he added.

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The study interviewed 111 Indian Malaysian youths aged between 18 and 35 from across Peninsular Malaysia, including three who live abroad. The interviews were conducted between August 2025 and April 2026.

The report cautioned that its findings were not nationally representative due to the small sample size, but said they offered insights into youths' perspectives and how their lived experiences shape their understanding of Malaysia's socio-political landscape.

The findings were presented by researcher Shaleen Surendra at an event in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The other researchers involved were Nadia Lukman, Shalini Muniapan, and Aziff Azuddin.

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