Shahrizat's optimism amidst Indian reservations

The Star (on 20 February), like many other mainstream newspapers, was littered with news of political parties gearing up for the forthcoming general election in Malaysia. And these included stories of both the incumbent BN and the opposition, although the former predictably dominated the pages.

One of the news reports that caught our attention – and criticism – carried the following headline: “Shahrizat: Indians support BN”. Essentially what the report was trying to convey was BN politician Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's confidence in the apparent support from the Indian Malaysian community, her confidence derived from the response to her meet-the-people sessions in Lembah Pantai.

But the headline could be misleading in the sense that it gave the impression that the support from Indian Malaysians was nationwide – and not just from the community in the Lembah Pantai area. Even then, one couldn’t possibly assume that all Indian Malaysians in the area support the incumbent BN.

As if to reinforce this “fact” (of unwavering Indian Malaysian support for BN), Shahrizat was even quoted by the newspaper as saying, “I don’t see why the Indians will not vote for Barisan. We have been there for them.” Her comments were made in response to a question as to whether “there would be a swing of Indian votes following street demonstrations by Indians”.

It would have helped the reader a lot had the paper briefly presented the background to those street demonstrations - such as the grievances articulated by certain sections of the Indian Malaysian community who felt that they had been neglected by the very party that Shahrizat claimed was concerned about their plight.