Friday, October 17, 2008

Better to win the hearts and minds

IT'S simple political common sense - win over the hearts and minds of those who resist you. If they oppose you, neutralise them at least and if they are still hostile to you, just leave them alone. You don't need to be Sun Tze to know these basic principles. There maybe misforgivings with Hindraf, particularly over the street protest and the incident at the PM Hari Raya open house, among some sections of Malaysians. But we cannot ignore the fact that Hindraf enjoy very strong support among the Indians. The fact is this - MIC has lost the legitimacy to represent the Indians. The PPP and IPF cannot to the job either. In the absence of an organised Indian movement, Hindraf appears to be the only vehicle that enjoys the backing of the community. That's the political reality. Overtures have been made in the past and even if Hindraf appear to be pro-opposition, its leaders have taken pains to emphasise they prefer to be apolitical. Their only quarrel is with Samy Vellu, they claimed. The question now is this - was there a window of opportunity where the BN leaders could have make peace with Hindraf, hear the grievances and see what could be done? Has an opportunity being lost? So, Hindraf is now banned. The followers would not wear the same orange coloured T-shirts but how do we see and tell what's in the hearts and minds of the followers? How does the BN intend to win back those crucial votes with the ban of Hindraf - unless its leaders are convinced that MIC can perform a miracle.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

DEAR WONG,

PITY WE HAVE A HOME MINISTER WHO DON'T THINK LIKE YOU. BN WILL WIN BIG IF HE THINKS LIKE YOU.

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM A HOME MINISTER WHO BELIEVES ISA CAN BE USED TO DETAIN PEOPLE FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY AND THAT A HARI RAYA VISIT CAN BE A CRIMINAL OFFENCE?

MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON US!

Anonymous said...

The question is, is it a wise move to ban Hindraf? These arrogant UMNO politicians have no sense of tact and diplomacy. Is'nt it better to engaged them with dialogue and come to a common understanding...granting them an avenue, where their grievances can be heard.
No, these high and mighty BN leaders consider these acts as humiliating and very unbecoming... granting an audience to the under classed rakyat'. What option is left to the Hindraf supporters, either become more extreme or go underground. Helpless and desperate people are blinded with reasons to achieve their cause.
To the public who see this as an unjust ban, we say, "Bravo!"

BlueMoon said...

MIC, IPF and PPP have all but lost the legitimacy to represent the Indian community - absolutely. Thre is no denial that the majority of Indians are now strongly pro-opposition. Nothing wrong as this is what democracy all about. However taking their angers into the streets and threatening to topple the goverment through force and pressure are not only unacceptable, but democratically coward. If Hindraf wanted to fight the right of what it preceived as marginalised Hindus, all it needs to do is to register as political party and take part in the election. There is no need to organise street protests, let alone promoting and propagating religious extremism abroad. It was reported that Hindraf sponsored seminars held overseas were attended by extremist elements outside Malaysia. This is very dangerous and the Home Minister is doing what is right for the majority of peace loving Hindus and other Malaysians in this country. Hindraf is no different to Al-Ma'unah, Al-Arqam or Jemaah Islamaiah - their belief is very extreme.

Anonymous said...

Saya terpanggil untuk memberikan komen secar hati ke hati
Kerana isu ini membabitkan masalah kaum india di
Negar ini.Memang tidak dapt dinafikan bahawa
Selepas kehadiran Hindraf , memang ada beberapa
Perubahan drastik telah berlaku dan pada masa yg
Sama kita tidak dapat menafikan peranan
MIC dan juga Samy Vellu yang telah banyak
Melakukan kebaikan untuk mengubah masa depan
Kaum india di negar ini. Cuma pendekatan yg digunakan
Oleh Hindraf perlu diambil perhatian kerana mereka
Telah bergerak secara agresif di sebuah
Negara yang berbilang kaum ini. Mereka
Perlu bertindak neutral dan bukanya di dalangi oleh
Parti pembangkang.MIC dan Hindraf perlu duduk
Semeja dan masa sudah tiba untuk Samy Vellu
Lepaskan jawatanya.

Anonymous said...

Hindraf juga perlu faham keinginan dan kehendak
Masyarakat Malaysia secara umum kerana kita
Tidak mahu satu gerakan agresif dan menekan kerajaan

Anonymous said...

