The government has decided to allow temple priests, musicians and sculptors from India to continue rendering their services in the country, according to Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam.

In a statement today, Subramaniam said he raised the issue during the last cabinet meeting on April 9.

dr s subramaniam interview 210308 In view of this, he said the cabinet agreed to "permit/renew" the visas for those in the country to continue with their services for specific categories.

Subramaniam, who is also MIC secretary-general, added that he will hold a meeting with Hindu and Sikh organisations to discuss the categories which had been agreed upon.

He will also meet with Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar and Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Shafie Apdal to discuss the implementation of this decision.

On the same note, Subramaniam said the cabinet wants efforts to be carried out to train the locals in these fields in the long run in order not to depend on those from India.

However, the statement did not mention the status of the ban on bringing in new priests, musicians and sculptors from India.

The head of Malaysia's Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism welcomed the government's decision.

"There are few foreign priests needed in the country so we and the Malaysian Gurdwara Council will be meeting with Subramaniam and the home affairs minister to work out the details," A Vaithilingam told AFP .

"At the moment, we have not received any reports from temples that applications for priests, artisans and musicians have been refused and most applications are being processed," he said.

Revoke ban

samy vellu pc 120308 agitated On Saturday, MIC president S Samy Vellu had urged the government to lift the ban on the recruitment of priests from India for Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras.

He said the temples and gurdwaras urgently required about 500 and 300 priests respectively.

"I am appealing to the government to take into consideration the sensitivity involved as the priests are needed urgently to conduct daily prayers," added the MIC president.

If the matter is left unresolved, Samy Vellu warned that it could spark off "major dissatisfaction among the Hindu and Sikh communities."