"Once Bitten Twice Shy"

MIC asks Govt for RM300mil to assist Indians,” (Sunday Star, May 18).
The MIC president said that the fund “will be used mostly to help poor Indians.”
He is to meet the Prime Minister next week on the matter.
I don’t support this idea given the dismal track record of Maika Holdings, the investment arm of the MIC.
The Government had given over RM200mil to the MIC via Telekom shares to invest in Maika Holdings at its inception with the objective of uplifting the economy of the Indians.
The Indians were deceived into getting a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
The poor Indians mortgaged their jewellery and livestock to get into the game but what do we see some three decades later? With no dividends forthcoming to service the loans, many of them are bankrupts.
Under pressure, MIC promised to pay back ringgit for ringgit to the shareholders at the beginning of this year but once again it proved to be an empty promise.
MIC members being thoroughly disillusioned by a continuous string of empty promises and bungling by the ineffectual leadership of the party overwhelmingly voted for the Opposition in the recent polls.
Given this pathetic state of affairs, it would be blatantly unwise to give such hard cash to the party leadership however noble the motives maybe.
In the Tamil language there is a saying that such a move is as good as giving a garland of sweet-smelling flowers to a monkey.
What the Indians need is equal opportunities in all fields e.g. education, employment, loans from financial institutions and religious matters.
Aid to the poor irrespective of race or religion should be given in a holistic fashion preferably managed by a select, dedicated and apolitical high-powered team under the Prime Minister’s Department.

DR A. SOORIAN,