Indian dissatisfaction became clear last November when members of the community took to the streets to stage an illegal demonstration against allegedly unfair government policies.

'Yes, I think votes will be affected somewhat,' Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi told the Sunday Star newspaper when asked if Indian votes would be affected.

Organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), the demonstration was broken up by riot police. Five top Hindraf leaders have since been detained under the Internal Security Act.

This admission of Barisan Nasional's slipping Indian support comes amid expectations of a general election by late next month.

But Datuk Seri Abdullah, who is also Finance Minister, said he would address Indian grievances, including the destruction of Hindu temples. 'I have given instructions that whatever grouses they have should be attended to,' he said.

During the interview, he also expressed disappointment that some Chinese parents had told their children to remain overseas after completing their education because there were few opportunities for them at home.

'It is just not right. The children ought to remember that their own parents have earned credible incomes to afford to send them abroad to further their education,' he said.

Datuk Seri Abdullah also said non-Malays have always felt the government had not done enough for them, but reiterated the administration's commitment to take care of all races.

'There is definitely a place for all Malaysians...we have corrected the social imbalance by providing better infrastructure, basic needs and quality of life,' he said.

Non-Malays have become increasingly concerned over what they see as the government's overt Malay agenda and creeping Islamisation.

But Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak yesterday insisted that the Barisan Nasional government was the only one to improve the well-being of all Malaysians.

'Continue to place your trust with the Barisan. The Barisan is the future of Malaysian Indians and all Malaysians. The future will be better if you work within the system and not against it,' he told nearly 4,000 leaders of the Malaysian Indian Congress, a Barisan Nasional component party.

kumhor@sph.com.sg

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