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Cime on rise in Malaysian Indian community
Raja, the son of a poor Malaysian Indian rubber tapper, dropped out of school at 16 with no marketable skills other than violence.
Raja, the son of a poor Malaysian Indian rubber tapper, dropped out of school at 16 with no marketable skills other than violence.
For almost 20 years he made his living using threats or fists as a member of a gang specialising in debt-collecting.
Raja (not his real name) quit the Indian underworld three years ago. Now, amid growing alarm in Malaysia at the growth of ethnic Indian gangs, he says he uses his connections to avert gang clashes. The issue hit the headlines this month when Ramli Yusuff, Deputy National Chief of Detectives, disclosed that there are 38 Indian crime gangs in the Malay peninsula with a total membership of around 1,500.
“Indians are a minority in the country but criminals from the ethnic group are committing the most number of serious crimes compared with other races,” he said. Ramli said that 651 Indians had been detained for serious gangland-style offences since the start of 1996, with the numbers increasing every year.
He said that the poverty was the main reason with many Indian youths who migrated to towns from the country leading a hard life. Raja, now 39, told AFP how he became a member of a notorious gang in Selangor state.
He said that he and a few friends joined a gang while at school to protect themselves from fellow students. After they quit school, debt collectors sought their services.
“They come and tell us -- so and so owes 10,000 Ringgit (US $ 2,632). Collect the debt and we give you 2,000 Ringgit. So we go and get it without any mercy for the debtor,” he said. Many Indians originally came here from Tamil Nadu during British colonial times to work on rubber plantations.
Ethnic Indians number 1.6 million out of a total population of 22.7 million. They are fairly well represented among the legal community, in medicine and in other professions but community leaders say the majority are still involved in semi-skilled work. Social workers and politicians say Indians turn to crime because they feel marginalised from government development plans and lack equal education, business and job opportunities.
There is a decades-old affirmative action programme to help malays catch up with the Chinese but no special help for Indians. Apart from the problems of urbanised Indians, most rubber estates lack basic amenities because they are privately-owned and do not qualify for state-provided rural aid. S Samy Vellu, President of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), on Thursday announced a programme to fight crime among Indian youths.
The programme, initially to run for six months, involves visiting troubled schools and squatter settlements to provide counselling. Samy Vellu said that 100,000 Ringgit has been allocated to help the party, a member of the ruling coalition, fight social problems.
T Marimuthu, a former MIC lawmaker, said the surge in crime involving Indian youths worries the government. “We have to arrest this problem. If we do not, we are in trouble,” he said. Bureau Report
Raja (not his real name) quit the Indian underworld three years ago. Now, amid growing alarm in Malaysia at the growth of ethnic Indian gangs, he says he uses his connections to avert gang clashes. The issue hit the headlines this month when Ramli Yusuff, Deputy National Chief of Detectives, disclosed that there are 38 Indian crime gangs in the Malay peninsula with a total membership of around 1,500.
“Indians are a minority in the country but criminals from the ethnic group are committing the most number of serious crimes compared with other races,” he said. Ramli said that 651 Indians had been detained for serious gangland-style offences since the start of 1996, with the numbers increasing every year.
He said that the poverty was the main reason with many Indian youths who migrated to towns from the country leading a hard life. Raja, now 39, told AFP how he became a member of a notorious gang in Selangor state.
He said that he and a few friends joined a gang while at school to protect themselves from fellow students. After they quit school, debt collectors sought their services.
“They come and tell us -- so and so owes 10,000 Ringgit (US $ 2,632). Collect the debt and we give you 2,000 Ringgit. So we go and get it without any mercy for the debtor,” he said. Many Indians originally came here from Tamil Nadu during British colonial times to work on rubber plantations.
Ethnic Indians number 1.6 million out of a total population of 22.7 million. They are fairly well represented among the legal community, in medicine and in other professions but community leaders say the majority are still involved in semi-skilled work. Social workers and politicians say Indians turn to crime because they feel marginalised from government development plans and lack equal education, business and job opportunities.
There is a decades-old affirmative action programme to help malays catch up with the Chinese but no special help for Indians. Apart from the problems of urbanised Indians, most rubber estates lack basic amenities because they are privately-owned and do not qualify for state-provided rural aid. S Samy Vellu, President of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), on Thursday announced a programme to fight crime among Indian youths.
The programme, initially to run for six months, involves visiting troubled schools and squatter settlements to provide counselling. Samy Vellu said that 100,000 Ringgit has been allocated to help the party, a member of the ruling coalition, fight social problems.
T Marimuthu, a former MIC lawmaker, said the surge in crime involving Indian youths worries the government. “We have to arrest this problem. If we do not, we are in trouble,” he said. Bureau Report