Indians must move beyond race, caste and ethnicity to be a unified force

The concept of 1Malaysia was launched by PM Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak after taking over as the 6th Prime Minister of the country on April 9, 2009. The concept promises to unite all malaysia as Bangsa Malaysia with fair treatment for all races and the it promises that no one race slhould be left out in the country's development process.

In view of the 1Malaysia concept it is high time that the Indian community in Malaysia who have always been divided according to sub race be it tamil, telugu , malayalee etc and caste(a practice inherited from our origin, India)to unite as one force as Malaysian Indians. Given the cultural diversity amongst us this should be made a plus point.

The MIC Unity and Committee Development Committee chairman S. Vell Paari echoed his sentiment on this yesterday and his attempt to unite all of them through discussion with various groups should be lauded.

It is high time the Indians from various ethnic group and caste put their differences behind and instead concentrate of taking advantage of the available economic opportunities to uplift the socio economic standing of the community. Infighting amongst the groups must be avoided or at least minimised at all cost.

It is like wheather we want to win a battle or a war. The Indian community must find the niche and proritize what is important and avoid dwelling on trivial matters which does not in any way benefit the community. Looking at the bigger picture will almost help them achieve higher economic and social standing.

The Hindraf action in November 2007 opened up the plight of the Indian community and now with the release of the Hindraf five its is the right time and platform to discuss common community issues and find long term solution to it, rather than crying foul on being marginalised. We do not need more political parties or ngos as there are many in existence already.

The Indians have a large pool of professionas be it doctors, lawyers ,engineers, accountants etc. This pool of talent should be leveraged to undertake reforms within the community. Our ancestors once came here as traders but where are we now?. Help will be there for those who help themself. Lets get united fellow malaysian indians. A United Malaysian Indians united force can eventually lead to the success of 1Malaysia.