Need for neighborhood based community work

Dato Siva sharing some thoughts. On his right is Hindu Sangam Nathan and on his left is MIC Selangor Subra

Desa Mentari in Petaling Jaya is a highly densely populated neighborhood. The area about ten years ago was filled with squatter houses. These areas were redeveloped into high rise low cost residential areas in the last five years or so.

Last night (Jan 13, 2011),  Dato Siva Subramaniam and myself visited block 9 and 10 where there are 1,100 units. We found it difficult to find parking and the area was really congested. The visit was facilitated by Hindu Sangam volunteers who run a tuition program and have regular contacts with the people here.

A local leader Maran, who is on a motorized wheelchair, heads a local organization (Perstauan Kebajikan Kaun India Desa Mentari). Years back YSS had very closed contact with the folks here especially during the Kg Medan ethnic clash as the families were previously living in the KTM Rumah Panjang nearby the current flats. YSS through the assistance of Dato Seri Samy Vellu built two classrooms in the temple grounds and ran a computer centre and the National Unity Department organized a pre school program.

At Desa Mentari block 9 & 10 there are over 600 Indian families with an estimated population of over 3,000 people. Dato Siva spoke to them about the importance of documentation and citizenship rights. The local community leaders informed us that there were ten block of flats and that they will invite key leaders from the area for a briefing on the ‘my daftar campaign’. They told us that there were many individuals who were undocumented. We fixed another day to revisit the neighborhood area and will be back there on Jan 28, 2011 (Friday) at 8.30pm

The locals told us that there were different groupings such as RT, residents association but they were all not very active. As this is where the poor and low income families live, focusing therefore in these locations is very necessary. Enabling and empowering local leadership to take ownership is very important and is the sustainable way. There is therefore an urgent need to establish neighborhood based teams especially among those who live these neighborhoods.

Local leadership development is imperative and the Taskforce needs to develop some training modules along this line and identify all highly densely Indian populated neighborhoods for community transformation initiatives.

Perak Getting Ready for Mydaftar Campaign

Tuan Hj Alias Mamat chairing the meeting together with Dato Veerasingam and Dato Siva Subramaniam

Perak took the lead in hosting the first state level meeting in preparation for the nationwide campaign to document all the undocumented Malaysian Indians especially those who do not have birth certificates or identification cards or who still posses a red IC

The Registration Department Director for Perak, Tuan Haji Alias Mamat chaired the meeting which was held on Jan 13, 2011 at the Perak State Secretariat Building at Ipoh. About twenty six people attended including representatives from the Department, MIC leaders, local NGO and community leaders from the Hindu Sangam and Malaysian Tamil Youth Bell club.

Also present was Dato Veerasingam, Advisor to the Chief Minister of Perak and Taskforce consultant and campaign coordinator Dato Siva Subramaniam.

The meeting established some specific targets for Perak especially in terms of setting the key dates

• Between Jan 13 to 24, 2011     – To  nominate coordinator & volunteers
•  On Jan 25 at 3pm to 6pm         – Conduct volunteers briefing
•  Between Jan 26 to Feb 18        - To identify undocumented cases
• On Feb 19, 2011                     – To launch State level campaign
• Feb 19 to 26                           – Active participation during the Kempen MyDaftar

The state director assured the meeting that all the fifteen district level Registration Department office will be open during the campaign period including Feb 19 (Sat) & 20 (Sun), 2011

According to Dato Siva “this was indeed a fruitful meeting and there is a real firm commitment on the part of the Federal government to find a solution to this problem”.

The real challenge however is for the community is to identify and ensure that every Indian case registers with the department during the campaign period. This is not the time to be complacent but with a sense of urgency we must go to every section of our land and bring the people with a documentation and citizenship problem to the open.

Show casing improved access to public sector services

Officials from the Department of Social Welfare and Taskforce, JPM meeting to make preparations

Special update on Program Mesra Rakyat on Jan 31, 2011 (Mon) at Kulim, Kedah

Many have been asking what is the outcome of all the many request from ordinary people during the 2010 Mesra Rakyat Program. A total of 4,900 request of various kinds for assistance was received. The Taskforce has been working with the agencies and community leaders to ensure concrete results and action.

