COMMENT | Following the Dec 12 cabinet reshuffle, certain well-known politicians on the verge of political extinction and other diehards appear to have overplayed the issue of minority ethnic Tamil representation in the cabinet.

To provide their grievance greater significance, they have incorrectly implied that ethnic “Indian” representation in the cabinet is absent. That the current Indian appointee is not Tamil-speaking has also been highlighted.

While Tamil is the most widely spoken Indian language in Malaysia, it is not used in cabinet meetings.

Besides, Tamil-speaking leaders have had the exclusive preserve of cabinet positions allotted to Indians for almost seven decades. Yet, even then, they were in an asymmetrical situation, sometimes only commanding a naive position than a no-nonsense one.

With one extraordinary exception, a few of them relinquished their ministerial positions in relatively well-oiled opulent circumstances.

This was a distinct feature that did not apply to the vast majority of ordinary Tamil and other Indian folk.