S'gor Dishes Out Various Programmes To Help Indian Community

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- Selangor, home to among the largest number of Indian Malaysians in the country, has implemented various programmes and activities aimed at bringing progress to the community.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo said they included special funds to enable Indian youths from poor families to attend technical training courses.
He said through the annual RM1 million allocation under a special technical education fund, the government was bringing Indian youths who had been left behind back into the social development mainstream and restoring their confidence to climb up the social ladder.
He told Bernama that short-term courses offered by Inpens college not only allowed Indian youths to develop technical skills but also receive spiritual guidance on Fridays.
"In addition, they each receive a monthly RM100 pocket money," he said.
Jointly organised by the Royal Malaysia Police, Social Strategic Foundation and Inpens since 2006, the programme had shown positive results in terms of reducing their involvement in negative activities, said Mohamad Khir.
"Up till July this year, a total of 101 youths had successfully completed the various skills enhancing courses and another 148 are still studying there," he said.
The Selangor state government had also set up an education fund for the children of estate workers to help them pursue education at higher levels, an initiative being handled by Yayasan Selangor with an allocation of RM1 million a year, he said.
Mohamad Khir said that Indians made up 13.1 per cent of Selangor's 4.96 million population.
For them, he said, the state government had readied a number of allocations totalling RM3 million a year including for temples.
Those in the low-income bracket were given the opportunity to own low-cost houses, he said.
Mohamad Khir said efforts by the state government to address social problems among the various ethnic groups in the state could be seen from development programmes being carried out in Kampung Medan in Jalan Klang Lama and the surrounding areas.
According to him, the multiracial community there was now living in peace and harmony although there were racial tensions several years ago arising from minor misunderstandings.
Recalling the 2001 incident, Mohamad Khir said he could still remember how he had to sleep in a temple to ensure the safety of the Indian population there.
"I went to Kampung Medan every night and even slept in a temple to prevent untoward incidents. I would return to the office early in the morning. I did that for several days until the situation was under control," he said.
Mohamad Khir said people and leaders from various races in the area had helped him to calm down the situation.
He stressed that only six people died as a result of clashes in Kampung Medan and not 100 as claimed by certain irresponsible groups.
Mohamad Khir also rejected allegations that the incident in Kampung Medan was an attempt at ethnic cleansing.

tunku : from what i see, the indians has all the means to excel in this country, it's only whether the person is willing to excel or not.the opportunities is there, so rather than complaining and create tensions, grab the opportunity to excel.even selangor mb slept in temples for several days to safeguard them.