On Jan 31 (Mon) 2011, the SITF Chairman and Human Resources Minister, Datuk Dr Subramaniam will revisit Kulim and meet those who have been successful in accessing the agency resources. Two hundred and three Indians in Kulim managed to secure welfare assistance. All these are new cases and they will directly receive monthly income support through the Department of Social Welfare.

SITF secretariat held a meeting with officials of the Department of Social Welfare yesterday (Jan 12, 2010 at 2.30pm at the Department’s HQ in city centre. Mr Inau Edin Norm, Deputy Director General, Department of Social Welfare chaired the meeting attended by three officials from the Department and the Taskforce secretariat.

We reviewed the preparations for this event and acknowledged that while this is a clear show case of improved access but at the same time our efforts must be towards empowering people towards self reliance and self help not welfare grant dependency.

We hope to release the SITF report on the Program Mesra Rakyat on Jan 31, 2010 for media and public review. Ensuring access, inclusion and opportunities is an on going process. There is room for more improvements but we are in the right step forward.

Enlarging opportunities for Indian youths through Youth Ministry

Dato Salim Parlan, Deputy Secretary General charing the meeting at Putrajaya

At the last SITF Meeting held on Dec 9, 2010, the Ministry of Youth & Sports presented their paper on Indian youth participation at programs organized by the Ministry agencies. It was very clear from the presentation that the participation of Indian youths were very low. Therefore SITF decided that a special meeting between the Ministry officials and Indian youth organizations be held.

Special Dialogue session

Therefore on Jan 10, 2011 the Ministry hosted a frank discussion with the objective to chart out a course of action which will ensure that the Ministry will on the one hand target more strategically Indian youth and that Indian based youth organizations will play a grassroots role in mobilizing the youths.

The discussion and dialogue was chaired by the Deputy Secretary General, Dato Salim Parlan. Also present was the Deputy Director General for Rakan Muda Puan Wasitah Haji Mohd Yusof and other officials representing various sections of the Youth and Sports Ministry.

Five organizations also attended this meeting being representatives from four main youth organizations namely MIC Youth wing, Malaysian Hindu Youth Organization (HYO), Malaysian Indian Youth Council (MIYC) & Malaysian Bell Club.  In addition YSS was also represented together with Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria and SITF staff Ms Premala Ravi.

Ministry Report on Indian participation

The Ministry revealed that in 2010:-

·        4 youth organizations receive an annual grant of RM160,000 to cover their organizational needs

·        22 youth organizations received RM96,500 as grants for programs

·        25 youth clubs received RM75,000 as grants for Rakan muda programs in estates

·        6 youth organizations received RM90,000 for Rakan Muda programs at the Parliamentary level

The Ministry also informed the group that there were skills training opportunities and for Jan 2011 out of the 440 Indian youths who applied 48 % or 213 secured paces for skills training. Ministry officials encouraged the youth organizations to play an active role in future recruitment programs especially the campaign period in April for July 2011 intake.

However one matter was fully acknowledged by and that is the low participation of Indian youths in programs organized by the youth agencies. Some indicate that this is caused by low level of awareness among Indian youth due to weak publicity but others say that the programs are not relevant to Indian youths and not meeting the needs of Indian youth or their interest.

Specific Decisions & Follow UP

In the discussions which followed between the Ministry officials, SITF and Indian youth based organizations the following matters were discussed and which require further action and strengthening in the next ten months.

First, that on Jan 29, 2010 at 9.30am The Ministry will host a special awareness on the Industrial Training opportunities available through IKBN institutions. It was agreed that all the Indian youth organizations will send 10 to 20 youth leaders to understand the provisions of government. This will enable the youth leaders undertake promotional work especially for the July 2011 intake which will start in April 2011

Second, Youth Ministry officials will present details of the 2011 youth programs to be organised at the grassroots and request Indian youth organizations to pick the programs they would like to support and promote.

