The PIOs make up 8 per cent (about 2 million) of the country’s population, but their say in the economy is limited to 1.5 per cent, a figure sought to be doubled by 2011 in the Ninth Plan period.

Over the past nearly two centuries, the PIOs have witnessed massive changes, mainly Malaysia’s transition from a British colony dependent on rubber exports and the toil of indentured workers, to a rapidly growing multi-sector economy and an infrastructure that competes with the best in the world. On the one hand the PIOs have been a part of this huge change, on the other they remain somewhat marginalized, as INDIA EMPIRE’s online poll clearly indicates (see results inside).

The PIOs remain deeply rooted to their culture, and vastly passionate about India. They want to contribute directly to the magical growth story of India. There are numerous people who are connecting with India, thanks largely to strong linkages with ancestral homes made possible by Malaysia’s relative geographical proximity to India. At the same time there is a vast underclass whose economic, and even, at times, social status needs to be lifted.

Amid all this, there is much promise. The PIOs in Malaysia are methodically carving the kind of success stories that’ll make the other Indian diaspora across the world very proud. Each year, the numbers in the rich list keep going up. The latest one, released by Forbes Asia, lists five Indians among the top 40 richest men in Malaysia. The stories are inspirational. Like the one we have on the 40th man on the list, Datuk Palaniappan Kasi, son of a Tamil school teacher, who trained as an architect in Delhi, before launching into big time real estate. Today, he is the second largest shareholder in M K Land, one of Malaysia’s largest property development firms.

Yet there is far too much hard work to be done. The stereo-typical mindset of Indians being the underclass has to be removed. It is not an easy task. Action oriented world bodies like the GOPIO and the Tamil Foundation (87 per cent of Indians in Malaysia have Tamil origins) need to lobby with the Government of India to articulate their views very strongly, and help India take advantage of what the PIOs have to offer. Merely sending strong delegations to the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas events is not enough.

At the crossroads of history, taking the road less travelled, and putting in that extra effort to have their collective voice being heard outside Malaysia, might make all the difference.