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...