KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) president Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman today urged Putrajaya to extend the Deepavali holiday by a day.

Syed Saddiq said many university students had brought up the matter to him.

"Many asked me why Deepavali holiday is only one day? Why Hari Raya and Chinese New Year have two days?

"Mostly are university students who complain, Monday is a holiday and the next day they have to go back to class,” Syed Saddiq posted on his Facebook page.

The Deepavali public holiday falls on October 24 this year, which is a Monday, to which the incumbent Muar MP said one day is not enough.

"I suggest to the Keluarga Malaysia government to extend the Deepavali holiday. Pity them. Even when they want to celebrate Deepavali they need to rush back to university,” he added.

In his Facebook post, Syed Saddiq attached a screen capture of a private message sent to him from a student in a local higher education institution citing disappointment among Indian students over the one-day Deepavali public holiday.

In the message the student asked Syed Saddiq to highlight the matter to the relevant parties so that some changes could be made to enable students to celebrate the festive season with their families.

Syed Saddiq however is not the first lawmaker to have pointed out this issue.

In 2013, then MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel said he would propose to the Datuk Seri Najib Razak administration to set aside two days of public holiday for the Deepavali celebrations.