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So it came to pass that Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, MIC’s powerful leader, spent his 72nd birthday, which coincided with Saturday’s general election, licking his wounds after a disastrous outing in Sungai Siput. His loss in that seat, which he had helmed for nine terms, also marked his political demise as he is now out of the cabinet.
The MIC had issued veiled threats that it needs representation in the cabinet and Parliament if the Indian concerns are to be heard. However, critics of the MIC say Samy Vellu failed to do that effectively even when he was in it.
Most profound was the temple demolition exercise in Selangor, the marginalising of Tamil schools, the issue of medical degrees from Russian universities – where many Indian students studied because of a lack of medical slots in local universities – being declared as unrecognised, and the failure to uplift the lot of poor urban Indians.
Having said that, the 12th general election has also woken us up to the fact that race-based politics may not be the way of the 21st century. And that equality for all races and the progress of the nation will be met when racial lines are blurred.
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