A necessary initiative for unity

ARCHITECTS of Diversity Malaysia (AOD) warmly welcomes and fully supports the launch of the National Community Public Complaints Network platform by the Unity Ministry on June 19.
As an organisation committed to fostering social cohesion and addressing discrimination across racial and religious lines, AOD sees Rakan (from its Malay acronym, Rangkaian Aduan Komuniti Awam Nasional) as a timely and necessary initiative. It represents a strategic integration of technology, civic responsibility, and public policy to strengthen national harmony.

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The Star

5 hours ago

• The Star

A necessary initiative for unity

ARCHITECTS of Diversity Malaysia (AOD) warmly welcomes and fully supports the launch of the National Community Public Complaints Network platform by the Unity Ministry on June 19. As an organisation committed to fostering social cohesion and addressing discrimination across racial and religious lines, AOD sees Rakan (from its Malay acronym, Rangkaian Aduan Komuniti Awam Nasional) as a timely and necessary initiative. It represents a strategic integration of technology, civic responsibility, and public policy to strengthen national harmony.

Focus Malaysia

a day ago

• Focus Malaysia

Ramasamy: Mandor system should not be blamed but those behind the system of subservience

THE Malaysian Indian People's Party (MIPP) deputy president S. Subramaniam has suggested that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim heads the Indian Community Action Committee (ICAC) rather than appointing Indian mandor from PKR or the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led coalition. Editor's Note: On Monday (June 16), a source told Malaysiakini that Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan would be appointed chair of a newly formed committee to look into the interest of Malaysian Indians. The mandor system was used by British planters during the colonial period in which Indians mandor or supervisor were appointed to manage the labour affairs. The mandor might be a South Indian Tamil but he took instructions from the white managers in managing labour affairs in the plantations. Unlike the Chinese kepala who had the material interest of Chinese labour, the Indian mandor functioned on behalf of the plantation bosses. My book on plantation labour describes in detail that Chinese contract labourers earned higher wages than Indian labourers because the former who operated under the kepala system provided better material incentives than the mandor system. 'Blame non-Indians elites' The political relevance of the analogy of mandor system was first used by the HINDRAF (Hindu Rights Action Force) leaders to describe and belittle Indian leaders who functioned on behalf of the Chinese and Malay leaders in DAP and PKR. The use of the mandor analogy is to show that Indian leaders in the PH-led coalition have no real power but are subservient to the non-Indian leaders. Subramaniam might be making a valid point by saying that Indian leaders in the government have no real power as it is being wielded by the Chinese and Malay leaders. However, I differ from Subramaniam on the point of Anwar himself heading the ICAC to channel financial benefits to the Indian community. While Subramaniam blames the Indian mandor, he has discounted the notion that the mandor phenomenon in the government is the consequence of the government adhering to the racist majoritarian policies. In other words, the Indian mandor is not the real problem but those non-Indian elite who manipulate the subservience of these leaders for their particular interests. Even if Indian leaders or mandor are not appointed, the result will be no different. It must be remembered that the crux of the problem is not the mandor system but those non-Indian leaders in power who make use of Indian leaders to camouflage the majoritarian racial and religious system for political expediency. Political camouflage Indian leaders or mandor are used by the non-Indian elite to impress upon the community of the existence of Indian representation. However, such a projection is nothing but a political farce. Unfortunately, this Indian representation in the form of Indian leaders playing second fiddle to non-Indian leaders does not augur well for the economic and political well-being of the Indian community. The pliant Indian leaders in the ruling coalition are a disgrace and humiliation to the Indian community that has immensely contributed to the nation in blood, sweat and tears. This is the reason why the Malaysian Rights Party (Urimai) makes it a point to chart an independent political course for the Indian community without being entrapped by the vicious mandor system that prioritises the interest of the elite of the majoritarian community at the expense of ordinary Indians and others in the country. At the core of the political struggle of Urimai is that Indians should be led by Indian leaders who are in a position to articulate the broader concerns of the community. Urimai definitely does not want to exchange one form of domination to another form. Urimai is open to coalition building but such an effort will be predicated on independence, integrity and dignity. It is not enough to decipher the vicious nature of the political system that has parallels with how plantation labour was controlled and exploited under the mandor system. The present Indian mandor leaders are no different from their earlier counterparts but serve different masters under different political circumstances. – June 20, 2025 Former DAP stalwart and Penang chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council. The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.

