India Seeks To Enhance Ties With Malaysia In Health, Education

By Azzah Mohamad Som KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 (Bernama) -- India is looking at strengthening ties with Malaysia in education and health, where it feels there is considerable potential and the need for greater cooperation. Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia T.S. Tirumurti said one aspect under the education sector which both countries were currently pursuing was the plan to recruit teachers from India to teach the English language in Malaysia. "We are discussing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) draft. Earlier, we didn't have anything to discuss. Now, just one round has finished, but I'm hoping that this will be taken forward," he told Bernama in an interview in conjunction with India's 68th Independence Day Friday. The idea to take in teachers from India was mooted following the visits of Prime Minister Najib Razak to India in January 2010 and former Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Malaysia in October of the same year. With regard to Malaysian students in India, Tirumurti (left) said more than 1,500 Malaysian students went to India every year, and most of them took up medicine. Although medicine was popular with Malaysian students, they could also look at other courses, like engineering, offered by the universities in India, the envoy said. Tirumurti also said that he would like to see further improvement in bilateral relations in the health sector, and added that there was a lot that both countries could achieve together in terms of "health tourism". He said India was renowned for its hospitals, high quality treatment and specialists, which cost less than what the West could offer. The two countries could also work together in the area of Indian traditional medicine known as 'Ayurveda', 'Siddha' and 'Puncturekarma', he added. The envoy said that though there was nothing new when it came to traditional medicine, as even the Malays and Chinese were practising it, "it is a different way of medicine". He said the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital, for example, had a separate department for traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) where India has donated the "Shirodhara machine". According to the envoy, the machine has been very effective. Shirodhara is a form of Ayurveda therapy that involves gently pouring liquids over the forehead to treat a variety of sickness, including high blood pressure. "We also have a full-fledged (Indian) Ayurvedic doctor attached to the Port Dickson Hospital (in Negeri Sembilan state) and also two more therapists working with him. As such, we have three people there from India's National Institute of Ayurveda," he said. As for tourism, Tirumurti said he hoped that the upward trend would continue this year, pointing out that 650,000 Indian tourists came to Malaysia last year. He said the MH370 and MH17 tragedies had not stopped Indian tourists from coming to Malaysia. Asked about Malaysia's concept of moderation or 'wasatiyyah' mooted by Najib, he said that India subscribed to it completely. "Our ethos of Indian thought are the Middle Way and the Middle Path (Buddhism), so we completely agree that moderation is absolutely essential for any country," he said. However, he felt that there was some lack of clarity on what the concept meant to other countries. "How you look at it is a different thing altogether. Is it political, spiritual or religious moderation? Countries like India can easily accept it, but some other countries may not understand what it means," he said. (photoBERNAMA)