Zahid pledges help for Telugu Academy that is being set up

At the annual Telugu New Year celebration in Kuala Lumpur today, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi voiced his support for preservation of the community's culture through education.

"It is not that we want to compartmentalise the people (but) we have to appreciate the mother tounge of each ethnic group," Zahid told the thousands of Telugus, an Indian sub-ethnic group, gathered at Dataran Merdeka for the Telugu Association of Malaysia's (TAM) Ugadi Carnival 2017.

Among others, Zahid responded to a request from TAM president Achaiah Kumar Rao for further financial assistance to complete construction of its Telugu Academy in Selangor.

"I assure that I will 'whisper' to the prime minister to ensure it will be 100 percent completed. If there is no money for furniture, let me know.

"Money is no problem. Sky is the limit because I have Ku Nan to finance it," he quipped, in reference to Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who was also present at the event.

Importance of teaching mother tongue

In his speech, Zahid also stressed on the importance of teaching the mother tongue at primary school level.

"That is why, when I was still only the MP of Bagan Datoh, I had fought for the Telugu language to be taught in primary schools," he said.

In the current context, Zahid said, the celebration today was a manifestation of Malaysia's multi-ethnic background, and he called on all present to reject the extremism of any religion.

Earlier, Achaiah said the Telugu Academy is now only 75 percent completed, after seven years of construction, and was behind schedule due to the lack of funds.

"We have politicians calling up for help from the federal government.

"(But) I ask the deputy prime minister to put in a good word to the PM to help us out," said Achaiah, who described Zahid as being "the father of Telugu" in Malaysia for his contributions to the community.

He also said there are currently some 350,000 Telugus in Malaysia and TAM is confident of its ability to translate the number into support for the ruling government.

It was reported that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had attended one of TAM's events in 2011 and provided financial aid to the tune of RM3 million to set up the Telugu Academy.- Mkini