As a vital precautionary measure, industrial boilers are required to have safety valves to release steam when the pressure reaches dangerous levels.

Without this mechanism, they are likely to explode with serious consequences. Human societies are similar in nature.

Neglect and lack of avenues to redress problems can drive desperate people to desperate means.

It is widely known that the most disadvantaged among the three major ethnic groups are the Indians.

One of the most dramatic examples of this neglect was the 2000 Commonwealth Games held for the first time in its history in Malaysia. It was a proud moment indeed and one to cherish at the opening chapter of a new century.

And what did we see at the grand opening ceremony? Or to put it another way, what we did not see must have burnt into the hearts of every Indian Malaysian.

They were completely forgotten, there was nothing at the ceremony to mark that this group exists, while every other community was able to show off in full colour its cultural specialty.

And there was MIC President S.Samy Vellu, the self-proclaimed leader of the Indian community, taking it all in.

This new entity called Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) and the street protest are a direct manifestation of long-simmering discontent.

The demolishing of squatters houses where Indian occupants supplement their income with rearing goats or growing vegetables in small plots has always had a depressing effect.

The same thing can be said about other communities who are similarly affected, but they have the necessary help and political backing which Indians generally lack.

And most pressing of all the difficulties they now face in getting the necessary licences and small loans to start up business.

So one is forced to conclude that what triggered the march must have been the timing of the demolition of the illegal temple in Shah Alam, Selangor - so close to Deepavali, which celebrates the victory of light over darkness.

The mystery is the demolition notice was reportedly issued some three years ago. It's hard to believe that the temple officials were sitting on their hands all this while and the MIC was unaware of the matter.

Shock and awe

Pardon me while I take a detour at this point.

Sometime in the mid-1970s when I was a middle-ranking executive in a news organisation, an Indian colleague approached me to ask: "What's going to happen to Indians in this country?"

My reply was brief: "They get wiped out or get tougher."

Long treated like hewers of wood and carriers of water, they are supposed to bear it all stoically including being the butt of racial slurs as well as facing discrimination in the work place.

An excellent example of this attitude was when two Indians in the first Malaysian team to attempt the conquest of Mt Everest managed to reach the peak first.

The question in Parliament was: "Why didn't they wait for the others?" which beggared belief and exposed that particular YB's abysmal ignorance of conditions prevailing in the Himalayas. His question implied they should have waited for their betters.

The poor benighted man was reacting from a deeply entrenched habit, a product of his environment that continues to this day.

There are countless other examples but this should suffice.

So when Hindraf members took to the streets it both shocked and stunned me. Shocked that they could gather in such large numbers in defiance of authority and stunned by their organisational skills.

Despite the heavy police presence and the other stringent measures, at least 10,000 people managed to gather at the Hindraf rally last Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, the threat of the Internal Security Act notwithstanding.

Fit safety valves

A more important aspect now is how to tap skills and channel them to more positive endeavour. It would be a shameful waste if this opportunity was not grabbed at the earliest opportunity

Perhaps, after emotions have calmed down, wiser counsel may prevail and the powers-that-be would be able to see what Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang has already seen the rally to be - a "desperate cry for help".

This community has been seen as being docile and mostly law abiding, so their action is out of character.

The political establishment's fire and brimstone response is understandable as the incident has blown away the illusion of Indian helplessness.

The authorities acted in knee-jerk fashion when facing what must have been a novel situation for them. Surely such heavy-handedness needs review in the context of today.

These are testing times for all and falling back on outdated methods can no longer work. There is an urgent need for politicians to grapple with such problems instead of sweeping them under the carpet with the ISA broom. That would be sowing the seeds for future discord.

What harm is there in quietly engaging in a dialogue with Hindraf to get to bottom of what is wrong and where? Solutions are always there.

If this could be done, surely much credit would rebound on the government for being open and handling a grave situation with panache and compassion.

A situation like this need not have arisen at all if there had been free flow of information. This where a free press would have played a vital role as an early warning system for the government.

Now in the digital age, the government is at the losing end if it's not speedily off the block in tackling social ills before these spin out of control.

Too much control over information also means that too much is shielded from the higher-ups, and they are bushwhacked when problems explode.

Also talk that public demonstrations are not 'Malaysian' is arrant nonsense. People are not amnesiac about the street demonstrations held by Barisan Nasional components. Shortly after independence such demonstrations were quite common, often by opposition parties.

They resorted to such action because the press and radio and later television were and are under the thumb of the government, with little hope for the opposition of getting their message across effectively.

Now information technology has levelled the field somewhat and establishment politicians have to rise to the challenges posed. They should seriously mull over the own much-repeated advice about the necessity for a change in mindset of the people.

The time has arrived for boilers to be fitted with safety valves. Another way to is get off the high horse and put ears close to the ground to detect the early warning signs.

After all, democracy is supposed to be messy, not regimented like ermNorth Korea?