PETALING JAYA: Gangsterism among Malaysian Indians often takes root in secondary school, with academically weaker and marginalised students particularly vulnerable to gang recruitment, a new book reveals.
Its author and prominent social activist Janakey Raman Manickam said Indian students who lack confidence and direction often join gangs in search of acceptance and recognition.
Once recruited, these teenagers are paid to commit crimes, he said.
Janakey, who has written extensively on issues affecting Malaysian Indians, said many of these teenagers turn to petty crime to project a macho image, impress their peers or earn pocket money.
"The more crimes they commit, the better their position in the gang," he wrote in a book, titled “Malaysian Indians: Impact and Pain: Narration of an Unending Saga of a Marginalised Community”.
Janakey said these students often progress to more serious crimes, including robbery and drug trafficking.
Schools overlooking weaker students
He also questioned the education system, saying it places too much emphasis on high achievers while leaving weaker students without adequate support.
“Indirectly, low achievers from the Indian community are ‘swept out’,” he said.
“They are usually marginalised at school because not many teachers are concerned about them,” he added, noting that these students are often labelled “problem makers”.
Janakey said despite the availability of vocational and skills training, many students leave secondary school unaware of the opportunities available to them.
“These students are clueless,” he said, urging that they be given greater attention and better career guidance alongside measures to enhance the financial stability of low-income families.
Janakey said gangsterism among the Indian community has reached a critical stage.
The time has come for the menace to be addressed with serious planning and decisive action, he said.
In 2013, it was reported that 38 of the 49 active secret societies and criminal syndicates blacklisted by the government were predominantly operated by Indian youths.
In 2021, then MIC vice-president C Sivarraajh, said Indians accounted for 28,926, or nearly 72%, of identified gang members nationwide.