Indian Voters in Tenang Now Openly Rejects BN Leadership

by Aidil Syukri

LABIS, 24 JANUARY, 2011: Wind of change among indian voters in Tenang can be seen as most of them has now openly rejects Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership.   Mariamma a/p Mahalingam told Malaysian Digest the younger generation of Indian in Tenang are sick with promises made by the BN leaders which she describes as empty promises.   Speaking to Malaysian Digest at her house in North Labis estate, she said all this while the welfare of Indian society has never been taken seriously by the government. “We can see that now since the election is coming, there will be so many promises made. My question is why when there is election? Why not before this?” asked Mariamma. “It’s been five years I’m looking for a job. Until now I have no job. I’ve seek help from several MIC leaders and they promised to help me find a suitable job. But until now there are no news from them,” she added. According to Mariamma, it is hard for the Indian community to find a job. She said there is discrimination from employer especially when they applied for government departments. “There is no job opportunity for us. The discrimination always happened especially when we applied for government departments,” said Mariamma. According to her, she has experienced going for an interview with her Malay friend who has lower education qualification than her. What made her regret is with better qualification than her friend, her application was rejected while her friend get the job. Rajamal a/p Kuppusamy share the same opinion with Mariamma. She told Malaysian Digest that government only take care of them when there is by-election. “Before this they never come. Only lately they come. I think if there is no by-election they will never care to visit us here,” said Rajamal. Ali b Gopal @ Yusuf said he has voted six times in his life and this is the first time a minister spent time visits their place. Ali who stayed in the estate since his childhood said when there is no election all their requests was ignored. Another Indian who did not want his name mentioned said Indian community leads a very difficult life. He said with RM200 salary they receive every month is totally not enough to support his family. “I hope the government could help us (Indian community) to get a better life and could provide us with jobs opportunity,” he said.