A chat with Dato Dr M Thambirajah of SMC

Dato Dr Tambirajah receiving an award from PM's wife for community service

Dato Siva Subramanian and Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria had the unique privilege of having lunch with Dato Dr Thambirajah at the Grand City Restaurant in PJ on Monday Jan 3, 2011.

“Prof Thambirajah is a man full of ideas” said Denison, “it is always inspiring to chat with him as we tend to do a comparative analysis of community needs and approaches adopted in addressing them. His strength is that he has been able to put his ideas into practice and is impacting lives. He is not only an outstanding thought-leader in the Indian community but one who has and is mobilizing resources for social change in the community” added Denison.

Thoughts on Undocumented People

Some thoughts emerging from the discussion among the three Dato’s over lunch. It centered on the topic of undocumented people. One key question raised was - what do we know of the undocumented Malaysian Indian? What are some of the characteristic features of this person?

First, we must recognize that an undocumented person has been able to survive in society without the required documentations such as birth certificate and identification card. He/ she has not been able to enjoy the fruits of being a citizen and share in the benefits on the one hand but they are survivors. In spite of this major hurdle they continue to live

Second, this person is in the category of “being below hard core poverty” – “poorer than the poorest of the poor”. The reason being the person is undocumented and is not even a statistical figure. The person is unable to go to school, unable to secure any formal training, unable to be formally employed, unable to get married legally, unable to apply for a loan, buy a car and buy a house or even rent one. The person is without a land to call his/her homeland and therefore stateless.

Third, these people will be lowly educated with possible only primary school education and even lower secondary but with no formal qualifications as one needs an identification card to sit for SPM (O level exams)

Fourth, many of them must be living at low cost housing and neighborhoods including squatters and low cost flats in urban areas. They could be also staying with others. These areas/localities might even be high risk neighborhoods.

Fifth, these people might have tried securing their documents and on failing have given up on the public officials. The Taskforce has come across complicated cases of children born out of marriage and further complicated due to difference in the religious and ethnic background of the couples.

SMC’s support to SITF’s  ‘mydaftar’ campaign

As Thambirajah, Siva and Denison chatted they all resolved to work together to address these concerns. Denison requested the support and partnership of SCM. Dato Thambirajah agreed to provide the Taskforce with his personal and SMC’s institutional support.

Thambirajah made it clear to Denison that SMC’s core business is educational empowerment and that they are fully focused on this agenda. However SMC will assist the Taskforce in the following two ways:-

·        To distribute pamphlets and leaflets on the ‘mydaftar’ campaign through their 20,000 students prior to the campaign

·        To register any walk in cases during the campaign period at the various SMC centres and channel it to the nearest Registration Department

Dato Siva agreed to prepare a leaflet for distribution among their 20,000 students and therefore securing the support and partnership of SMC is a positive step in recruiting partners from the community to solve community concerns along with Federal agencies such as the Registration Department.