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Star
Wednesday January 15, 2014 MYT 7:20:57 AM
MIC hosts lively Ponggal celebration in Little India
Authentic experience: Three tourists stirring a pot with a festival volunteer in Little India.
KUALA LUMPUR: The aroma of milk being boiled in pots wafted over Little India, Brickfields, as the area hosted a lively Ponggal festival organised by the MIC.
Ponggal is the festival celebrated by Tamils at the end of the harvest season. It is widely embraced by Malaysian Tamils as well, who came dressed in traditional costumes to celebrate at a public Ponggol event that featured the cooking of 20 pots of ponggal, a sweet dish made from milk, rice, nuts and raisins.
MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel attended the event yesterday, accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Kanagam Palanivel. Also there were Wanita MIC chief Mohana Muniandy and MIC Youth chief Sivarraajh Chandran, among others.
Palanivel launched the event by pouring milk into a large clay pot, dubbed the Perdana Pot, and the sweet dish was later served to attendees and passers-by.
He wished all Malaysian Tamils a blessed Ponggol and appealed to all devotees coming for Thaipusam on Friday to adhere to religious guidelines
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Star
Tuesday January 14, 2014 MYT 11:44:35 AM
Celebrate Ponggal online today
Members from Butterworth Tamil Cultural Arts Association boiling rice, salt, milk, raisins, brown sugar and various nuts in a clay pot at the state-level Ponggal celebration. – filepic
PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Tamils who are unable to visit a temple for the Ponggal celebration can now watch the proceedings online, thanks to live streaming by Tamil online portal Vanakkam Malaysia.
The portal will be streaming live the Ponggal celebration from the prestigious Kortumalai Vinayagar Temple in Jalan Pudu Lama, Kuala Lumpur, from 4pm today.
Vanakkam Malaysia executive director Thiaga Rajan Muthusamy said this would be the first time a Ponggal celebration would be streamed live.
The portal will also be streaming live tomorrow’s chariot procession for Thaipusam, which will begin at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Jalan Bandar at 10pm, as well as the goings on at Batu Caves from 4pm on Thursday until late Friday.
To follow the live streaming, log on to http://vmpru13.com/.
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Published on Jul 16, 2013
More than 1,000 Indian shops nationwide shut their doors for a day in protest of the inaction against their illegal foreign competitors.
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Little India traders close shops to protest global carnival
Indian shopping areas across Malaysia, popularly called Little India wore a deserted look as some 1,000 Indian shops remained shut today to protest against an upcoming shopping carnival.
The traders are protesting over the upcoming Penang Global Indian Festival 2013 being organised by a city-based events management company, holding fly-by-night foreign traders there responsible for their economic woes.
Malaysian Indian Textiles and General Stores Association (Mita), secretary R Maheswary said the protest was held to send a strong statement to the authorities to clamp down on the foreign traders.
Besides grocery stores, textile shops, goldsmiths, newspaper vendors, restaurants, vegetable sellers and florists also pulled down their shutters.
“All Indian traders in textile, silver, brass, handicrafts, jewellery, herbs and spices have been badly affected by the illegal foreign operations conducted at carnivals.
“Some small shops have been forced to close and the bigger ones are on the verge of bankruptcy,” she claimed.
Maheswary said this had been happening for the past five years and revenue had gone down by half.
“During Diwali last year, (traders in) Brickfields suburb in Kuala Lumpur lost 70 per cent of their business due to an exposition,” she said.
She said the expos and carnivals were organised by event management companies and initially meant for foreign traders to exhibit their goods to local traders.
The foreign traders later brought in other items sold by Malaysians and sold them at lower prices, claimed Maheswary.
Little India traders close shops to protest global carnival | Business …
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NST
6 July 2013| last updated at 11:01AM
Protest by Indian businesses in Ipoh’s Little India
IPOH: More than 100 Indian business proprietors in Little India here shut down their businesses today to protest against foreigners whose activities they claimed had affected their business.
The New Straits Times was made to understand that the protest here is being carried out in tandem with similar protests nationwide in Klang, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and other states.
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The protest by the Little India businessmen this morning also included Indian eateries. Main streets, namely Jalan Lahat, Jalan Silang, Jalan Bandar Timah and Jalan Sultan Yussof, where these businesses are
located were quieter than usual.
A banner, pinned along Jalan Lahat at the centre of the Little India sector, informs the public that all businesses is shut down today to mark a protest.
It however does not mention the reason for or purpose of the protest.
As of this morning, it still remains unclear who are the main organisers of the protest today in Ipoh.
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Sundaily
Nationwide ‘Little India’ protest against foreign carnival
GEORGE TOWN (July 16, 2013): The busy streets of Little India were quiet today as some 140 traders shut down in protest against an international shopping carnival.
Traders, including textile merchants, jewellers and restaurant owners, closed their business as over 200 of them protested in the streets over the Penang Global Indian Festival 2013 to be held at the Subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Centre from Aug 7 to Aug 11.
Penang Malaysian Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry president N. Vasantharajan, who represented the group, said traders brought from India by an Kuala Lumpur event management company will threaten the livelihood of local traders.
“They will sell cheap goods and this will affect us,” he said. “If you compromise on price, you also compromise on quality.”
Vasantharajan alleged that the event management company could earn up to RM1.5 million.
Although most of the traders closed their shops, four grocery shops opened for business at noon
Nationwide ‘Little India‘ protest against foreign carnival | theSundaily
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Star
Wednesday July 17, 2013 MYT 9:00:37 AM
Community makes a stand in spite of losses
PETALING JAYA: More than 1,000 Indian shops nationwide shut their doors for a day in protest over the Global Indian Festival (GIF) which gives foreign traders an avenue to sell their goods directly to shoppers.
The protest, led by the Malaysian Indian Textiles and General Stores Association (Mita), cost the Indian business community an estimated RM20mil in loss of income but Mita secretary R. Maheswary said the community was willing to take the hit to send a strong statement to the Government.
Besides textile stores, goldsmiths, newspaper vendors, restaurants, vegetable sellers and flower shops in George Town, Brickfields, Lebuh Ampang, Klang and Sungai Petani also pulled down their shutters yesterday.
Klang’s Little India, situated on and around Jalan Tengku Kelana, was literally a ghost town as some 280 shops stayed shut.
Maheswary said the protest also extended to Johor Baru, Malacca and Ipoh.
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Star
Wednesday July 17, 2013 MYT 12:16:31 PM
Little India devoid of usual hustle and bustle
Little India in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur was quite an unusual sight yesterday as it was devoid of the usual hustle and bustle as more than 100 shops along Jalan Tun Sambanthan closed for the day in protest against illegal foreign traders whom local Indian traders here claim are affecting their business.
The traders’ move was also to protest against the participation of foreigners in Indian shopping carnivals and trade fairs in the country organised by a Kuala Lumpur-based events management company.
Little India devoid of usual hustle and bustle
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Star
Wednesday July 17, 2013 MYT 4:42:18 PM
Bustle dies down as traders close shop in protest against shopping festival
Traders in Little India Penang join their counterparts in similar bazaars nationwide in a protest against a shopping festival that they claim is threatening their businesses.
SHOPPER R. Aiswarriya visited Penang’s Little India to buy a new thali (matrimonial) gold chain but was unable to do so as her favourite goldsmith shop was closed.
Bustle dies down as traders close shop in protest against shopping festival
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