Find ways to increase population, Indians urged in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR - Religious and welfare organisations must come together to find ways to increase the Indian population in Malaysia, a community leader has said, expressing concern at the dwindling numbers.

Daily newspaper Tamil Nesan quoted K. Kumaran, former chief of Perak state of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), as saying that the government could reduce fund allocation if the population decreases.

The government had previously set aside 10 percent allocation for the Indian community but due to the decrease in its population, the allocation has been reduced to eight percent, Kumaran told reporters after attending the annual celebrations of the Sri Maha Kaliamman Om Sakthi temple in Buntong Dua, Ipoh state.

He feared that fewer people would be attending temple functions in the future if the current situation persisted.

The government would only consider the community’s requests favourably if there was an increase in its population.

Multi-ethnic Malaysia is home to an estimated 1.7 million ethnic Indians, a bulk of them Tamils who settled here during the British era. The number has come down in the last five decades.

Indians constitute a little less than eight percent of the 28 million population that has majority Malays, followed by ethnic Chinese.