Anxiety over growing gangsterism in Malaysia's Indian community

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (AFP) - 12:23 - Raja, the son of a poor Malaysian
Indian rubber tapper, dropped out of school at 16 with no marketable skills
other than violence.

For almost 20 years he made his living using threats or fists as a member
of a gang specialising in debt-collecting.

Raja (not his real name) quit the Indian underworld three years ago. Now,
amid growing alarm in Malaysia at the growth of ethnic Indian gangs, he
says he uses his connections to avert gang clashes.

The issue hit the headlines this month when Ramli Yusuff, deputy national
chief of detectives, disclosed that there are 38 Indian crime gangs in the
Malay peninsula with a total membership of around 1,500.

"Indians are a minority in the country but criminals from the ethnic group
are committing the most number of serious crimes compared with other
races," he said.

Ramli said 651 Indians had been detained for serious gangland-style
offences since the start of 1996, with the numbers increasing every year.

Poverty was the main reason, he said, with many Indian youths who migrated
to towns from the country leading a hard life.

Raja, now 39, told AFP how he became a member of a notorious gang in
Selangor state.

He said he and a few friends joined a gang while at school to protect

themselves from fellow students. After they quit school, debt collectors
sought their services.

"They come and tell us -- so and so owes 10,000 ringgit (2,632 dollars).
Collect the debt and we give you 2,000 ringgit. So we go and get it without
any mercy for the debtor," he said.

Many Indians originally came here from Tamil Nadu during British colonial
times to work on rubber plantations.

Ethnic Indians number 1.6 million out of a total population of 22.7

million. They are fairly well represented among the legal community, in
medicine and in other professions but community leaders say the majority
are still involved in semi-skilled work.

Social workers and politicians say Indians turn to crime because they feel
marginalised from government development plans and lack equal education,
business and job opportunities.

There is a decades-old affirmative action programme to help Malays catch up

with the Chinese but no special help for Indians. Apart from the problems
of urbanised Indians, most rubber estates lack basic amenities because they
are privately-owned and do not qualify for state-provided rural aid.

S. Samy Vellu, president of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), on

Thursday announced a programme to fight crime among Indian youths.

The programme, initially to run for six months, involves visiting troubled
schools and squatter settlements to provide counselling.

Samy Vellu said 100,000 ringgit has been allocated to help the party, a
member of the ruling coalition, fight social problems.

T. Marimuthu, a former MIC lawmaker, said the surge in crime involving

Indian youths worries the government. "We have to arrest this problem. If
we do not, we are in trouble," he said.

Marimuthu said gangsterism was not a new problem in Malaysia but was
widespread among Indian youths.

Rapid urbanisation was putting pressure on Indians who previously lived in

a close-knit family environment on the rubber estates, he said.

Marimuthu said many Indians had been forced to migrate to towns after
estates closed. But many ended up in slums due to a lack of education and
skills.

"This is the place where many children become delinquents and graduate to
become gangsters due to financial and social hardship faced by their
parents living in squatter areas," he said.

Marimuthu said Indians feel they have been marginalised by national

development projects. In the last three or four decades Malaysia has moved
from dependence on rubber and tin to become a major manufacturer.

"I think the government should take the lead to resolve the problem," he
said.

Social activist S. Arutchelvan said poverty among Indians was a key factor.

"They turn to crime to achieve their material needs and form gangs because
they are alienated following their displacement from the estates," he said.

"They need to group together to protect one another."

Arutchelvan said that in most Indian schools children either pay protection
money or belong to gangs. He said police should adopt a more aggressive
approach to wipe out ganglords, who were often linked to powerful elements
of society.

Ex-gangster Raja said society and the authorities must join forces to
eradicate gangsterism at its roots -- in schools.

"These students must be taught the dangers of becoming a gang member.

Society must act now before it is too late," he said.