KUCHING: The possibility of adding Deepavali as a public holiday in Sarawak, where it is currently not recognised as such, will be discussed.

According to Deputy Prime Minister, Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof, the Sarawak government is aware of this issue.

“One of the requests made just now was to declare Deepavali as a public holiday in Sarawak. I believe the state government is already aware, but I’ll bring this up again,” he said.

He said this while speaking at the Deepavali Dinner event organised by the Indian Association Kuching (IAK) at the IAK Hall on Saturday.

The Petra Jaya MP added that the matter needs to be discussed to address the difficulties faced by the Indian community in the state.

At the event, he also announced a donation of RM20,000 to IAK to support their efforts in organising more beneficial programmes for the Indian community.

“Tonight, I’m providing RM20,000 to the association as a start. From here, we’ll review the report, and if the funds are well used, we may increase the amount in the future,” he explained.

At the same event, Dato Sri Fadillah was also honoured to present the Excellent Service Award to two IAK members, former IAK President Komurasamy Tantoney and Anthony Ramanair, for their outstanding contributions to the association. -UKASnews