Archive for the ‘Indian’ category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Daniel wins Dublin Literary Award for Young Malaysians

May 20th, 2011
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Congrats to Daniel for winning the competition.

 

KUALA LUMPUR: At 16, Daniel Rajasingam Subramanian is already a public speaking veteran. Yesterday, though, the teenager won for writing instead of his oratory skills.

Daniel was named grand prize winner of the eighth Dublin Literary Award for Young Malaysians 2011.

He also bagged a trip to Dublin, Ireland to attend the gala ceremony for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and to visit the city in June.

“I am better at public speaking than writing.I was dumbfounded but felt happy when they announced me as the winner.

Proud moment: Kelly (centre) presenting the mock flight ticket to Daniel during the award presentation ceremony held at Kelly’s residence in Jalan Ampang Hilir, Kuala Lumpur while other contestants look on.

“I know there are a lot of better writers than me in this competition,” said the SMK Sultan Abdul Samad student yesterday.

Daniel recited his story in front of the guests at the prize-giving ceremony at the residence of Ireland’s high commissioner to Malaysia.

He said he tried entering the contest for the past three years but kept missing the deadlines.

His story on Malaysian youth was a descriptive essay in narrative form.

The protagonist of the story Daniel relates the collision of the conventional and traditional culture of his parents and modern living where everything is fast paced.

At the beginning of the story, Daniel wakes up to the sound of the Muslim call to prayer followed by church bells signalling that the time for him to go to school is ever closer.

Then he relates his life at school through music by forming a band with his schoolmates where his band merges traditional sounds with modern music.

Daniel described the symphonies of sounds in his story as “the soundtrack of my country”.

Ireland’s high commissioner to Malaysia Declan Kelly said it was difficult to determine the winner as the finalists wrote great stories.

The overall winner in the junior category was Eibhlin Lin San Ying, 15, a SMK Convent Klang student.

The competition was organised by the High Commission and supported by the Education Ministry and the National Library of Malaysia.

The Star was the official media partner. Others which supported the event included Etihad Airways and Education Ireland.

 

source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/20/nation/8722665&sec=nation

 

Comments Off on Daniel wins Dublin Literary Award for Young Malaysians »

Posted in Indian

Tags:

KIMMA presidents elected Dewan Negara senator

May 17th, 2011
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


KIMMA has been rewarded after 35 years.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — Datuk Syed Ibrahim Kader, president of the Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma), a Barisan Nasional (BN) ally, has been appointed a senator in the Dewan Negara.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Syed Ibrahim, 57, received his appointment letter a week ago and will be sworn in as a senator soon.

“I was told Syed Ibrahim (picture) has received his appointment letter last Thursday and his swearing in will be informed later,” said a source.

The source added that Syed Ibrahim had accepted the appointment with “an open heart”.

“I also understand that he does not want this to be revealed,” said the source, when contacted.

When contacted by The Malaysian Insider yesterday, Syed Ibrahim refused to field questions and urged the media to wait for his swearing-in ceremony.

According to the source, Syed Ibrahim will only hold a press conference upon accepting the appointment.

This is the first time a Kimma representative has been appointed a senator since its inception in 1976.

Late last year, Syed Ibrahim appealed to the government to elect a senator from among Kimma’s party members to represent the Indian Muslims in the country.

The leader said this was because the party had no avenue to voice its views, particularly about the Indian Muslims, to the government.

Syed Ibrahim also said Kimma will appeal to the government to allow an Indian Muslim on state executive councils and local councils to ensure the people’s grouses are heard.

source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/kimma-president-elected-senator/

Comments Off on KIMMA presidents elected Dewan Negara senator »

Posted in BornInMalaysia, Indian

Tags:

Shrine demolition protest at Kg Baru Air Panas flats

May 12th, 2011
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Not sure if there are other temples within close vicinity of the area. If have, can consider relocate the shrine to the nearby location (for me nearby means <1km).

How about the request for wedding hall and area for funeral services? Since its a low cost flat area, I don’t think got land for this kind of facilities, since this area was developed sometime ago.

 

If not, then someone has to answer why one community was left out in the planning. Is it due to the rules/guidelines about number of residents needed to allocate land for place of worship?

 

The Human Rights Party (HRP) and Indian residents of Kampong Baru Air Panas, Setapak today threatened to hold a mass protest if DBKL continues with plans to demolish two shrines at the low-cost flats.

NONEHRP pro tem central executive committee member S Thiagarajan (centre in picture) said the demolishment order is unjust as the roughly 1,000 Hindu families living in the area were not given a proper place to set up a temple.

In a memorandum handed over to DBKL, the protestors said the government had built a mosque and a Chinese temple in or near the low-cost flats area but appeared to have neglected to provide the same for the spiritual needs of the Indians.

