Kedah declares Thaipusam a day off for the first time

SUNGAI PETANI: The Kedah government has declared Thaipusam a special holiday to allow some 300,000 Hindus to celebrate the festival.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Ma­­hathir said Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, who is also the Sultan of Kedah, had consented that Thaipusam, which falls on Friday, be declared a special holiday.