Apa Lagi India Mau?
Various art by Rupa collaged together with her photograph captured by Daniel Adams.
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1. Malaysian Indians want to rent homes hassle-free.
We yearn to find a place to call home without encountering discriminatory hurdles and unfair treatment. Finding a house to rent is an exciting journey, don’t take that joy away from us.
Orang berketurunan India di Malaysia ingin menyewa rumah tanpa halangan diskriminasi.
Rejected 300 times: Malaysian Indian shares story of rejection by landlords in search for housing.
- News Strait Times published on October 21, 2023.
Malaysia's rental racism problem: How bad is it, and what are the ways to fix it?
- Yahoo! News published on 9 October, 2023.
Image via @pingster2008
Pingalayen found that 45% of all listings in Klang Valley outright rejected Malaysian Indian tenants. With experience in coding, he obtained results from scanning almost 10,000 rental listings on the local website for race preference.
2. Malaysian Indians want to enjoy concerts without being subjected to derogatory slurs and hurtful insults.
This collage art was done for “Draw Your Way Home” series.
Saat AR Rahman mengadakan concert di Kuala Lumpur, seronok tengok rakan-rakan saya melayan lagu Tamil dari tahun 90-an sampai lagu2 terkini beliau. Pemenang Academy Award, ARR bukan sahaja pemuzik yang menyayat hati tapi merupakan seorang yang menjadi symbol kejayaan kepada masyarakat kaum India di negara ini.
Kalau kita berbakat, berkerja kuat, mungkin kami pun boleh mencapai kejayaan Jai-ho did peringkat international. Namun ada di kalangan masyarakat kita yang tidak mampu menghormati sentiment ini, lebih lagi karya seni, erti lirik yg disampaikan beliau. Tak hairan la. Bila Yuna berjaya did US, ada yg buat parody blackface menyindir Usher. Buat malu je Yuna.
Memang saya ni keturunan keling, kuli dari estate. Nenek saya penoreh getah. Bertahun-tahun aku mengelak gunakan minyak kelapa, tapi sekarang ni you pulak yg beli virgin coconut oil dgn harga 5kali ganda. Kemenyan cendal saya, kau pun guna. Cuma kayu gaharu pulak. Barang sama je beb. Bau lain maybe, sbb cara process tu lain sikit. Biar bau asalkan badan sihat, hati tetap jernih.
A woman came under fire from Malaysians after a clip of her using a racial slur against Indians at A R Rahman's concert held on Saturday, 28 January, went viral. Published by Says.
3. Malaysian Indians want to be employed without being forced to suppress their cultural heritage and religious beliefs.
Orang India Malaysia ingin mendapatkan pekerjaan tanpa harus menghilangkan identiti budaya dan agama kami.
4. Malaysian Indians want our students to be able to challenge the inequities of our educational system without facing intimidation and silencing.
Look for 1:06:52min for the specific conversation between Prime Minister Anuar Ibrahim and an Indian student.
While the Prime Minister's response deflects the student's comparison to the majority race, his reference to internal disparities within the Bumiputera community, particularly for Orang Asal and Asli groups, raises valid concerns. However, that argument is still invalid seeing how many children from Orang Asal and Asli communities are dropping out from primary schools because of bullying.
I would give my respect to Nahvin Muthusamy, the UTeM Anugerah Pelajaran DiRaja recipient, for using his platform to advocate for greater Indian representation.
Despite UTeM's attempt to censor parts of his speech, his message resonated, reminding the Indian community of the power of their voices. In addressing educational challenges faced by marginalized communities, creating equitable educational environments should be the main priority.
5. Malaysian Indians want to participate in politics without getting called “Indian estate party”.
Malaysian Indians aspire to participate in the political arena without being labeled with condescending and dismissive terms that undermine their legitimacy.
Former PKR assemblyman Najwan Halimi later apologized. This was reported in News Strait Times on July 15, 2023.
