By NNN-Bernama,
Kuala Lumpur : The Malaysian Government has approved an intake of 800 priests and musicians from India for Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras, Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) president S. Samy Vellu said.
Of this number, 500 priests and musicians are meant for Hindu temples while the rest were for Sikh gurdwaras.
Last night, Human Resources Minister S. Subramaniam said the Cabinet had decided on allowing and renewing visas and permits for Hindu priests, musicians and artisans from India.
“I thank the government for having given the approval. Had the problem not been resolved, many temples would have had to close,” Samy Vellu told reporters at a meeting with representatives of temple management committees at the MIC headquarters here Thursday.
The former works minister said as there were 26,000 temples in the country, it would have been difficult to train locals to be priests and musicians as the wages were low.
On the Tamil daily, ‘Makkal Osai’ not having its permit renewed by the home ministry, Samy Vellu said he was sorry it happened.