By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has told the Indian community that he will consider declaring a national holiday on the Tamil festival Thaipusam.
He acceded to a plea made to him that the festival, which marks the marriage of Lord Murugan to Valli, a gypsy girl, be declared a national holiday.
Thaipusam falls a week after Pongal, the Tamil New Year.
Addressing a Pongal Festival event Saturday, Badawi said he understood and appreciated the meaning of a poem read out earlier by an Indian participant.
A part of the poem read: “Sambutan Thaipusam semakin dekat; Warga menanti pengumuman cuti.” (Thaipusam is nearing; the people are awaiting news of a holiday.)
Thaipusam is currently a holiday in several provinces of Malaysia including Selangor, Penang, Perak, Negri Sembilan and Johor. But it is not a national holiday.
Ethnic Indians, predominantly Tamil Hindus who came to Malaysia during the British era, form roughly eight percent of Malaysia’s 27 million people.