THE STAR ONLINE
Monday January 25, 2010
Recognise Thaipusam, govt urged
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/25/nation/5539949&sec=nation
THE Government has been urged to recognise Thaipusam as a national festival and that it must be made a public holiday in the peninsula, Tamil Nesan reported.
So far, Selangor, Perak, Penang, Johor and Negri Sembilan enjoy a holiday for Thaipusam.
Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam chairman Datuk R.Nadarajah said the other states should also be given a similar holiday due to the large number of Hindu devotees and foreign tourists who visited temples, especially in Batu Caves.
He also said that a cable car system from the base of the caves to the top of the temple has been approved. It is expected to be operational in 2012.
> Malaysia Nanban reported that television stations, especially TV1 and TV2, have been told to air more locally-produced programmes.
MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said this after attending the launch of Ra Ra Rasiga musical programme that will be aired over TV2.
Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a sub-heading, it denotes a separate news item.