Third, Ministry will be open to receive proposals on youth based social programs targeting specific Indian concerns such as issues pertaining to gangsters and high risk Indian youths

SITF agreed to work with the Indian youth organizations and the Ministry-agency units to target Indian participation in the programs and projects of the Federal Government. Over the next six to nine months we will see some major improvements at the level of Indian youth participation.

Communications & Media Partner

Together with YB Senator Datuk Maglin Dennis D'Cruz, Deputy Information Minister

SITF secured the partnership of the Ministry of Information, Communication & Culture Malaysia to enhance the communication strategy of the campaign

Another mile stone was achieved in the right direction forward for the Mydaftar Campaign when Senator Datuk Maglin Dennis D’Cruz (Deputy Minister) pledged his support on behalf of the Ministry to play a very strong media and communications support for the mydaftar campaign

Yesterday (Jan 3, 2010) Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria and Dato Siva Subramanian had a special meeting to discuss the mydaftar campaign and chart out and effective media and communication strategy with the assistance of information department officials.

During the course of the discussion Datuk Maglin who is also Deputy President of PPP agreed to do the following:-

• Brief the Director General of the Department of Information and secure his full cooperation for the campaign

• Organise a half day briefing & discussion for all Indian Information officers & JASA officers on the campaign and secure their views and feedback on developing an effective strategy. The Deputy Minister agreed to host this meeting on Jan 12, 2011 at 10am at the Ministry

• Organise a media briefing session especially for RTM and other media agencies on the mydaftar campaign and secure their cooperation and assistance to disseminate the information to target groups. The Deputy Minister agreed to host this meeting on Jan 17, 2011 (Mon) at the Ministry.

According to Datuk Dr Denison, dissemination of information is most critical especially in ensuring the right target group will get to know about this major effort by the Federal government and come forward to seek their assistance.

One major hurdle this process of convincing the target group is that they might have tried before and failed. There might be the deep feeling, “what is the point, we will never be able to secure the necessary documents. We tried but failed”.

This is where it is of utmost importance that volunteers can go door to door, identify the people without the necessary formal documents, encourage and assist them to secure it through this ‘mydaftar campaign’.

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.

Hindu Sangam backs Taskforce Mydaftar campaign



Dato Siva sharing thoughts on the Mydaftar Campaign. On his right is Hindu Sangam
 President Mr Mohan Shan and on his left is Hindu Sangam Deputy President Dr Bala.

 Hindu Sangam President Mr Mohan Shan, gave his utmost support to the Mydaftar campaign. He acknowledged that this was a very important effort by the Federal Government and Hindu Sangam will ensure that all the leaders from the nine states and branches will play an active part.

On Sunday (Jan 2, 2011), Campaign Coordinator, Dato Siva Subramaniam and Taskforce Secretary Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria spoke to the Hindu Sangam Council members after their council meeting at their office in Taman Petaling Utama, Old Klang Roard, KL. The objectives and strategies of the campaign was presented to Hindu Sangam including a request for the active participation of Hindu Sangam branches.

Hindu Sangam Council members on sunday Jan 2, 2011

In the course of discussion it was agreed that Hindu Sangam would:-

• Support Taskforce efforts at the nine states and 30 districts. The key name list of Hindu Sangam leaders will be handed over the SITF secretariat for their participation during the campaign period alongside other community leaders
• Assist the Taskforce in the distribution of publicity materials to Hindu Sangam members and associated 2,000 Temples nationwide
• Assist the Taskforce to set up special booths during Taipusam festival (Jan 20, 2011) to distribute publicity pamphlets and document any request for assistance on citizenship related matters
• Serve as a special reference and coordination on documentation issues pertaining to inter-religious conversion
• Set up a special counter during the campaign period at the Hindu Sangam HQ, Old Klang Road, KL

Dr Denison presenting a copy of his book on Malaysian Indians
to Hindu Sangam President at the end of the dialogue session

From the perspective of the Taskforce secretariat this ‘hand of partnership’ is a very significant one. We are really look forward to other national level NGO’s playing a very active role in identifying Malaysian Indians who have difficulties in securing their documentation in order to exercise their full citizenship rights in Malaysia.