LONG WEEKEND: Temple set for larger crowd at this year's Thaipusam
BATU CAVES: More than 1.6 million visitors are expected to celebrate the annual Thaipusam festival at Batu Caves Temple this Sunday.
Temple committee chairman Datuk R. Nadarajah said the crowd would be bigger this year as the festival fell on a long weekend.
He said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Muhyiddin Yassin was expected to grace the event for the first time. "All the preparations are almost complete and we are looking forward to this Sunday," Nadarajah said yesterday.
He added that 400 stalls would be set up on the temple grounds this year, more than double the usual number. The fun-fair held on the temple grounds every Thaipusam would also be back as it was part of the festival as well as a popular attraction at the iconic tourist hotspot for more than 40 years, he said.
Gombak OCPD Assistant Commissioner Abdul Rahim Abdullah said police were geared up for the festival and would have more than 1,300 officers on duty during the whole event. "We are more than prepared for this year's festival.
"We have set up the Special Indian Task Force for this year's Thaipusam. "Some of them would be in plain clothes to keep watch on the situation."
Rahim said there would be five mobile police stations in the vicinity of the temple as well as Federal Reserve Unit officers, K9 unit, traffic police, RELA members and Malaysian Red Crescent Society in case of emergencies.
He urged those who wanted to visit the temple to use public transportation to get there and plan their journey accordingly.
-nst online.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.