Ruban Raj Kumar Ganesan
Uncle Hussein Abdul Hamid
I use to hear stories of caste and its influence in who supports which politician in the Indian communities political parties and leadership sagas.
I heard that when Pandithan moved out of MIC after he got fired... for the famous coffin stunt, a big number of his clan members moved with him.
Than there is the famous leadership tussle between Samy Vellu and his deputy than, Subramaniam.
If rumours were to be believed, than it was suppose to two clans or caste fighting for the apex of the MIC leadership. In this case, I cannot deny that the majority of Subramaniams supporters still are the Konggan clansmen.
Now enough with history.
What does caste represent to the younger generation Malaysian Indians? Well they dont really care. Caste or Clan is now largely relegated to marriage and other customary undertakings among the community members. Even this cannot be argued as the single most important consideration when the younger generation decides on their life partners etc etc.
Caste or the division of clans among the Indians today largely exists only among the older generation.
One of the main reason why the younger generation of Indians are readily adopting parties like DAP, PKR or even PAS is because they no longer identify with the dinosaurs of yesteryears.
They cannot understand the concept of leadership based on caste or clan, nor can they understand what the struggle of these race based parties are.
Although this cannot be taken as the blanket truth when it comes to every individual out there, the majority, especially among the middle income and higher middle income segments of the Indian community seem to have taken the view that the only way forward for a minority community is no longer along racial or even religious political lines.
I sincerely hope that these brave young men and women who are starting to go down the path not chosen so far will find their utopia of a country comprising of Malaysians who are equal in all ways.
I use to hear stories of caste and its influence in who supports which politician in the Indian communities political parties and leadership sagas.
I heard that when Pandithan moved out of MIC after he got fired... for the famous coffin stunt, a big number of his clan members moved with him.
Than there is the famous leadership tussle between Samy Vellu and his deputy than, Subramaniam.
If rumours were to be believed, than it was suppose to two clans or caste fighting for the apex of the MIC leadership. In this case, I cannot deny that the majority of Subramaniams supporters still are the Konggan clansmen.
Now enough with history.
What does caste represent to the younger generation Malaysian Indians? Well they dont really care. Caste or Clan is now largely relegated to marriage and other customary undertakings among the community members. Even this cannot be argued as the single most important consideration when the younger generation decides on their life partners etc etc.
Caste or the division of clans among the Indians today largely exists only among the older generation.
One of the main reason why the younger generation of Indians are readily adopting parties like DAP, PKR or even PAS is because they no longer identify with the dinosaurs of yesteryears.
They cannot understand the concept of leadership based on caste or clan, nor can they understand what the struggle of these race based parties are.
Although this cannot be taken as the blanket truth when it comes to every individual out there, the majority, especially among the middle income and higher middle income segments of the Indian community seem to have taken the view that the only way forward for a minority community is no longer along racial or even religious political lines.
I sincerely hope that these brave young men and women who are starting to go down the path not chosen so far will find their utopia of a country comprising of Malaysians who are equal in all ways.
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