Najib: Only BN can take minority groups to higher level

Najib at the Telugu New Year open house at Dataran Merdeka

KUALA LUMPUR: Only the Barisan Nasional government is capable of taking all ethnic groups, including the minority, to a higher level by providing the platforms that suit their requirements, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

The Prime Minister said through government assistance, the lives of all strata of society had improved especially in terms of their socio-economy to the extent that the minority group had received due recognition and respect, including the Telugu ethnic group.

"The opposition can say all kinds of things but only the BN-led government can change the wellbeing of the Telugu ethnic group and the Indian community generally.

"Continue to give your trust to the government, then we will continue to bring the whole Indian community to a higher level, we will continue this endeavour," he said in his speech at the Ugadi (Telegu New Year) open house at Dataran Merdeka.

The Telugu community is the second largest Indian ethnic group in the country after the Tamil community. There are about 300,000 ethnic Telugus in Malaysia who were originally from Andhra Pradesh, India.

The celebration was organised by the Telugu Association of Malaysia (TAM) and attended by about 5,000 members of the community.

Najib said the Ugadi celebration demonstrated the appropriate recognition given by the government for every culture practised by any ethnic group in the country.

In a related development, Najib said the government would give its full support for the activities of the Telegu ethnic group including financial support in expanding the Telugu Academy which was founded in 2010.

Previously, he said, the government had contributed RM3mil for the benefit of 3,500 Telugu students in mastering the Telugu dialect, which is their mother tongue, and studying the culture.

A new building for the Telugu Academy would be built in Hulu Selangor which was scheduled for full completion next year. - Bernama