Nod for 2 Tamil subjects in SPM

KLANG- PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced yesterday that secondary school students could now take two Tamil subjects in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, resolving the long-standing request by the Indian community.

These are among the initiatives taken by the ruling coalition to meet the Indian community's requests, in addition to other socio-economic efforts which are being carried out to alleviate the burden faced by the community.

Speaking to a 50,000-strong crowd at a meet-the-people gathering themed "Pilihan Rakyat" (People's Choice), organised by MIC, he said there should be no problems if students wanted to add Tamil language and Tamil Literature for their SPM from now on.

"They can now take a maximum 12 subjects, including Tamil language and Tamil Literature. No problem with that," he said, to thunderous applause from the audience.

He also emphasised the ruling coalition's priority on job opportunities and also places of worship, which he said the Parti Keadilan Rakyat-led Selangor government had failed to deliver.

"Since the last election in 2008, we haven't demolished any temple. Instead, we have given numerous allocations for countless temples and Indian associations.

"Compared with the opposition, in Selangor, they have demolished seven places of worship, including a private temple in Sepang.

"Why would they do such a thing? Don't the Indians have the right to pray at their own place?

"If BN takes over, we will never do that."

Najib noted a huge achievement by the Federal Government where it had resolved close to 7,000 cases of stateless Indians in the country.

"We have given allocations, such as giving out loans to Indian entrepreneurs. About RM58 million has been distributed to small and medium enterprises."

He added that judging from the many initiatives, the Indian community should throw its support behind the ruling coalition in the coming election so it would continue to implement transformation for the country.

"We learnt a bitter lesson in the 2008 election. I know that the voters did not want the opposition to win (in the last election).

"They only wanted to send us a message that BN has to change, and that is what we did.

"For the past four years, we have been bringing changes after changes, programmes after programmes, allocations after allocations to help the Indian community. And we know the people want us to do more."

This, he said, was proof that BN's promises to the people had been fulfilled, unlike the opposition's unkept promises which he described as "Janji tinggal janji" .

"Look at their (recently launched) election manifesto. Those are not promises. If there's no promise, what's the value? There's no value at all," he said to loud cheers from the crowd.

Najib also said the "mood" within the BN camp was encouraging, as it had received overwhelming response at their gatherings, indicating the people's strong support for the ruling coalition.

"I was in Kelantan recently, and its 'Gelombang Merah' was so strong and we have a good chance to end Pas' administration in the state."

Not only would the show of support be an indicator of victory, Najib said that it would translate to the support given to him as prime minister.

"This will be the first time I will be contesting to get the mandate from the people as prime minister and the first time I will need your full support so that I can continue my work as prime minister because we have big plans in store."

He said government's transformation agenda would be crushed if no support was given.

"Moreover, the opposition's manifesto did not mention anything specifically about the Indian community.

"They tried to fool the people. But this time, we are confident that the Indian community will be with us. Tomorrow will be ours and tomorrow BN will shine and will go forward with the support from the Indian community."

Earlier, Najib announced that he was adding another RM10,000 to MIC's RM90,000 in funds which were collected by the party for the fallen heroes in Sabah.

- New Straits Times