Speech on the role of Indian Youths

I was invited and spoke on the role of Youths organized by the Malaysian Indian Youth CouncilProject 3C- Community Care and Circle in Pangkor on 16thMay2010

There is a saying that “The youth are not only the leaders of tomorrow, but also the partners of today.” Youths definitely have a vital role in nation building. Youths can certainly make a difference to the nation.

When we talk about aged or old people, we think of the terms experience and maturity. But words like idealism and courage are often associated with the Youth.

Ideals are born of dreams. The youths must therefore dare to dream. Having ideals alone is not enough; the youths must have the courage to strive for the ideals.

So the young people must behave and live like young people, they must have ideals, be dynamic and have the courage to do things, including doing things which are new and seem insurmountable or even risky.

One's ideals should not be confined to attaining personal goals only for example becoming successful in one’s career. Youths need to have bigger ideals-- to make the nation and the world a better place for all.

Malaysian Indian youths in particular have a crucial and important role in our nation building and to make this nation a better place for the Indian community and all Malaysians.

In March 2009.Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam disclosed that the Malaysian Government has information that over 100,000 Indian youth are involved in crime, including theft, robbery, distributing drugs, gangsterism and murder.

He said lack of jobs; guidance and the influence of friends were major contributors to the social problems.

I have come to understand that 38% of those detained at the Simpang Renggam detention centre are Indians.

This is a very sorry sate of affairs for our Indian youths. It is imperative that we must all play our part to help solve this grave problem of our community.

Who should bear the most blame for today's Indian youth problems? Who can bring about the fastest and effective change /solution? The answer is the government!

When 10 youths are jobless and involved in crime and a host of other social problems, we can say it could be due to the lack of parental guidance or because of influence by the bad hats. But when 100,000 youths are involved, certainly the government's policies have failed.

The political landscape of today has changed considerably with the political awakening of the Indians. The 2008 general election has proven that the Indians could play the Kingmaker role.

In the recent Hulu Selangor, SJK Tamil Ladang Escot finally received piped water and Tenaga Nasional electricity supply after being neglected for more than 40 ( ??) years.

Indian youths must therefore help sustain the political awakening and strengthen the Indian voting power to ensure that there will be better lives for the Indian community and all Malaysians.

It is time that the Indian youth must rise up to the occasion.