MIRI: The multi-cultural society here is a shining example of the 1Malaysia concept, said Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui.
SYMBOLIC : (From left) Chia, Nor, Selvaraj, Chin and Lee light the oil lamp to mark the official launching of the 1Malaysia Ponggal Cultural Night.
“The 1Malaysia concept has long been practised in Sarawak especially Miri, where about 300,000 people of various races and cultures live in peace and harmony,” he said in his address at the 1Malaysia Ponggal Cultural Night last Saturday.
Held at Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club, the event was jointly organised by Miri Hindu Society (MHS) and City Club of Curtin University.
Among those present were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakop; Assistant Minister of Communications and Senadin incumbent Datuk Lee Kim Shin; Miri mayor Lawrence Lai, Pujut incumbent Andy Chia and MHS chairman, Selvaraj Grapagasem,
Chin added that people here also should accept and get to know other communities.
“Even though the Indians are a minority group, they are also included in the 300,000 Miri population that practise the 1Malaysia concept,” he said.
Meanwhile, Selvaraj Grapagasem who spoke earlier disclosed that Indians in Miri had all this while supported the Barisan Nasional government that had been very kind to them.
In his welcoming address, Selvaraj also urged the government to act on an application by MHS for a plot of land to construct a Hindu temple in Miri.
He said the application had been submitted for quite a while but so far there had been no response from the government on the matter.
In reply to this, Chin said he would personally look into the issue to ensure that the welfare of Hindus in Miri is taken care of.
“I will check on the application and ask the authority to speed up the process, because the society here is really in need of a plot of land to build their house of worship,” he said.
At the same function, Chin and Nor respectively announced a RM10,000 and RM5,000 grants for MHS to carry out its annual activities.
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