Kuala Lumpur: A Malaysian academic has called for the closure of Tamil and Chinese medium school in the country to strengthen national unity, drawing sharp reaction from largest ethnic Indian political party which said the remarks are against the Federal Constitution. Former education ministry director-general Abdul Rahman Arshad has called for the abolishment of vernacular schools in favour of a single stream school which uses Malay as medium.
"If we still allow such schools, don't ever hope to talk about unity, it will only be lip service," he said on Sunday. Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) president G Palanivel said the schools have been in existence for a long time, even before independence, and it was very sad that people were still questioning their existence.
"We are strongly against it as this is one of the rights under the Federal Constitution, where no person shall be prohibited or prevented from using or from teaching or learning any other language," he told state owned Bernama news agency. Malaysia's 29 million people include 60 per cent Malays, 25 per cent ethnic Chinese and nine per cent ethnic Indians, a majority of whom are Tamils.
Palanivel stressed that the contributions of students to society should be judged by the quality of students, their patriotism and what they give back as contribution to the society....
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11:46 AM, May 14, 2013
Hyderabad: Touted as India's next badminton sensation after Saina Nehwal, young PV Sindhu feels the Chinese shuttlers, who have been dominating the international arena for quite some time now, are not unbeatable. "The Chinese players are really very good. They are top players, but it is not that they are unbeatable. Whoever plays well on a given day, that player wins," Sindhu, who won the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold this...
02:35 PM, May 07, 2013
The Hyderabadi girl won her maiden Grand Prix Gold title beating Singaporean fifth seed Juan Gu in the singles final of the Malaysia Open badminton last week. ...
12:01 PM, May 07, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's governing coalition won a tight national election on Sunday to extend its 56-year rule, fending off an opposition alliance that pledged to clean up politics and end race-based policies in Southeast Asia's third-largest economy. As counting went late into the night, the fractious multiracial opposition proved unable to unseat one of the world's longest-serving governments and pull off what would have been the biggest election upset in...
01:13 AM, May 06, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional took an early lead in Sundays's in the knife-edge election that saw a record 80 per cent polling, with one of the world's longest-serving governments that has been in power for almost six decades, winning 37 of the 49 seats declared so far. Malaysians waited with bated breath as polling closed at 5pm (local time) to find out if the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN),...
10:32 PM, May 05, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: Having clinched her maiden Grand Prix Gold title in Malaysia, India's rising shuttler P V Sindhu expressed her gratitude to the national coach Pullela Gopichand and the Badminton Association of India. Sindhu said that the support and contribution of her coach and the association enabled her to clinch her first Grand Prix Gold title. "This is a dream come true for me. I would like to thank the...
08:39 PM, May 04, 2013
New Delhi: Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Akhilesh Das Gupta congratulated P.V. Sindhu for clinching her maiden Grand Prix Gold title at the $120,000 Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur Saturday. The 17-year-old Sindhu, ranked 13th in the world, lived up to her top billing beating Singaporean Juan Gu in the women's singles final. The Indian shuttler won 21-17, 17-21, 21-19 in one hour and 11 minutes at the Juara...
07:41 PM, May 04, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: India's PV Sindhu lived up to her top billing by winning her maiden Grand Prix Gold title beating Singaporean fifth seed Juan Gu in the women's singles final of the $120,000 Malaysia Open badminton here Saturday. The Hyderabadi World No.13 won 21-17, 17-21, 21-19 in one hour and 11 minutes at the Juara Indoor Stadium to increase her head-to-head to 2-1 against Gu. An excited Sindhu said that...
03:51 PM, May 04, 2013
New Delhi: Top seed PV Sindhu stormed into the final of the women's singles event at the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Sindhu needed just 34 minutes to get the better of her third-seeded opponent, 21-17 21-11 in the semi-final clash. The 17-year-old Indian shuttler, who was in a full flow against the Thai girl,...
07:58 PM, May 03, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: Shuttler Sindhu reached the women's singles semi-finals of the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold here at the Juara Indoor Stadium by winning both her second round and quarter-final matches on Thursday. Sindhu, who reached a career high of World No.13 Thursday, first overcame Ngan Yi Cheung of Hong Kong 11-21, 21-18, 21-10 in 46 minutes after which she beat Indonesian seventh seed Hera Desi 21-17, 21-17 in 37...