With no place to set up their temple, HRP and the residents argued that they had no choice but to build their shrines between blocks G and H of the low-cost flats.

Despite this, eight DBKL enforcement officers came to demolish their temple last Monday, following up on two demolishment notices dated May 2, 2011 and Dec 2, 2009.

HRP and the residents argued that the order to tear down the shrines violates Article 11 of the federal constitution, which allows citizens the right to profess and practice their religion of choice.

They added that the Hindus in the area have not been given equal treatment as demanded for under Article 8 of the same constitution, where land was set aside for a mosque and Chinese temple but nothing was set aside for the Hindus living in Air Panas.

The protestors demanded that both demolishment orders be revoked, and that at least one acre of land be allocated as a Hindu temple reserve for the existing Hindu shrines so it can be expanded to include a wedding hall and space for funeral services.

The memorandum was received by Asnan Zain, a special officer to DBKL mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail, at their office today. Thiagarajan claimed that Asnan gave his “personal assurance” that no action will be taken until DBKL completes a review of the memorandum.

Thiagarajan, who accompanied some 30 Air Panas residents at the minor protest, later said that he will follow up on the issue two weeks from now, adding that DBKL have one month to come up with a decision.

“The message we want to give is don’t bully Indians. Just because we are dark, just because we are powerless, does not mean you can bully Indians. If DBKL does not consider our demands, we will hold a big demonstration in front of their office,” he said.

source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/163934

2 comments »

Posted in BornInMalaysia, Indian, Religion

Tags:

SJKT Ladang Vallambrosa’s unusable field

May 6th, 2011
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


A problem indeed. Need money, but not sure if can get budget. Maybe some company can do a CSR and build the perimeter wall for the field.

I’ve been to the place and the field is quite bad. Plenty of stones around. Not suitable for games.

SJK(T) Ladang Vallambrosa in Kapar has a large field, but it is of no use to the 637 pupils because of its terrible condition.

If trying to avoid rocks and stones was not perilous enough for the primary school pupils, they also have to dodge cow dung and dog poo when they use the field.

One of the reasons why the field is in such bad shape is because it is not fenced up, unlike other parts of the school.

Herds of cattle from a nearby estate wander into the field in the mornings and afternoons to graze, leaving little grass but plenty of manure behind.

The school parent-teacher association (PTA) is appealing for about RM350,0000 in funds from the Government, politicians, organisations and individuals to help improve the facilities.

Their priority is to build a perimeter wall around the 70-year-old school to keep animals and thieves out.

Thieves have cut the fence of the school to steal copper pipes from the air-conditioner compressors as well as wire from the lightning arrester, PTA chairman A. Balasubramaniam said.

“We want another guard house to be built at the back of the school to improve security,” he added.

Balasubramaniam said the school also needed a tarred road to its new building as well as a covered walkway to shelter teachers and students from the rain.

“There is also a need for a proper car park, as teachers now have to leave their cars by the side of the road outside the school,” he said.

source:  http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/2/nation/8591952&sec=nation

 

 

Comments Off on SJKT Ladang Vallambrosa’s unusable field »

Posted in Indian, Tamil-Schools

Tags:

MIC’s Vetri Padigal Seminar

April 8th, 2011
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


I attended the MIC’s Vetri Padigal Seminar at UM on Sunday afternoon, bringing my niece there. The event started at around 2.30pm, after the MIC President arrived. There were about 800 to 1000 students/parents, and the rest were MIC people and expo people. Yes, there were few counters which promoted various colleges, loans etc.

There were few speeches (SK Devamany, Palanivel, Prakash Rao). MIC President Palanivel said that they will talk to government to get scholarships/help for those in the 7 and 8As category as well, while Deputy Minister Devamany highlighted key industries with revenues more than RM10 billion for the coming years.  This was followed by appreciation of the top achievers in SPM (8As and above). The top student in Selangor was a boy from Taman Sentosa Klang who obtained 12A+. I’m sure he will be one of the top 30 students who will be given Biasiswa Nasional by PM. Also

The first briefing was by Mahaganapathydass on study paths and JPA scholarship application.

This was followed by briefing by Sree Ganesh on skills based training. However, most of the crowd had left by the time second briefing started. They headed to the counters at the side which provided counselling for students on applying to IPTA, applying JPA scholarship etc.

MIC also came out with a seminar book that lists the available paths after SPM and requirements for various courses/level of study.  The book is quite useful as it lists the available courses in IPTA and entry requirements. The Vetri Padigal seminar will also be held in other locations throughout the country.

My take on the seminar: I think the participants should have been separated into categories based on their results. Would have been more focused and audience need not waste time listening to section of the talk that they are not interested in.

 

Note: I hope the organisers will cut down the “self-promotion” part and just focus on the core issue. Boring la listening to “singam onu porapattathu” song.

2 comments »

Posted in I Was Here, Indian

Tags: