Minang urged to call home

PADANG, West Sumatra: Governor Hasan Basri Durin is appealing to Minangkabau people who live outside the province to help with the development of their home villages.

Hasan said there is now a trend among the Minangkabau people to treat their home province as simply a place to retire to in their old days, the Antara news agency reported.

Their love for their home village can no longer be measured in terms of how often they come home, but more in terms of their contribution to the development of the province, Hasan said during a meeting with local leaders at Koto Gadang Koto Anau.

He said that there are still some 700,000 of the province's 4.2 million population who live in poverty. They are scattered in 600 villages. (emb)