Chun Wai,UMNO has stopped listening long ago, and have not woken up to learn to listen again. The rakyat screamed very loudly before the March 2008 election, and again we screamed very loudly after the election, but to no avail. The people in power in UMNO did not listen, do not want to listen, and will never listen. They are too engrossed in their power grab and wealth grab. They are arrogant. The situation is all very sad. But they don't care.
It is not just HINDRAF that is screaming for justice. So are the Chinese and the Orang Asli, the Sabahans and the Sarawakians. The UMNO people in power are intoxicated with power and money. It is very hard to wake up from that state They have lost the art of diplomacy because they think they don't need diplomacy. They just need to force-fit everything the way they want things to be. That's the mindset they have today, thanks to TDM's legacy. What they don't understand is that it has reached a stage where the rakyat really really hate the UMNO-led government. Under such circumstances it is a matter of time before the UMNO-led government collapses. The latest financial crisis will expose UMNO for what it is, and serve to accelerate the demise of UMNO.

Vesu said...

let me share with you Dato , being in the social service circle for 15 years , hindraf is still very much alive in the form of spirit .Hindraf is a wake up call for malaysian indians. Malaysian indians of all classes not just the working class as claimed by some people. MIC,PPP and IPF must change - must absorb the Hindraf thinking - truly work hard for the community. hindraf thinking here is not street protest etc..its the realization and struggle to make the people of malaysian indians enjoy their rights , not being sidelined or deprived chances to successed in life/ the dilema here is none of the political parties are ready to change...they say re-branding ..but end up with some cosmetic re-branding ... believe me MIC will die natural death if samy refuse to make drastic changes starting from his resignation and let a new set of team to take the lead - like in MCA...PPP is too small and has its own dilema... is another one man party...IPF is even worst after the death of its founder Late MG pandithan... in short , the era of Samy , Kayaes and Pandithan has gone ... so there is a huge concern for the community to look for a party that will speak loud and clear for them... statistic shows more indians are joining DAP and Keadilan ... but can both parties fulfill their wishes ?

Anonymous said...

Poor Hindraf. It has been set up for a fall. One can "create" a thief by letting him take something that does not belong to him. Conversely, one can prevent someone from becoming a thief by giving the object he covets. Especially when the object he wants is not something that would impoverish the owner. Hindraf's cries to be heard had not only been ignored, they have been brushed aside and even challenged. It had no choice except to raise their voices further. UMNO should not outlaw the group just because it can. In fact UMNO should not do a lot of things just because it can. Most of the BN component parties have voiced their objection to the detention of some Hindraf leaders; some have openly objected to the latest move by the government to outlaw the group. So, who really is the BN government? Can the others parties say that they are not willing accomplices? And, if so, the next question is, why do they choose to remain partners in this tyrannical government?

Anonymous said...

BN, or rather UMNO, does not care about who the Indians vote for, as their votes are too few to be significant. The UMNO leaders are all about "face", ego and revenge. They feel that Hindraf had insulted them, so they will hit back. UMNO politicians have long ago lost the art of diplomacy. They have become arrogant. They felt that they don't need the votes of the Chinese and Indians, and even those Bumiputras with a contrarian view. Anytime they are challenged, they will lose their temper and scold whoever dare to question them. The typical responses are "Don't challenge me", "Don't question me", or they even use the ISA on people who dare challenge them. And yes, Chun Wai, you were right on when you said that MIC had lost the legitimacy to represent the Indians. Even the MCA is in that same position today, but the MCA leaders are still in self denial. It is very clear from the March elections that most of the Chinese votes went to DAP, PKR and even PAS. Today MCA has no clear direction and no clear strategy, and that is very evident from the speeches made in the runup to their MCA elections. The only thing that keeps it alive is the huge financial asset. Maybe MCA should consider becoming one big NGO instead of being a political party. As for Gerakan, it may as well close shop rather than still pretend to be relevant to anybody of any race.

Anonymous said...

Ban everything that causes us discomfort. ISA everyone who opposes the government. "Kill" (cerpen Chamil) anyone who you don't like or to deliberately ruffle sentiments. Throw Molotov Cocktail if you are unhappy. Burn cars (case of Sungai Siput Assemblyman) if you don't like.

I REST MY CASE!

Anonymous said...

