A PROPOSED debate between Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan and Penang Deputy Chief Minister P. Ramasamy must properly address the issues of forced labour in the country and not just become a showpiece event, analysts said.

They said the debate, if it happens, must not turn into a sideshow of who better represents the Indian community instead of addressing the issue on hand, that of forced labour.

Last week, Saravanan, who is also the MIC deputy president, accepted a debate challenge from DAP’s Ramasamy following days of bickering over how the forced labour issue was being handled by the ministry.

A date has not been fixed for the debate.

James Chin of University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute said the debate is to show who better represents the Indian community.

“As we can see, the Indian community is fractured, with most of the support going to PKR.

“I believe the debate is actually a battle between Ramasamy, a senior Indian leader in DAP, and Saravanan, a senior Indian leader (of MIC).”

Chin said the debate may not take place at all as the two men would not want to create any controversy at this point in time.

“The timing is not right. They will keep thumping each other but the debate may not happen. It may take place closer to the election, but not now.

“We believe that they both will continue to attack each other on social media, but nothing will happen.”

The call for the debate arose after Saravanan asked the US Embassy and the International Labour Organization (ILO) to investigate into and inform the government of instances of forced labour.

Creating awareness

International Islamic University of Malaysia’s Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar hopes the debate will create better awareness of labour issues in the country.

“Undoubtedly, this debate will be used to claim that one (lawmaker) is better than the other.

“In the end, both sides will claim that they have won. The issue is subjective and it depends on from which perspective one looks at it,” he said.

Tunku Mohar said Malaysians will only gain from the debate if the government takes concrete action to address the issue of forced labour.

“Otherwise the debate is just a waste of everyone’s time.

“The topic has a limited audience and the debaters also do not have a huge following, as far as I know.”

Tunku Mohar said what needs to be highlighted is the issue of forced labour on the ground.

“However, ‘facts’ can be manipulated. The government has been defensive instead of really establishing facts.

Dr Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said the debate would achieve very little in shaping social discourse and focusing attention on this admittedly urgent socioeconomic topic.

“From past experience, such a debate is unlikely to take place beyond an exchange of rhetoric.

“But the public is unlikely to pay much attention to the topic, as many of the oppressed workers are foreigners and the local ones are too disorganised to have their voices heard.”

He said that the government should address forced labour issues promptly as palm oil is one of the country’s crucial exports.

“In the short run, as the US and EU have already banned our palm oil imports citing mainly forced labour concerns, this issue must be speedily and satisfactorily resolved.” – April 30, 2022.