Let’s not always underestimate Malaysian Indians

FMT:

Let’s not always underestimate Malaysian Indians


P Ramasamy’s successful crowdfunding campaign that raised RM1.52 million shows that the Indian community will rise if they are strongly moved.





Seven days after the KL High Court ordered former Penang deputy chief minister, P Ramasamy to pay RM1.52 million in damages and costs for defaming independent preacher Zakir Naik, the “Prof” as he’s affectionately known, managed to raise this staggering amount!

It shocked most political observers, analysts, and politicians that Ramasamy achieved this via a crowdfunding campaign, considering he has neither a party to support him nor any official title to hide behind.

Ramasamy was unceremoniously dropped by DAP as a candidate at the state elections, three months ago. No credible reason was given by the party grandees on why he was dropped, except to claim that it was their “normal rejuvenation” process.

Bearing in mind that some candidates had been in their seats for as long as Ramasamy, and some even longer, while holding state and parliamentary seats simultaneously, the maverick former academic broke party convention, and resigned in a blazing huff.

It led to serious repercussions for him. DAP leaders were quick to lambast him in public for resigning. Some even claimed that the party was right to drop him. Obviously, DAP, like all other political parties, prefers that no one rocks the boat, and anyone who is jettisoned is expected to fade away quietly.

Remarkably, many of the dropped senior Penang politicians, who silently accepted their fate, were “rewarded” with honorific titles like “Dato” or “Dato’ Seri”, at the recent state investiture ceremony in conjunction with the Governor’s Birthday. But, after resigning from the party, even though he served the state and the Penang Indian community unflinchingly for 15 solid years, Ramasamy’s contributions were completely disregarded.

So, when the High Court ordered him to pay damages and costs in this defamation case against Naik, many political analysts, and observers decided that the writing was on the wall for Ramasamy. It was either bankruptcy or a jail term for him.

The prevalent “wisdom” was that without the support of his former party, who are no strangers in crowdsourcing funds to bail out their leaders, Ramasamy stood no chance of raising the sort of cash he needed.

But it turns out that the Malaysian public disagreed with the intelligentsia. They sprang into action and dug deep into their pockets to raise the necessary funds.

When I reached out for a comment, Ramasamy said he was deeply touched, and grateful. The support from all quarters and races in Malaysia was something he did not expect. The usually gruff and brusque politician sounded uncharacteristically poignant by what had unfolded before him.

Ramasamy recounted a message he received from a scrap metal worker who had banked in his day’s wages for this cause. Small but hard earned amounts like this from ordinary folk formed the bulk of the funds raised.

And pointedly, Ramasamy said that almost 90% of the donors for his crowdfunding campaign were ordinary Malaysian Indians. It is generally acknowledged that around 75% of the Malaysian Indian population still languishes in the lower income bracket. To raise RM1.52 million is no small feat for this community. This often marginalised community is generally viewed as not being a “commercially viable group.”

Why else is social media awash with irate Malaysian Indians complaining about the lack of Deepavali decorations in some shopping complexes? We can often see that the festive vibes usually start with Halloween and swiftly move to Christmas, while conveniently bypassing Deepavali.

In the same vein, many of the political elite predicted that without the backing of the DAP juggernaut, Ramasamy would be “toast.” But, the erstwhile three-term second deputy chief minister of Penang, electrified the Malaysian Indian community.

His crowdfunding campaign was singularly focused on the narrative that he took on the controversial preacher for the sake of the community. Ramasamy maintains that during his sojourn as a politician, his main aim was to strive to be the “voice for the voiceless.”

I believe it is this spirit that mobilised the support for him in this crowdfunding campaign.

No other Indian politician, to date, has been able to achieve this sort of galvanising power. Sure, there have been Malaysian Indian politicians who could fill huge auditoriums or small stadiums for their political speeches. But no Malaysian Indian politician has managed to get the community to reach into their own pockets for a bail out.

Perhaps this is a signal for the prime minister and the unity government to stop underestimating the Malaysian Indian community, and to start treating them with dignity, and take their grievances seriously.

Or, maybe it is a sign that there is a huge vacuum in Malaysian Indian leadership, and that Ramasamy was an important “icon” or focal point for the community, as a leader.

And of course, maybe it shows that the DAP was too hasty to just drop Ramasamy without rhyme or reason, and offer the most embarrassingly implausible justification for it. Perhaps this provoked the Malaysian Indian community and united it.

In any case, this crowdfunding campaign showed that Ramasamy was valued as a leader, and that the Malaysian Indian community will rise if they are strongly moved. And the powers that be, should take notice. Let’s not always underestimate Malaysian Indians.