By P. Chandra Sagaran
Kinta Indian Association (KIA), one of the oldest associations in the country, organised a Pongal Festival at its premises here recently.
It is a festival celebrated to thank the Sun, Mother Nature and various farm animals that help to contribute to a bountiful harvest.
Tambun Member of Parliament (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) Special Officer, Datuk R.Suresh Kumar graced the occasion.
A Pongal cooking and kolam drawing contest were also held.
Apart from them songs related to the harvest and dances were also held to entertain the crowd.
Present were KIA members,families and guests.
The association is always associated with footballers and one of them is Datuk M.Karathu who was also present.
He was instrumental in guiding KIA as the first club from the state to reach the FAM Cup final in 1987.
He also coached Perak to the first FA Cup victory in 1990.
Meanwhile Ipoh Barat MP and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) M. Kulasegaran officiated the closing ceremony.
Later association President Datuk R. Thangarajah in an interview said,”we need an additional RM100,000 to complete the renovation work of the association hall.
“We collected RM100,000 and need more funds to purchase furniture and others to be fully operational,”he added.
Currently 80 percent of the work is completed.
Thangarajah asked the VIPs to look into the association’s applications.
According to Thangarajah the hall would be utilised for free tuition classes, cultural activities and heritage displays.
Suresh Kumar and Kulasegaran promised to look into the requests.