Ipoh, Malaysia: A decades-old Tamil school near here will not be closed down to respect the sentiments of the ethnic Indians who had planned protests to preserve their heritage.

Following an intervention by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Perak state's chief minister Zambry Abdul Kadir ordered the education ministry not to take over the plot of land where the school stands.

The Indian community in Simpang Empat (now renamed Sitiawan), a small town in Perak, had bought the land in 1910 and handed it over to an association which also managed the school.

The school came up before Malaysia became independent in 1957, the New Straits Times said on Friday.

Kadir said the authorities would not touch the property the Indians saw as a part of their heritage, the report said.

Tamil schools in Malaysia, run mostly privately but with government aid, form the backbone of education for the Tamil community.

Multi-ethnic Malaysia is home to 1.7 million ethnic Indians, a bulk of whom are Tamils who settled during the British era. IANS