07:59 PM, May 02, 2013
New Delhi: Top seed P V Sindhu and R M V Gurusaidutt entered the quarterfinals of the women's and men's singles, respectively, after registering contrasting victories at the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. While Sindhu prevailed over Ngan Yi Cheung of Hong Kong 11-21 21-18 21-10 in a three-game women's singles second round match, Gurusaidutt, seeded 11th, beat Riichi Takeshita 21-19 21-16 in 37...
01:04 PM, May 02, 2013
New Delhi: Top seed PV Sindhu advanced to the second round of the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament after recording a win over Singapore's Chena Jiayuan on a day that saw three Indians qualifying for the pre-quarterfinals of the men's singles event in Kuala Lumpur. Sindhu beat Jiayuan 21-13, 19-21, 21-13 in a match that lasted 47 minutes. Sindhu will meet Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi in the quarter-finals...
08:09 PM, May 01, 2013
New Delhi: It was a mixed day for the Indian shuttlers at the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament as RMV Gurusaidutt, K Srikanth and Sameer Verma won their respective first round matches while the others crashed out of the men's singles event in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. The 11th seeded Gurusaidutt prevailed over Chao Huang of Singapore 21-19, 14-21, 21-17 in a battle that lasted 47 minutes. He would...
05:35 PM, Apr 30, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: Indian shuttler PV Sindhu will be vying for her maiden level three title at the $120,000 Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold where she is seeded no.1 in women's singles. The tournament, which kicks off here at the SUKPA Indoor Stadium on Tuesday, will see the 17-year-old Sindhu take on world no.48 Jiayuan Chen of Singapore in the first round in their first ever encounter. Her first real challenge...
03:12 PM, Apr 29, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian authorities have issued an arrest warrant against an ethnic Indian leader, who is contesting general elections in May, for failing to appear in a court hearing a sedition charge against him. Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P Uthayakumar has been charged under the Sedition Act. He faces three years in jail or a fine if convicted on the charge. Uthayakumar, a candidate for the May 5...
12:50 PM, Apr 29, 2013
New Delhi: World number one Lee Chong Wei faced a stiff challenge but in the end stamped his class to prevail over Kenichi Tago of Japan and claim the men's singles title at India Open Super Series badminton tournament on Sunday. Chong Wei took an hour and three minutes to overcome his world number nine Japanese opponent 21-15 18-21 21-17 in the summit clash at the Siri Fort Sports Complex....
08:16 PM, Apr 28, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: Ahead of general elections in Malaysia, the 950,000-strong ethnic Indian community, mostly Tamils, is being wooed by both the ruling and opposition parties with catchy Tamil songs, pamphlets and online videos. Both sides are vying for the votes of ethnic Indians, which can play a crucial role in as many as 60 of the total 222 parliamentary seats, where the community makes up between 10 per cent to...
01:14 PM, Apr 28, 2013
New Delhi: Rising shuttler PV Sindhu has been given the top billing in the women's singles event at the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold 2013 starting in Kuala Lumpur from April 30. Sindhu, ranked 15th in the world, faces Chen Jiayuan of Singapore in the first round of the tournament to be played at the Supka Indoor Stadium from April 30 to May 4. Sindhu is currently playing in the India...
06:01 PM, Apr 27, 2013
New Delhi: World No.1 shuttler Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia is aiming to reclaim his title at the forthcoming India Open which he won in 2011. The two-time Olympic silver medallist said he is excited about playing the Indian leg of the BWF World Super Series starting here at the Siri Fort Complex from April 23 to 28. "I'm training extra for India Open and hoping to win the tournament....
05:12 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Shanghai: Red Bull principal Christian Horner denied on Friday that Sebastian Vettel had weakened the boss's position at the Formula One champions by ignoring orders in Malaysia last month. "Is my leadership undermined? I don't think so," the Briton told reporters at the Chinese Grand Prix, referring to his team's three successive drivers' and constructors' world championships. "I've led the team from the time that Red Bull entered the sport...
11:40 PM, Apr 12, 2013
