KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak won valuable backing today from the influential Indian Malaysian social and education movement Sri Murugan Centre (SMC).
Najib continued his tactic of bypassing the MIC to regain Indian votes the Barisan Nasional (BN) lost in Election 2008, and was endorsed by the SMC.
In a first for a prime minister, Najib launched the SMC 2010, a unique and annual event that involves over 100,000 students across the country and as many families, who could be important potential sources of direct political support for Najib.
At the launch in Brickfields today Najib promised special help to SMC and for the Indian community, offered more scholarships and direct financial aid for Tamil schools under the 10th Malaysian Plan that was unveiled last week.
The launch was attended by some 5,000 parents and students at the Vivekananda School.
Many prominent Indian business leaders like Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam and Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam also attended, giving the SMC their full backing.
MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu was glaringly absent at this key annual event for the Indian community that usually receives wide attention from the Tamil media.
SMC founder and President Datuk M. Thambirajah in his speech unequivocally endorsed Najib and his policies to transform the country.
“We are fully behind One Malaysia,” Thambirajah said while urging the government to allocate more funds for Indian education in the form of scholarships and places in universities.
“We are good people, the Indians here are good Indians and they are behind you. We study hard and we achieve good grades and we want your government with us, behind us and helping us,” Thambirajah said.
He said that SMC students go on to be graduates and high achievers in private and public sector and will be the next line of political leaders for the Indian community.
“It’s all happening here in SMC and we are with you,” he told Najib.
Najib reciprocated by calling SMC his “partners.”
“We are partners in development and I will not let down my partners,” Najib said to applause.
So what does this new partnership mean politically?
Thambirajah was a MIC leader before and the SMC movement could have been adopted and made into a MIC project and funded by the government for the benefit of the Indian community.
But Samy Vellu feared Thambirajah and feared SMC would become too big for him to control.
They parted ways and while MIC has become a derided and despised organisation SMC simply kept growing on small fees they charged students and on donations.
As a social and education movement it has no rivals in the Indian community.
Its unique blend of combining Murugan worship with education attainment is unrivalled in the world.
Its only setback was limited places in universities and scholarships for its graduates, the bane of the Indian community in general.
This limitation, SMC hopes, can now be overcome with its partnership with Najib who is on a mission to directly meet and interact with community leaders.
While previous prime ministers dealt with Samy Vellu and the MIC, Najib is directly reaching out to Tamils, Telugus, Sikhs and other Indian sub-groups.
The refusal of Samy Vellu to step down even after such rejection by the Indian community has also forced Najib to deal directly with alienated communities.
That’s where the “new partnership” with SMC is politically significant.
SMC and Thambirajah enjoy strong support in the Indian community for their success and dedication to lift poor Indian students.
Their success record is enviable.
They have a strong network in the country, 103 centres and nearly 20,000 volunteers to rely on from among many former students who have made it.
SMC is widely known and easily recognised and has a strong presence in Indian homes through young students.
The political potential for Najib is obvious.
While Thambirajah told The Malaysian Insider that he has no political ambition and that SMC is apolitical and welcomes help from any source, he also said “we will help those who help us.”
“We believe in One Malaysia and he is really changing the country. We want to be part of that change,” he said. “We are partners now.”