6. Malaysian Indians want to buy new car without getting questioned how we can afford it.
Can we celebrate our achievements, without being overshadowed by patronizing remarks that subtly reinforce stereotypes please?
7. Malaysian Indians want to be able to seek information for travel tours without racial prejudice.
A photo I took in Cadiz, Spain while I was backpacking. I recall telling my art experiences on the road to a woman in a meeting. She was in disbelief and asked me repeatedly if I had truly travelled so far.
Mashallah, could Indians actually afford such travel trips? Someone got power-tripped.
Imagine a Malaysia where cultural heritage is embraced, not erased. Your financial contribution would keep this website independent. A crowdfunding campaign will be published in January 2024 with more updates.
8. Malaysian Indians want to book Grab to commute home after work without the assumption we’re drunk.
9. Malaysian Indians want to go to a spa without being called ugly.
Photograph credit: Netiswaran
I empathize with Roshinee's nightmarish spa experience. Her persistence in sharing her story, despite management's attempts to silence her, is commendable. I can only imagine how easily she could have moved on with her day, yet she chose to speak up.
This personal incident resonates deeply with me.
I haven't stepped foot in a spa or beauty parlor in years because of the pervasive culture of insecurity they often perpetuate. It's particularly unsettling given my own experiences with hirsutism and the tendency to tan darker from my love for midday swims. But that's a story for another day, sign up to my newsletter if you want the full scoop!
But back to our exploration of apa lagi India mau?! for those who've come this far..
10. Malaysian Indians want to light fireworks for Deepavali without calling comparison to bombs in Gaza.
This could get me canceled. But the irony of being racist towards a minority in this country (she also used the Keling slur) to show solidarity for the oppressed Palestinians is mind-blowing.
It is now important for all of us to raise our collective voices against Western media which is justifying genocide. But to expect minorities like the Indians and Orang Asal/Asli to carry this weight with the rest of the people is simply unfair. We are barely surviving as it is. Read: Why Are Indian Malaysians Still Living in Fear?
“Kuman di seberang laut nampak,
Gajah di depan mata tak nampak.”
11. Malaysian Indians don’t want our culture reduced to head bobbing in advertisements.
The video by BIG Pharmacy from Shah Alam, Selangor, featured a local Chinese influencer portraying a cashier, dressed in stereotypical Indian costumes and exaggerated mannerisms.
It was made worse when he mocked the Kungumum by drawing it on his forehead with a red marker, using it as a price scanner. Kungumum is a religious symbol of Hinduism that activates the “third eye” that gains conscious access to inner wisdom and intuition.
I’m not even going to bother dissecting this video that was published just as Hindus were preparing for Deepavali. My suggestion? Just stop giving them your money. I’ve already stopped buying from Watsons for its Dayang Senandong Blackface ad back in 2017.
12. Malaysian Indians don’t want our culture to be your annual dinner costume when you don’t involve us.
Design credit to @jigleepaff, a fellow social advocate.
My disappointment with the recent events surrounding the "I Dream of India" theme at the Prestige Malaysia Ball is profound, especially as a Top 40 Under 40 Awards 2020 recipient myself. This lack of representation for the Indian community isn't new, and I've termed it the "triple erasure trifecta" when it happens on social media spaces.
Firstly, the absence of darker-skinned Indians in their promotions, products, and event coverage perpetuates invisibility. In this case, it felt particularly jarring given the India-themed event. While Prestige acknowledged that Indian community members were present, the disconnect between their statements and the visual representation is undeniable.
Secondly, silencing those who voiced concerns in the comments amplifies the erasure. Deleting and dismissing valid critiques only deepens the divide. Finally, resorting to amplifying voices from the majority race without addressing the concerns raised feels dismissive.
I delve deeper into this "triple erasure trifecta" in my piece published in Zine: The Internet is Ours, alongside the works of esteemed voices like Al Ibrahim, Al Siew, Atikah Wahid, and many others. Download a copy at this link.
Read about this incident here: Prestige MY apologises for 'cultural appropriation' in 2023 ball theme.
