Penang Hindu Endowment Board to announce donations collected on Thaipusam

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB) will announce tomorrow, how much donations (undial) were collected during the three-day Thaipusam celebrations beginning Feb 8.

Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy said a press conference to announce the final tally.

Some 50 volunteers, under guard by a private security firm, began the counting process on Saturday morning at Komtar.

The process was streamed live over Facebook and the counting was completed in the evening of the same day.

The donations were collected in 41 coffers with 29 coffers containing donations collected at the Hilltop Murugan Temple and 12 coffers containing donations collected from the Golden Chariot procession.

In a Facebook post, Ramasamy said the collections will be used to provide education assistance to students from poor families.

"By doing this, we hope to reduce the financial burden of these families," he said and urged others to follow the PHEB in public disclosure of collected donations.

The Registered Trustees Nattukottai Chettiar Temples, Penang, which operates the Silver Chariot, meanwhile received a total of RM152,744.80 during the procession.

In a statement, the Trust said the sum was certified by an external auditor and donations received during the procession were held by a private licensed security company and were assisted by the police.

"As statutorily required, the Trust shall submit, as in the past its accounts to the relevant authorities," the statement said.

The statement also listed four NGOs which the trust has donated to, namely SJK(T) Sungai Bakap PIBG (RM10,000), Pertubuhan Vallalar Helping Hand (RM5,000), Penang Shan Children's Home Association (RM5,000) and the Dhyana Ashram (RM5,000).

"These donations were given in the presence of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Health Minister Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam on Thaipusam Day," the statement said.