MELAKA: State MIC has called on members of the Indian community living outside Melaka to return home to vote in the state election on Nov 14.
Its chairman, Datuk V.P. Shanmugam, said every vote was important in determining the state’s leadership and development direction over the next five years.
He expressed confidence that the Indian community understood the importance of exercising its voting rights and would return to Melaka to cast their ballots.
“As Malaysians, I believe it is our responsibility to make the effort to vote. If we do not turn up, we will be the ones who lose out.
“I believe the Indian community understands how important every vote is under the current circumstances. They will return and vote,” he told reporters at a Deepavali open house at his residence in Batu Berendam here today.
Shanmugam was responding to concerns that some of the 40,000 Indian voters in Melaka might not return to vote after celebrating Deepavali.
“As a leader of the Indian community, I have to call on everyone in the community to vote.
“If we fail to vote, we fail to exercise our rights as citizens to choose our leaders,” he said.
Separately, Shanmugam welcomed the allocation of a special fund for non-Muslim houses of worship under the joint Barisan Nasional-Perikatan Nasional manifesto unveiled last Friday.
He said the proposal was expected to help address maintenance and development needs at religious facilities, including temples and Chinese temples, in the state.
“As far as benefits for the Indian community are concerned, I believe the manifesto presented by the chief minister has introduced something new, namely funding for non-Muslim houses of worship.
“This means the chief minister may include some allocation for temples and Chinese temples in the budget to be announced soon,” he said.
He said assistance for houses of worship had previously also been channelled through allocations provided by the respective elected representatives.
He hoped the dedicated fund would help address the various needs of houses of worship in a more systematic manner.
MIC is fielding one candidate, S. Nadarajah, to defend the Gadek state seat in the Melaka election. The seat was previously held by Shanmugam.