This kolam art done in GMBB during Banana Leaf Art Exhibition in 2019 by Lingeswari is titled “Kalvi” or Education.
13. Malaysian Indians want to embrace cultural heritage through mother tongue education. Don’t lah accuse this of being unconstitutional.
The vernacular schools have been a source of controversy for many years, with some Malaysians arguing that they should be abolished because they promote ethnic segregation. However, others argue that the schools are important for preserving the cultural heritage of minority groups in Malaysia.
Read about this decision by three-man panel comprising Justices Datuk Supang Lian, Datuk M. Gunalan and Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan, a victory for supporters of vernacular schools in Malaysia: Appeals Court rules use of Tamil, Chinese languages as medium of instruction in vernacular schools constitutional.
Drawn by GoodKids Student, digitalized by Catherhea P.
14. Malaysian Indians want their children to wear saree to schools without cultural policing.
Many of you know This Body is Mine, a protest against cultural policing of the saree the body painting x photography x dance series that launched my art onto the internet. It went viral, traveled to London, Belgium, and Paris, before arriving at Balai Seni Negara.
So naturally, I get a little...irked when the debate pops up again in our own communities.
Despite hitting two million views, the persistent policing of sarees underscores how deeply entrenched this issue is. One viral campaign simply won't cut it. That's why I actively resist by wearing sarees to formal events, reclaiming and normalizing their place. Join me in this cultural reclaimation!
15. Malaysian Indians want our men to stop dying in police custody.
This dance-poetry video, a collaboration with Enbah Nilah (founder of Spoke Word Poetry; Words' Worth) and myself delves into the complex emotions of being Indian in Malaysia in dealing with Death in Custody. I wrote my reflections about the ongoing struggle for true ethnography liberation in the country, instead of blindly celebrating Merdeka.
“Berat mata memandang,
Berat lagi bahu memikul.”
16. Malaysian Indians want our Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim to stop normalizing the derogatory word ‘Keling’.
In an Instagram post titled "PMX hina kaum India?", Mahasiswa Keadilan's Director of Communications, Muhammad Iqbal Harraz, offered a disappointing statement.
Instead of fostering intellectual discourse, they simply declared the word's presence in Hikayat Hang Tuah rendering it non-insulting. This absence of exploration or dialogue felt more like blind defense than open listening.
While apologies, like the one from the Prime Minister, are welcome, experiences for the Indian community go far beyond simple verbal consolation. Anuar Ibrahim leads by example, allowing Malays to use the word without consequence, which fuels this disrespect further.
Iqbal, ultimately, it's the Indian community who gets to decide what constitutes an insult. This should be Racism 101, in case your university education somehow missed that vital chapter.
Truth is, this list isn’t what Malaysian Indians want.
It is more accurate to say, this is what we do not want, based on my observation of media coverage in the past year. So, what do Malaysian Indians want?
I’ve been told point-blank in various discussions when I bring up the hurdles of running events for the Malaysian Indian people, is that perhaps my community doesn’t need what I have to offer.
I won’t lie. It is painful for me to digest it (and I have taken this past two years to deliberate about it). But here I am. I’ve had to come to terms with my productive capacity and fight this cause within the limits of my energy, financially, and for the sake of my mental health.
If I disregard my identity of being Indian, and neatly tuck those experiences under a productive and compliant employee in any industry, I would make a lot more money and career progression. I feel like I’ve been stuck in the same place since I started on this journey.
Ideally, I want to ask these questions: what would elevate the grieves of the Indian race in Malaysia? What are your dreams to achieve in this country? to children in Tamizh schools, to Malaysian Indian women who are not visible. I want to make art with them, and for them and show it in their spaces.
Perhaps I’m dreaming too much.
Love,
Rupa
Photograph of Kenny Loh, circa 2018 post shooting for Thaipusam when Francis Wolf took the Kaavadi from the river banks in Kampung India in Batu Caves. His face says it all.
