GEORGE TOWN, Oct 16 ― DAP’s Lim Guan Eng told Putrajaya today to approve the construction of a Tamil secondary school in Penang and to set up Hindu Endowment Boards in all states to prove that its Malaysian Indian Blueprint (MIB) was not an election gimmick.

Lim said the Penang state government was willing to provide land for a Tamil secondary school if the federal government approved one to be built.

"There is no reason why the Education Ministry refuses to permit a secondary Tamil school even though there are secondary schools that uses Arabic, English or Mandarin as a medium of instruction,” he pointed out in his Deepavali message released today.

The Penang chief minister said Putrajaya need only spend on building the school as land will be offered free by the Penang state government.

He said Indians can only be empowered when a Tamil secondary school is built and when Tamil primary schools are well-maintained.

Lim said the federal government must also ensure that blue identity cards can be issued to stateless Indians and that Indian university students are given good courses.

"What is the point of talking about MIB if Indians cannot get ICs?” he asked.

Lim used the success of the Penang Hindu Endowment Board in managing and improving Hindu temples in Penang as an example of why similar endowment boards should be set up in other states.

"Further, the success of the Hindu Endowment Board in Penang in taking care of the management and physical improvement of Hindu temples in Penang should be emulated in every state throughout Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.

On Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's announcement of an additional 700 places to be made available for Indian students in public institutions of higher learning, Lim said it will only be a Diwali gift if these places include "good courses like medicine, engineering accountancy, law and dentistry”.