If the people remain afraid and silent, then those in power will continue to do what they like. Beware, forces at work to create another May 13, it’s too obvious. The mode of operation is also too similar to be a coincidence, we all know who’s behind the current racial polarisation.

REJECT RACIST POLITICIANS, REJECT MAHATHIRISM, REJECT ISA, BOYCOTT UTUSAN MALAYSIA.

DEMAND FOR THE RETURN OF INDEPENDENCE TO THE MALAYSIAN EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATURE, JUDICIARY & MEDIA. JR

ChengHo said...

hindraf should form legitimate party and replace MIC ,PPP as the partner to BN. hindraf must open to all indian not only hindu . no more caste all hindu can go to the same temple no more uppper class temple and working class temple.

look at the chinese community how they help each other. what happened to the rich indian not helping the poor?

Anonymous said...

The trade mark of the umno-led government is that anybody who speaks up, or blow the whistle on some abuses will get the ISA lockup. All talk about protecting the whistle blowers are pure bullshit. The whistle blowers are called liars, and are called threats to the nation. In fact if you have too much evidence, then your lives will be in danger too. The Hindraf folks just wanted to be heard. yeah maybe they were a bit noisy, but noises don't hurt anybody. Yeah maybe they did not act with a lot of social graces and snobbishness, but hey these are the poor and down-trodden people that the government neglected to send to school and they did not get well paid jobs to dress in nice expensice batek ro lounge suits to look "important" or look "clever". These are the poor folks trying to get heard. The whole episode with the interaction between the govt and Hindraf highlights the yawning gap between the poor and discriminated of the country versus the super rich, arrogant, and totally disconnected ruling elite of the country. It is high time the rakyat bring these extremely rich abusive politicians down to earth by voting them out. Let's face it, every year billions of ringgit get siphoned away somewhere. To put things in perspective, each RM 1 billion could have put through a local university 100,000 students every year. Or for each RM 1 billion, the govt could have given 10,000 families a free apartment worth RM 100,000 each. Now if the country is leaking RM 10 billion each year, just think how the rakyat could benefit. Hey, there is no need for racial quota! Every qualified student of any colour will get a place in a local public university with a scholarship. No need for quota lah! All the poor families of any colour will have access to a low cost housing unit. Again no need for a racial quota. There would be enough to go around to people of all colours. Malaysians must wake up to that.

Anonymous said...

With badawi, the opposition will have it easy, his leadership is flip flop..with Syed Hamid in the cabinet, he will continue to anger the masses with his warped ISA causes..first RPK, then the Sin Chew reporter, now threatening Hindraf..etc

UMNO's arrogance (read stupidity) knows no boundaries...and they are their own worst enemies..not pakatan

BlueMoon said...

Dear Vesu, Going by your comment then then one cannot help but to conclude that the so called misery of the indian community is self inflicted. Leaders, regardless from MIC, IPF or PPP had betrayed the very same community who had elevated them into power. Now it is the responsibility of the Indians to choose a new leader who can truly champion their cause. Going to the street and making seditiously iflammatory accusation are not the answer. Blaming others namely UMNO is like kettle calling the pot black. Inspite how bad UMNO is but one thing good is that UMNO circles will quickly react when their leaders have failed to live to their expectation. They don't wait until their party has been totally annihilated. More importantly the reaction was done in peaceful manner and without hurting sensitivities of other communities. Sadly this is not the case with Hindraf followers the majority of whom are MIC members. It is very intriguing to note that Samy Vellu who had not only lost the election but also failed to retain his ministerial position, is still holding to a power, of course with the full backing of the indian community. Definitely this has got to change. The indians should form the pressure group within the party that best represents their interest and elect a new leader.

Anonymous said...

bluemoon, if you are familiar wit what happens at MIC branches, then you will know why the Indians who are not in favour of Samy have decided to opt out of MIC. Try to oppose Samy and his men, and you will very well regret having open your mouth. It is a rough house. In any case it looks like in the Pakatan states, the Indians' interest have been better served by PKR, DAP and PAS.

Anonymous said...

UMNO listens?
UMNO decides, UMNO execute. Everything else is secondary.
UMNO is even above the laws. Dont believe? UMNO man makes seditious allegation which is evidently false, non-UMNO person gets ISA.
UMNO man makes seditious sttaement, reporter gets ISA. Still want more evidence?