The Indian Community Needs Leaders Of Integrity

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RECENTLY I was invited to a session on the 13th Malaysian Plan (13MP) in Ipoh with focus on the Indian community.This session was initiated and chaired by the APPGM-SDG, a bipartisan group that is dedicated to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in all parliamentary constituencies in Malaysia.

It was a timely and interesting session to reflect on the progress of the Indian community in the context of the 13MP.
The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) M. Kulasegaran gave a keynote address and spoke about the importance of the Indian community to be plugged into the government programs related to the 13MP.
In his speech the Ipoh Barat MP also emphasised the importance of TVET education as part for future growth of the community .
Various issues were brought up for discussion such as the Indian blueprint, the role of the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA) and why, in spite of all the initiatives, the social-economic condition of the community has not changed significantly.
Being an observer of Indian related issues over the years, a saying came to my mind in regards to unresolved issues affecting the B40 Indian community:
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Over the years Indian politicians of both sides of the political divide seem to blame each for failures in addressing the grievances of the Indian community.
They repeat accusations for political mileage instead of seeking consensus by honestly acknowledging failures and coming up with vision, strategy, execution and accountability to resolve decades old issues like citizenship, low income, housing and equity.
In order to address the gap between lofty ideals and execution, the community needs leadership with moral integrity which is critical to see significant results.
Integrity of leadership helps to create value to the process of establishing realistic goals, disseminating of information, transparency, and review on what is the current the status of the Indian community.
Also crucial is the progress made and what the actual impediments to progress are which could be structural and related to political bargaining power, besides the capitalistic and monopolistic nature of the economy in the country.
In order to address these issues, first and foremost Indian leaders irrespective of political leanings should come together to seek consensus on how they could work together for the betterment of the Indian community .
They have to be truthful about their success and failures in addressing legitimate issues facing the Indian community in the context of the political situation they are in and how they would cascade down their vision and mission to community leaders in the grassroots.
In a nutshell the community needs leaders of integrity to resolve decades-old social-economic problems instead of complaining and accusing each other politically day in and day out and expecting a different outcome. 
Ronald Benjamin is a human resources practitioner based in Ipoh. He is currently secretary of the Association for Community and Dialogue.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia

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