Indian Community Must Continue To Place Trust In Najib - Leaders

KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 (Bernama) -- The Indian community should continuously place its trust, confidence and hope in Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as the prime minister is a dedicated leader who puts the needs of the community first.

Political leaders said that Najib, who took over the reins in 2009, had never neglected the community in all his transformation agenda, and had helped solve many longstanding problems faced by the community, such as personal identity documents, education and job opportunities in the government sector.

MIC secretary-general Datuk S. Murugesan said the prime minister had kept his promise to give Indians a fair deal in uplifting the community by laying the foundation in all aspects of political, economic and administrative transformation.

"The word, 'nambikei', means both trustworthiness and hope. Until today, the PM (prime minister) has not disappointed the Indian community, and has introduced various measures and initiatives to look into problems and ease the burden faced by the Indian community.

"Therefore, the community should strengthen the support and give a strong mandate to the PM and Barisan Nasional in the coming general election," he told Bernama when asked to comment on Najib's appeal to the Indian community to place their 'nambikei' in BN to aspire for a better future for themselves.

The prime minister spoke in a special interview for the Tamil edition of the 'Hello, Malaysia' programme of BernamaTV over Astro Channel 502. The interview was conducted by Bernama journalists K. Ghandi and Michael Savarimuthu.

Echoing similarly, Federal Territory People's Progressive Party information chief Datuk A. Chandrakumanan said the Indian community had benefited much under Najib's leadership, such as increased allocations for Tamil schools, matriculation seats, offering loan schemes to buy taxis and re-issuing scrap metal dealer licences.

"When PM Najib makes a promise to the Indian community, it will be brought to the mainstream. He keeps his word as the leader is well-aware that the community will help to empower the government to continuously bring growth and progress to the nation," he said.

Since 2008, among others, under the prime minister s leadership, the federal government had given out about RM540 million to Tamil schools and RM150 million in micro-credit loans to young Indian entrepreneurs under the Young Indian Entrepreneurs Development Scheme (SPUMI).

"Today, the community can see how much the PM has solved and transformed its needs. Therefore, if the community continues to give him the mandate, then the PM can lead the nation towards a better future," he noted.

Gerakan vice-president Senator A. Kohilan Pillay said the people who liked Najib's style and leadership must give sold support if they wanted him to bring more prosperity to the nation, through his various transformation initiatives.

"The people should understand that every candidate will be contesting under BN's banner. If BN receives a strong mandate from the people in the 13th General Election, then it enables the PM to carry out greater achievements for the people and the nation," he said.

(Source: Bernama)