Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Toolkit Toolkit Final as of 17082016 | Page 7

Reasons as to why we need to improve
From Figure 3, the topics talked about in Parliament are general in nature, topics and issues that affect all Singaporeans.
However, it is still unclear whether any of the topics discussed were specifically about Indians.
In order to pass the second test [b) whether the number of times the issue spoken about was related to Indian issues], we
have to look at whether sufficient attention is being given to these issues on a community level and a personal level. Prior to
this, we need to take a look at what these issues are. The nature of the issue attracts different levels of attention. From this,
can we then decide if the necessary level of attention is being given?
Topic of Interest: How can we further improve the quality of Indian representation in the Singapore
Parliament?
Topics to be raised There are several issues that are plaguing the Indian community especially the Tamil
subgroup:
1)
Inter-generational social mobility
2)
Socio-economic problems
• Over-representation of Indians in criminal cases
• Sub-optimal education performance (as compared to national average)
Method of raising the
aforementioned topics 1)
2)
3)
Community leaders
Active engagement of youths
Bringing the issue up to MPs’ Meet-the-People Session or Ministerial dialogue
sessions
In Mr. Viswa Sadasivan’s words
What are the main
issues that need to
be given attention
to?
For Indian representatives to bring this issue up
at Parliament, it should be first and foremost
identified as a problem.
Split the issues plaguing the Indian
community into two main categories:
a) inter-generational social mobility
and b) socio-economic problems
Example: Lack of inter-generational social mobility
For example, with the exception of certain smaller clans and groups, the Tamil community
started off as labourers.This meant that at the start of self-governance, Tamils were already
disadvantaged in a meritocractic system; they started at a later point than the rest and thus a
larger gap to cross. However, instead of focusing on crossing the gap, via education and
learning value adding skills, they chose not to emphasize on the importance of education for
their children.
The subsequent generations could not close the gap due to the lack of emphasis on education
and thus, each generation added more to the original gap. When we fast forward to present
day, the Tamils inherited this larger-than-ever gap and hence are lagging behind compared to
the rest of the Indian community because the gap is now too wide and Tamils are not equipped
with the necessary skills to progress fast enough to close this gap. This is the reason behind the
inability for inter-generational social mobility.
But these problems
have yet to be
officially recognised,
because it is not in
our
society’s
consciousness. We
are not aware of the
underlying problems
that
affect
our
community.
Conclusion
Hence, in order for representation to improve in a way that is truly reflective of our community and its interests, the non-
Parliamentarians have to do their part. The onus is upon us as well as the community leaders to raise these issues as potential
threats to the progress of our community.
These are issues that need to be brought up to the Parliamentarians. These are issues that need to be championed by the
youths of our generation. There is no point demonstrating that we may have numerical representation but not qualitative
representation when there is nothing to represent. We as youths, have to bring these issues to the spotlight, thus helping
our Parliamentarians to solve the issues.
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