Remember what TDM promised to the Siqiu group just before the 1999 General Election. Remember that NEP was for 20 years, and when ASLI stated in its report in 2006 that Malays had surpassed the target 30% corporate ownership, and hence attained NEP objective, the government refuted ASLI’s finding and said that EPU would reveal its methodology and data to prove ASLI wrong. It is now more that a Year but the EPU has not shown that ASLI’s finding was incorrect, yet AAB declared that NEP would continue until 2020. Others in UMNO were urging to get NEP till and beyond 2057.

An apology is a recognition of something has gone wrong, and that a promise to correct it is implied. When UMNO does not honour its promise written in black and white, it will not honour an implied change. Najib has just carried out the tradition of giving promise like his late father who promised that NEP was for 20 years, knowing perhaps that he would not live to honour it. Najib now follows TDM’s example of making promise to Siqiu, and later when the time was right TDM accused that Siqiu was extremist. TDM not only broke his promise he was also ungrateful. Indians should learn from the experience Siqiu had with TDM, and not be fooled by UMNO foxes.

The problems Indians face are no different from that experienced by Chinese. Both communities are hoping that the leaders in MCA and MIC could take part in race politics and guard against the excess of race politics played by UMNO. The past 50 years have proven beyond any doubt that in the zero sum game, the strongest win all. MCA and MIC should die before Chinese and Indians can hope to lead a dignified life in Malaysia as true Malaysians.

Hindraf was accused of not telling the truth about the situation of Indians in the country. Insincere though the apology tendered by Najib was, useless as the apology may be, the apology serves to prove that the government cannot make use of the cover provided by MIC to say that all policies in discriminating non-Malays might have been requested by MIC and MCA. When MIC and MCA are not part of the government, the government will have to prove to the curious eyes around the world how it deals with other races in the country.

To organise political party based on race might help to provide dialogue between communities when the population lack the skill of communication in a common language, within a generation of 20 years. Political parties divided by race beyond the initial period of nation building would bring about in-fighting around zero sum game, and ends up with the stronger community fighting for dominating position like Ketuanan Melayu. After 50 years MCA and MIC still have not realised that as weak communities, they should not play the game of race politics. Politicians in MCA and MIC might have realised that they could not do anything for their communities, and have not even intended to do so in joining politics. They are there for power-sharing at the individual level to get rich. It is the Chinese and Indians voters who made mistakes in voting for MCA and MIC candidates. It is unfortunate to make mistake and it is stupid if not madness to make the same mistake over and over and over again.

We cannot ask opportunists in MIC and MCA to leave the party just like we cannot ask UMNO to be fair to non-Malays when they can discriminate against non-Malays and yet to be returned to power in every election. The voters, we have to learn not to make the same mistakes in supportng he game of race politics in voting MCA and MIC candidates in the coming GE.