Some of the concerns affecting the Indian community addressed during a recent meeting of the MIC and  Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak need urgent attention.

These include employment opportunities in the Civil Service, entrance to public universities and availability of scholarships. Others are entrepreneurship and small business loans, poverty eradication and equitable participation in the share market.

On the last topic, it would be ideal if Permodalan Nasional Berhad launches a scheme exclusively for Malaysian Indians. In the past, other than for Bumiputras, the Amanah Saham Wawasan and other national offers were made to all Malaysians irrespective of race.

These were excellent ways of facilitating equity participation of citizens in the nation’s economy, where the Government controls stock, invests in secure counters and bonds, and investors enjoy a steady return in the form of dividends.

There is no reason why a similar scheme cannot be extended to Indians, so that they too are not left out of sharing in the nation’s success. They will have nothing to worry about, as the operation will be run by PNB, which is an arm of the Government.

However, there has to be a cap or limit on the number of units purchasable by an individual. We do not want a bunch of affluent Malaysian Indians making a grab for everything. PNB also has to look into ways and means to prevent such people using nominees for the same purpose.

Dato Dr. S. Vijayaratnam,
Vice President,
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia.