Persepsi politik belia India di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam (IPTA) Malaysia (Political perception of Indian youths in Malaysia’s public higher learning institutions)

Abstract

Sokongan kaum India, khususnya belia terhadap MIC (Malaysian Indian Congres)
dikatakan kian merosot. MIC tidak lagi relevan sebagai parti yang mewakili masyarakat India seperti yang dibuktikan dalam Pilihan Raya Umum (PRU) ke-12, 2008, majoriti calonnya tewas . Artikel ini berttujuan untuk mengkaji persepsi politik belia India di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam (IPTA). Kajian ini melibatkan 150 orang pelajar India dari tiga buah universiti awam, iaitu UKM, UPM dan UM. Berdasarkan kaji selidik dan pemerhatian, dapatan kajian menunjukkan kebanyakan belia India IPTA masih menyokong BN, namun mereka mahukan isu-isu penting dalam masyarakat India iaitu isu pendidikan di sekolah Tamil, pemberian biasiswa, isu kuota, isu agama dan isu sosioekonomi diselesaikan oleh kepemimpinan MIC sebaiknya. Mereka juga melayari laman web untuk mendapatkan maklumat politik terkini dan memilih calon yang mempunyai karisma atau ketokohan, kelayakan akademik yang tinggi dan calon muda serta parti politik yang memperjuangkan isu kemanusiaan seperti ketelusan, keadilan, hak asasi manusia, anti rasuah; memperjuangkan isu alam sekitar. Majoriti belia India IPTA akan memilih MIC dan BN sebagai parti politik mereka dalam PRU ke-13 jika parti tersebut lebih proaktif dalam menangani isu yang dihadapi oleh masyarakat India di Malaysia. Belia India IPTA juga menyatakan hanya MIC yang dapat memperjuangkan hak kaum India dan mereka juga menjangkakan BN akan terus menang dalam PRU akan datang.

Katakunci: belia India IPTA, masyarakat India, persepsi politik, pilihan raya umum, sokongan, status sosioekonomi

Indian ethnic support, particularly the youth, for MIC (Malaysian Indian Congres) is said to have been increasingly declining. MIC is no longer relevant as the party that represents the Indian ethnic as shown in the 12nd General Elections (GE) 2008 whereby majority of it’s candidates defeated. The present article examines the political perception of Indian youths in institutions of higher learning (IPTA). The study involved 150 Indian students from three public universities in Klang Valley, namely UKM, UPM and UM. Based on data obtained through a questionnaire survey and observations, result of the study showed that most respondents still support BN. However they wanted that the important issues faced by the Indian community in Malaysia such as education in Tamil schools, scholarship awards, the quota, religion and socio-economic levels of the Indians in general, be resolved by the MIC leadership. The majority of the respondents
would continue to choose MIC and BN as their political partyin the next 13th General Election if the party was more proactive in addressing these issues. The Indian youths also noted that only the MIC can champion the rights of Indians and agreed to support the MIC and they also predicted that BN will win in the next general election.

Keywords: general election, Indian community, Indian youth in IPTA, political perceptions, socioeconomic status, support