The 1Malaysia concept embraces some of the following principles/tenets which are of paramount importance:

“…take action based on the needs of all ethnic groups in our country..”

“…the underlying foundation is the principle of fairness for all races, that all races must be taken care of and no one will be neglected..”

“each race regardless of backgroud/religion will be accounted for fairly and equitably in their welfare and other social aspects..”

“..1Malaysia concept is not a platform for any quarter/party to make outrageous claims/demands..”

“..all the best for the Malays, Chinese and Indians has to be used and has to gain acceptance by the community..”.

After all the brouhaha and controversy surrounding the usage of the Interlok novel, it came as a shock to the Indian community when the Deputy Prime Minister who also happens to be the Education Minister decided to continue the use of the contentious novel.
The consolation is that the Deputy PM also reinforced that the decision to continue using the novel, with amendments so as not to hurt the feelings of the Indian community, is the best solution.

I suppose the government had to make this decision to strike a balance.. on one side they had to look into the grievance and sentiments of the Indian community and on the other, the literary work of a respectable novelist.

We hope that the amendments ultimately will reflect the important principles laid down in the 1Malysia concept in terms of fairness and acceptance as the issue raised (pertaining to the usage of the word)is not an outrageous claim/demand by the Indian community against the government. We trust that the amendments will work out in the best interest of the community and country in the true spirit of 1Malaysia.

“The other question often raised is, without doubt, why aren’t the Hindu temples doing this?”

Hindu temples are manned by priests/”gurukkals” who are more often than not busy performing “archanas”/”poojas” etc in return for money when the temple is open to the public for prayers. During other times, these priests cannot even be found in the temple premises as they would be busy performing other rituals elsewhere, again to earn extra income (the reason being that they are not paid well). Some temples keep on having various homams, poojas etc etc on the pretext of raising funds for the temples. Hence, priests are often busy carrying out all these chores. I’ve noticed in certain temples, “arcahanas” and “aartis” being carried out longer when then is an “extra fee” given to the priest much to the chagrin of other worshippers who may not be able to afford thie kind of money.

It is important to note that we cannot simply engage the services of anyone from the temple to educate the youth. We obviously need priests (who are suppose to have knowledge and wisdom in Hinduism)to impart their knowledge to the youth. How can these priests have time to conduct classes for the youth when they are ever so busy with all their chores (inside and outside the temple)? Will they be paid to conduct these classes? Will priests agree to convey their knowledge for free as part of their social responsibility to the community?

I think the above needs to be addressed first before we can even consider engaging the Hindu temples for purposes of educating the youth on Hinduism.

This is a very thought provoking article.
I personally believe that there will be more Indians making headway in this country if they take cue from achievers like you.

Enough has been said about what the government can do for the Indian community. I think that we should stop playing the blame game. Let the government intensify efforts and do what it has pledged to do under the One Malaysia concept.

We (especially the Indians who are doing well in many areas of life) must play our part and improve the well being of the community without fear or favour. Remove the envy and jealousy and assist one another..do not belittle your community. Adopt a deprived schoolgoing child if you can and provide for his/her education. Practise “Sanatana Dharma” the proper way.

Thank you.