Political perception of Indian youths in Malaysia’s public higher learning institutions

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 party in 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.