LABUAN: MIC should stop “day dreaming” about fielding a candidate in the Sabah election and, instead, focus on helping the Indian community as a political duty without expecting any reward.
“Suggestions such as having an elected representative in the Sabah Assembly are out of touch with reality,” said former MIC Chairman here Datuk Ramasamy Rengasamy.
He was commenting on MIC Vice President Dato Murugiah Thopasamy who hoped that Indians may win in elections in the state, similar to the Chinese community, apparently referring to DAP instead of MCA or Gerakan.
Murugiah was representing party president Tan Sri Vigneswaran. The only time Sabah Indians were represented was before the first State election in 1967 through a Nominated Assemblyman.
Ramasamy said the comparison between the two communities was akin to that of a “goat and elephant”.
“In Sabah, there is not a single constituency where there is significant Indian population. So how to get elected?” asked Ramasamy.
He said it would be more logical for an Indian to be given one of the Nominated seats in the State Assembly. “If PAS could get one why not Indians whose contributions to Sabah dates back to when it was known as British North Borneo.” He said the outstanding contributions of Indians in the education, plantation, civil, military, police and services had been recorded and acknowledged.
However, Ramasamy said based on feedback the younger generation Indians in Sabah are disenchanted with peninsula-based MIC seen as so far benefitting only party leaders since its inception in Sabah in the mid-1990s after Umno and MCA.
He said they much preferred a local strong party like GRS which had been generous on temple funds and bestowed State awards on deserving Indians.
He also noted that going by newspaper reports, Sabah MIC is known more for controversies with a high ranking leader falsifying that he was born in Kudat and not India to obtain his MyKad under “Project IC”.
This opened doors for him to be appointed to a GLC Board just because MIC was part of Barisan Nasional, which in turn was part of the current Federal unity government.
He said despite police reports and protests by fellow party members, this person remained “untouchable” because he supposedly used to cook the favourite curries of a senior party leader.
“If that is how MIC is run, it can stop dreaming of earning the respect of Sabahans, Indians in particular.”Another Sabah MIC leader was rumoured to always hang around the Chief Minister’s office to lobby for a senatorship in addition to enjoying a GIC position.
“It was said that he had to be told off by the then Chief Minister that the Sabah senatorship quota is only for Sabah-borns and to be nominated from the peninsula quota.
Ramasamy said Murugiah’s admission that Sabah MIC now only had RM1,000 in its account was also shocking but not surprising.
“It received handsome amounts during then CM Tun Musa’s time, being part of the Barisan Nasional government.
“Where did all the money go?” He also said it may not be surprising if it is true that the event Murugiah officiated was funded by Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) out of pity and not BN which is unhappy that MIC had been getting intimate with Perikatan Nasional (PN) lately.