Parti Sosialis Malaysia candidate for the Semenyih state seat S Arutchelvan has been promised undivided support from the Indian poor in the constituency.

The reason being simple - the party that claims to represent the interest of the Indian community in this country, the MIC, have failed them.

Living in shanty houses provided by their employers, the Indian communities in the Abako Plantation, a plantation owned by Ban Guan Eng Realities, claimed they have much to complaint about when it comes to MIC.

psm semenyih campaign 280208 people Malaysiakini followed Arutchelvan on Tuesday when he went on an educational campaign on the elections in the plantation area and asked residents what they felt about the PSM candidate.

“We live in abject poverty. We only started getting clean water when Arutchelvan came and negotiated with the management,” said one of the residents there who did not want to be named.

This was only six years ago. The plantation and the residents there have been residing there since the period of the Japanese occupation.

And the other startling fact was that the reason for this request for anonymity by the resident was not due to introversion, but pure fear.

Since Arutchelvan took the role of representing these communities, residents claimed they have been constantly harassed by the plantation management’s staff.

Residents say that management staff had tore down campaign posters baring the Arutchelvan’s photo but allowed BN’s posters to remain.

This is because Arutchelvan had forced the management to provide the residents with clean water after negotiations that went on for more than a decade.

RM300 monthly wage

Malaysiakini also learnt that the average worker in this plantation are only paid RM300 monthly for their labour and on rainy days, they only get RM100.

These wages fall below the national poverty income rate which stands in Peninsular Malaysia at RM663 per month for urban areas and RM657 for rural areas.

“Where is MIC? Where is BN? Every time the elections’ near they promise us many things like proper housing and all that but it has been years since and look at our houses,” said another resident.

The houses there are divided into two areas. The wooden houses are in one area and the brick houses about twenty yards away.

Most of the family there have a large number of family members, some reaching to ten, and must all make do with a single room house. In the wooden houses, furniture is scarcely seen.

Residents there say they are trapped by poverty. With the subsisting wage, they cannot afford to send their children to schools and most of them will not make it to secondary education.

“What can we do? Who will be here to help us ? MIC? I don’t think so. Nobody cares about us. Only Arutchelvan have fulfilled his promises,” said another resident.

Empowerment campaign

As part of their empowerment programme, Arutrchelvan and other PSM activists were there to educate residents on how to vote. They were also thought of the basic mechanism of the Malaysian voting system.

“Some of them have been wanting to vote for the opposition but because they do not know how to recognise the party logos, and given the abundance of BN flags around, had voted for BN instead,” Arutchelvan said.

For Arutchelvan, this plantation has a special place in his heart. After doing extensive empowerment work in the area for more than two decades, it was the estate that gave him the motivation to engage in politics.

“Look at their conditions. It speaks for itself,” he said.

And as for the residents, it was a “enough is enough” situation. For them, MIC is a traitor to the Indian communities and March 8 will see their votes going for PSM.

Semenyih, with a 53.7 percent Malay population and followed by Chinese at 28 .8 percent has been Arutchelvan’s backyard for more than 20 years.

The Indians constitute 17.1 percent and mostly dominate the plantations and are the poorest in Semenyih.

In the March 8 polls, Arutchelvan, contesting under the PKR ticket, will be facing Umno/BN newcomer Johan Aziz.