Shallow mentality that blocks progress
Viren Swami<br>University College of LondonPublished: Mar 30, 2001 1:11 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
The anonymously written letter [#1]Indians must make radical changes[/#] (March 29) is one of the more amusing materials to have found their way into the Letters section of malaysiakini. Reading the aforementioned letter, I found it hard to discern whether the author had his or her tongue in cheek. If so, I certainly would not have been surprised.
Yes, truly Malaysian Indians need to embrace the new millennium in more pro-active ways, but to "discard the Tamil language" or "to ban all Tamil movies, especially those with Rajnikanth in it", will hardly change much. Surely every language, no matter how crass or crude, is beautiful in its own right.
And I wonder just how far superior English movies really are over Tamil ones. It seems funny to me, at least, that at a time when individuals are constantly fighting an uphill battle to preserve their respective cultures and traditions, there are still those who feel that abandoning their own traditions will help them escape subjugation.
I fear that it is the shallow mentality of such people that holds back the Indian community in Malaysia. It is also my belief that such people do as much harm to the Indian community as those who force Indians into pacification.
Minority groups will in no way benefit from such mundane reforms. Rather, more pro-active measures need to be taken. Change will not happen on its own, it needs to be fought for.
For a start, Indians would need to stand up for their perceived rights. This is and will not be an easy task. Given that change is much easier to talk about than actually putting it into practice, true champions of Indian rights will need to take up their cause.
The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) has done little and continues to do little for ethnic Indians in Malaysia. Truly, it is an unfortunate case that such leaders who claim to uphold the rights of ethnic Indians, grow fat on the plight of others, while the Indian poor continue to live in squalor.
The Indian population of Malaysia must stand up for itself, and resist any attempt by those in power to pacify their woes. The plight of Indians (and every other disenfranchised minority group) needs to be addressed before the situation becomes unresolvable. If ever there was a need for change, it is now.
But if Indians aren't willing to take up their own case, their sorrows will continue for a long time to come. Banning Tamil movies or discarding the language will change nothing.
Yes, truly Malaysian Indians need to embrace the new millennium in more pro-active ways, but to "discard the Tamil language" or "to ban all Tamil movies, especially those with Rajnikanth in it", will hardly change much. Surely every language, no matter how crass or crude, is beautiful in its own right.
And I wonder just how far superior English movies really are over Tamil ones. It seems funny to me, at least, that at a time when individuals are constantly fighting an uphill battle to preserve their respective cultures and traditions, there are still those who feel that abandoning their own traditions will help them escape subjugation.
I fear that it is the shallow mentality of such people that holds back the Indian community in Malaysia. It is also my belief that such people do as much harm to the Indian community as those who force Indians into pacification.
Minority groups will in no way benefit from such mundane reforms. Rather, more pro-active measures need to be taken. Change will not happen on its own, it needs to be fought for.
For a start, Indians would need to stand up for their perceived rights. This is and will not be an easy task. Given that change is much easier to talk about than actually putting it into practice, true champions of Indian rights will need to take up their cause.
The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) has done little and continues to do little for ethnic Indians in Malaysia. Truly, it is an unfortunate case that such leaders who claim to uphold the rights of ethnic Indians, grow fat on the plight of others, while the Indian poor continue to live in squalor.
The Indian population of Malaysia must stand up for itself, and resist any attempt by those in power to pacify their woes. The plight of Indians (and every other disenfranchised minority group) needs to be addressed before the situation becomes unresolvable. If ever there was a need for change, it is now.
But if Indians aren't willing to take up their own case, their sorrows will continue for a long time to come. Banning Tamil movies or discarding the language will change nothing.
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