PETALING JAYA: The suggestion for Indians battling poverty to work in the plantation sector to survive does not mean they are urged to return to work in estates, said MIC president Datuk G. Palanivel.
Stating that his earlier solution for poor Indians was misinterpreted and taken out of context, he added that it seemed that any suggestion for Indians to take up opportunities in the plantation sector was like sending them into the wilderness.
“I did not say our people are destined for the plantation industry, but for those battling poverty on a daily basis with no source of livelihood, working in a plantation will get them out of a negative situation and give them a chance to support themselves and their families.
“It will even provide an opportunity for them to stabilise their positions and from which they can seize newer and better opportunities,” he said in a statement Thursday.
Palanivel said his remarks at the MIC Negri Sembilan Service Centre last Sunday should not have been taken out of context.
He said his suggestion was meant for Indians earning less than RM500, those without a guaranteed monthly salary and those facing difficulties paying their rent and for other utilities.
He said Sime Darby plantations for example, offered free housing, electricity, water, transport for school children, medical benefits and monthly provisions of rice and cooking oil.
During a good harvest and tapping season, he said, a working couple could earn more than RM1,500 in a month.
“I am not asking city folks to go back to the estates. I am suggesting that those living below the poverty line make use of the opportunities available.
“Suggesting that poor or unemployed Indians get a job seems to be a bad thing. It looks as though they would rather live in poverty because there is no honour in working in an estate,” he said.
read more @ the star:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/10/nation/20110310124846&sec=nation
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