KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, December 10, 2008: Malaysia’s Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam, who is an ethnic Indian, said the government is prepared to arrange the training of ethnic Indian youths to become temple priests needed to conduct various ceremonies. Temple priests have traditionally come from India, but visa and job restrictions have resulted in shortages.
Subramaniam said many temples were facing a shortage of priests to conduct daily prayers and were now seeking to recruit more priests from India. The community generally has trouble recruiting Malaysian youth as they are required to stay vegetarian and be ready to work for US$175 per month, which is considered a low salary.