60 Years of Manufacturing an Underclass: The Malaysian Indian Case

1. 60 Years of Manufacturing an Underclass: The Malaysian Indian Case National Consultation on Malaysia’s Indian Dilemma, 26 Aug 2017 ramaramanathan

2. The Malaysian Indian Dilemma • We’ve heard it often. Malaysian Indians are dragging the nation down. They get drunk, die of chronic diseases, abuse their spouses, drop out of school, join gangs, commit crimes, kill themselves, etc. • Now we have the data and we know it’s true

3. In the 11MP, only one ethnic group was called out as a target group Source: 11MP

4. Who are the B40 households? • ‘B40’ denotes all households with income less than RM3,579 per month(MIB, 16) • The mean monthly income of the B40 segment is RM2,537 per month (11MP, 1-12) • 2 earned incomes of RM800 per month/personPLUS other income of about RM900 per monthto support 4.3 persons

5. In 2014, 1 out of 5 Ringgit in income of B40 households was “transfers” Source: Khazanah Research Institute

6. The Malaysian Indian Blueprint Source: http://dhrramalaysia.org.my

7. What the MIB IS NOT • The MIB Is not an MIC document • The MIB Is not the Indian counterpart of 11MP’s Enhancing Bumiputera Economic Community • The MIB Is not a commitment to good governance

8. What the MIB IS • The MIB is an explanation of how the government will facilitate Indians plugging into the 11MP’s target of “elevating B40 households” • The MIB is a national response to the socio-economic danger posed by the Indian underclass • The MIB is a set of shocking data on ethnic inequality and about the Indian community

9. Highlights fromReport Card by Ethnicity (RCE) 3% 5% 14% 22% 29% • Only 3% of Indian B40 households own the residence they live in, vs. Bumiputera 7%, Chinese 12% (row 1) • Only 5% of children born to parents with no formal education attain tertiary education, vs. Bumiputera 33%, Chinese 44% (row 13) • Only 14% of Indians are entrepreneurs, vs. Bumiputera 22%, Chinese 23% (row 7) • 22% of reported domestic abuse cases occur in Indian households, vs. the expected 7%(row 9) • 29% of arrests for violent crimes are of Indians, vs. the expected 7% (row 11)

10. Highlights fromIndian Report Card (IRC) - 1 56% 55% 54% 47% 44% • Only 56% of Indian children are in Tamil schools; 6% are in Chinese schools (row 2) • Only 55% of Indian children attend pre-school; much lower for IB40 (row 14) • Only 54% of Indian students passed UPSR, vs. 66% nationally, 2015 (row 9) • Only 47% of Tamil school students passed UPSR, vs. 66% nationally, 2015 (row 18) • Only 44% of Indian students passed SPM, vs. 55% nationally, 2015 (row 10)

11. Highlights from Indian Report Card (IRC) - 2 1.7% 2.4% 13% 36% 70% Malay • Only 1.7% of Indian applicants succeeded in becoming civil servants, 2015 (row 37) • Only 2.4% of stock in large listed companies are held by Indians, vs. the expected 7% (row 28) • A massive 13% of primary school dropouts are Indians, though they are only 6% of enrolment, 2014 (row 11) • 36% of estate workers are Indians, vs. the expected 7% or lower (row 5) • 70% of gang members are Indians (row 25) • IB40 parents read Malay (79%) better than Tamil (65%) or English (58%) (row 13)

12. The MIB “rank #1” scorecard 3 additional indicators: Health, suicides, deaths in custody

13. Malaysia Household Profile (MHP) • The bottom 40% of Indian households by income get only 17% of total income (MIB, 93), vs. Bumiputera 17.1%, and Chinese 16.3% (row 10) • 47% of Bumiputera households haveincome below RM4,000 (row 9.1) • Transfers such as BR1M and subsidies average 6.1% to 8.5% of household income (row 5.4) Note: Households earning less than RM3,000 per month have debts amounting to 7 times annual income (IRC, row 32; 11MP Strategy Paper 2)

14. The government’s response to Malaysia’s Indian Dilemma • An office of Indian affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) • Recalls JAKOA, created in 1954 • 4 “delivery units” in the PMO, directed by a Cabinet Committee and controlled by the MIC • The cabinet committee was created by Najib’sAbdullah Badawi, in 2008

15. The MIB’s 4 policy areas (p 140) • Educational Attainment & Youth • Indian students up to tertiary level; as at-risk children & youth • Income Upliftment • Entrepreneurship, skills training and job placements, financial health and wealth-building amongst the IB40 • Welfare & Foundations • The absolute poor, those without housing and/or healthcare, those with documentation issues and those at risk of displacement from estates • Identity & Inclusion. • Resolution of issues related to religious observance as well as other religious, cultural or political issues such as negative racial stereotyping and discrimination

16. Timelines (p 145) • 2017-2018 • reorganizing and staffing; integrating blueprint goals and targets into implementation partner ministries’ and agencies’ policies, annual and mid-term plans and budgets; launching flagship initiatives and partnership platforms; establishing indicators and measurements • 2019-2021 • annual review and refinement and mid-point review • 2022-2026 • handover and mainstreamingof initiatives to Government ministries/agencies • 2027-2030 • Performance tracking of ministries/agencies

17. Staffing (MIB, p 145) • According to news reports, when fully staffed, SEDIC, in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), will have a full time staff of 58 employees • It has also been reported that the PMO has a staff of 34,000 employees

18. NGOs and Institutes • In 2016 SEDIC gave grants toabout 160 organisations (2015: 370) • The head of SEDIC has said 400 NGOs and private training institutes have been given RM160million (Malay Mail Online, 10 Dec 2016) • The grants are to achieve training and motivationgoals which government employees are unable to accomplish • Topics range from 1Vedic Maths) to tuition and child rearing to solar energy • SEDIC has funded courses on Hinduism, martial arts, music, myths, poetry, Punjabi, Tamil literature, tuition, etc. • Participantsinclude children, parents, priests, single mothers, taxi drivers, teachers and youths

19. Key issues • The MIB calls for reflection on the policies and practices which manufactured the underclass exemplified by Malaysian Indians • Key issues include at least: • Competitive authoritarianism (single-party state) • Lack of transparency • Identity politics • Concentration of power • Wage suppression • Deterioration of public healthcare

20. The Malaysian Indian Dilemma • We’ve heard it often. Malaysian Indians are dragging the nation down. They get drunk, die of chronic diseases, abuse their spouses, drop out of school, join gangs, commit crimes, kill themselves, etc. • Much of the MIB is an extract of the 11MP • Can the data improve within the present politics of competitive authoritarianism and patronage?