Malaysiakini

2 days ago

• Malaysiakini

Education not prime focus of recent govts

YOURSAY | 'So, how can our students compete and become knowledgeable?' M'sia scores poorly on education rights, lags behind neighbours Koel: Are the Education Ministry and the Higher Education Ministry taking note of this very worrying report card? Please spare us the instant denials that follow these reports. Only the most gullible will buy it. A narrow agenda of several decades that has focused on 2R has meant that whatever resources we have are directed into the coffers of some of the most racist institutions in this country. Many have been sidelined, neglected or led into educational deprivation due to this agenda. Let's be very clear. These racist institutions are not serving the country. Their initiatives are politically linked to serve the interests of specific political parties. People need to come to their senses and start looking at the welfare of this educationally failing country. If a country has no education, they have have nothing. We are now lagging behind Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia according to this report. So congratulations, Malaysia. Pretty soon our children will be seeking jobs as domestic workers and labourers in these countries. The government keeps making the same mistakes! OCT: Almost every citizen knows our education system is in a rut, but the government refuses to admit it. There won't be any solutions as long as the government doesn't see that our education system and policies need to change. The government has stopped participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment challenge as the results have shown our students have failed miserably and have degraded. Yet, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek insisted that our university is on par with Ivy League universities. There are shameful incidents by our PhD professors who made fictitious claims just to be debunked by other experts with evidence. A recent survey has shown there are more religious classes than Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (Stem) classes. So, how can our students compete and become knowledgeable? The government's main objective is to win votes so that it can remain in power. Malay-Muslims are the majority race, and Islam is the main religion. So the government has to implement education that is aligned with Malay-Muslims so that they will vote for the government. Education is not given priority. Students are collateral damage from ideology. MarioT: Our education system puts a lot of emphasis on religion rather than the basic 3Rs. So, if you were to take the quality of education into account, it is miserably below 50 percent. The earnest request for change continues to fall on deaf ears. Even the Malay-Muslims, for whom the system is mainly designed, prefer to send their children to Chinese schools to receive a wholesome education. Time to come, we will even fall behind Laos if we keep up with this racially inclined education policy. Ayam Kampung: Sad to see how far Malaysia has sunk on the regional and world stage. We have completely destroyed the solid educational foundation given to us by the British - ironically, a solid British-centric education system grounded in English is the biggest 'gift' we got from our colonial masters. Now, our young people can't even string together a proper sentence in English. What hope does this country have when our 'jaguh kampung' (someone who is successful in their local community) politicians continue to champion the national language above everything else, and our education continues to veer from a science- and culture-heavy focus into blind religious extremism? I see very little hope left for our country. Sad. BluePanther4725: It's no surprise. All this while, the government, whether it's BN, Perikatan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan, did not pay attention to education. They consistently appointed low-calibre education ministers to ensure there was no improvement in our education system. To add further damage, more attention is paid to religious education, like tahfiz schools. In national schools, the teachers and curriculum are paying more attention to religious studies. This is an insidious strategy by politicians to keep our people and young people lowly educated so that they will continue to believe in the lies of the politicians. The greatest fear of the politicians and religious authorities is that our youths become smart enough to reject them. TC: Many Malaysians are hired as professionals in Singapore and other countries. Just wondering how they beat the lower education system. Maybe the survey can be improved from generalisation to specification. The Illusion Of Choice: Our very smart education minister has proudly declared that our education system is on par with (and maybe even superior to) Singapore and Japan. This Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) study must be wrong. BusinessFirst: Of course, that goes without saying. We have the best prime minister in the history of all humanity naturally his personally appointed education minister must at least be the best in living memory. The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.