He was referring to a proposal from the head of “Tamilan Uthavum Karangal” (Tamilian Helping Hands), A Muraly of three initiatives the government could take to stop the spread of gangsterism in the country.
Muraly suggested that firstly, youths from “high-risk” areas be taken into the police force. Secondly, that Malaysian Indian youths be paid RM500 more to become security guards, and finally, that they be given soft loans to start businesses.
Speaking to FMT, Santiago said that since joining a gang was such a lucrative business, giving Indian youths extra money to become security guards was not going to help.
“They don’t realise that the problem of poverty and gangsterism — which is linked — is structural in nature,” he said. “When you’re poor, you have no hope and crime becomes a way to survive.
“There needs to be a large support for poorer families in high risk areas and the government knows where these areas are.”
Santiago revealed that he had spoken to several reformed gangsters who told him of the huge amount of money that could be made from a life of crime, adding that his observation of the “luxurious” cars that gangsters drove when they were nabbed was also a good indication.
He added that youths who lived in poorer neighbourhoods often looked up to gangsters as their role models.
“They look up to these gangsters who go around in their flashy motorbikes and cars because the Indian community lacks good role models
“And that sense of fear that these gangsters command just heightens this respect for them.”
He pointed out that students in secondary schools were often recruited into gangs and as a result many of them also dropped out of school.
Santiago instead proposed that the government pump more money into education among the Indian community, that — by the next general election — the government ensure the incomes of Indian youths was higher than that of their parents, and also that parents become part of the education process.
“This has proven very successful in the US where parents of poor children go to schools to help the youths become better students.”
Meanwhile, PSM Central Committee member Dr Michael Jeyakumar said one of the factors that drove both Indian and Malay youths into gangsterism was a marginalisation borne out of a low wage policy.
“They’re not getting any job opportunities because employers prefer hiring foreign workers who are easier to bully since their rights are not acknowledged,” he told FMT.
Earlier this month, Jeyakumar said that those in the bottom 40 per cent household income group (B40) would find it easier to get jobs and to hold on to them if they were competing with foreign workers whose rights were honoured.
He said employers currently preferred foreign workers because they could be bullied into working longer hours without adequate compensation.
Apart from the fact that they were competing with foreigners for lower income jobs, Jeyakumar said that the poor facilities available to youths in urban areas was another contributing factor as to why they felt marginalised.
“In KL, these low cost slums where most of these youths grow up, which are so badly maintained, enhance this feeling of being marginalised and alone.
“There’s also a lack of solidarity groups that appeal to them whereas in countries where there are more solidarity groups, gangsterism isn’t as big an issue.”
On Muraly’s suggestion to stop the spread of gangsterism, Jeyakumar said that though Muraly had acknowledged that the problem had a socio-economic basis, his proposed initiatives were not enough to eradicate gangsterism in the country.
“How many youths can you hire as security guards or policemen?”