Freedom of Religion in Malaysia a Fallacy Part 2

Malaysia Truly Asia... My Ass!

With reference to Lim Kit Siang's Blog to the article "Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Puchong - why from freehold to 60 yrs lease?". This is an outrage. To see the outrage expressed by Malaysians of different faiths, please refer to the link above.

This isn't the first time this is being done to the Non-Muslim citizens of our "great" nation. You can refer to a previous article that we published on this site with regards to the "Goddess of the Sea". Actually apart from these two recent incidences, there have been others that have gone unpublished. There is a reason for that. One, the media can be biased and this may seem like stirring up racial sentiment. Two, the people affected, being compassionate buddhists/hindus and good Christians, just keep silent and not do anything, for fear of being arrested for sedition or because they don't see the extent of what these precedences mean for our young and the future of Non-Muslims. In summary, they are too Chicken Shit to do something about it.

If we were part of the Malay Muslim community, there will be riots led by people like Khairi as he has clearly shown what he is capable of in the past year, rallying against US Govt Officials. While people like Minister in the PMs department Nazri, tell the rest of us not to aggrevate the Malay community (or else...).

So, what do we do? Be good Christians and turn the other cheek, or perhaps be compassionate Buddhists and meditate on it?

There comes a time when a response is required, one that puts the government in check.

Here is what R had to say:

Even as the PM was talking overseas telling about love and peace and harmony in our multireligious country, there are many fundamentalists trying to derail his statements and prove him wrong.

I am a Catholic. I was informed that our new Church in Puchong, Our Lady of Guadalupe, suddenly faced a “crisis”. This church is in Selangor and you must remember what happened to our application for a church in Shah Alam over 20 years ago. Whether the Selangor govt or just the over-zealous local authorities are behind that problem, I don’t know. But now, it’s happening directly aimed at our church in Puchong.

This Church was actually an old chapel which was asked to relocate owing to housing development and the developers promised to give back a piece of land to rebuild a church. For many years we have been operating from temporary buildings including shifting from shophouse to shophouse. Finally a Church was built on a funny V-shaped piece of land in front of some shophouses just before an industrial area. It looked like remnant, left-over vacant land but beggars can’t be choosers?

The land in the whole area including the land over which the Church is built is freehold land. Now, suddenly out of the blue, we are told that the land on which the Church is built is alienated to a 60 years leasehold whilst the surrounding area is still freehold! Is this not discriminatory?

R has sent a follow-up email:

I just checked with someone. It’s getting complicated here. When SP Setia took over the chapel land (near Tesco Puchong), they promised to give back freehold land. When they finally gave the land for the Church to be built, they said that it was freehold land. Either SP Setia “pulled” a fast one over the first committee who were mostly very trusting estate people or the State government took the opportunity to alter the status.

In the recent May 15, 2007 copy of the “Reach Out” magazine issued free to residents of Puchong by IOI Properties, there is a write-up about the Selangor State Exco, YB Tang See Hang, presenting the approved land title documents to the parish priest.

The tenure of the land was stated as 60 years when all the while the Church was under the impression that the land is freehold. At which stage did the status of the land turn from freehold to leasehold?

By the way the surrounding area is freehold. Right in front of the church is a fenced up freehold land which is earmarked for our community building. Recently we had some banners regarding our activities draped on the fence of this place. MPSJ staff in a MPSJ lorry came in the evening and took away those banners. Why?

- end quote -

All this talk about freedom of religion and Malaysia being a model for the world in terms of multireligious and multi ethnic society living in peace and harmony is a whitewash. Frankly, it's only because the minority races are the tolerant ones. It is the minority races and religions of Malaysia that ALWAYS turn the other cheek. They don't riot or make such matters into big political issues. However, try to shut down one mosque and see what happens, not even that, just talk about it and see the harsh and violent backlash from our Malay Muslim friends.

People, you have a choice. You can make your dissatisfaction known to the government by voting the other way. Many of us were raised to be Barisan supporters, however, times has changed the people in government and they have become more fanatical than before. UMNO increasingly is becoming arrogant and very much like PAS with such policies, MCA is ball-less and clue-less, while MIC is led by Samy, who will lead for another 20 years - we all know what that means.

Barisan was good to us in the days of old. But these days, the Malay Ultras are fast becoming no different from their competition in PAS. It's time for a change, or at least to balance the power in parliament. As of a few weeks ago, it seemed that Nazri owns the place, using inappropriate language and name calling - shame shame Nazri.

Here are some quotes:

"And where is the source of money used to build mosque? - Gambling tax, sales of alcohol tax, ……well it is not Haram business activities?… But it seems to be alright to build the mosques from Haram source of money…..
If they really care about haram or halal, it it holier to built the mosques from their own worshippers’ donation.:

"In PJ,within less than a square kilometre ,there are at least 10 mosques big and small.Can you imagine that?"

"Churches, buddist and hindu temples get built only through begging…whether for money or favours, whilst mosques get built under Malaysian plans and national budgets. What freedom…its a joke and as a result we lose our image through the eyes of potential investors. Any country which has a negative undercurrent will drive away investors..don’t these idiots know that."

- end quote -

Also found a link to the Church website... http://www.olgpuchong.org/.

Christians, Hindus and Buddhists, it is time for you to respond. There is no place for religious opression in Malaysia or for these "little napoleons" (or rather little bastard Hitlers) to impose their own brand of governanace upon us.

If you're not going to rally and protest, then, it's time for you to think about where and for whom you cast your votes. We are not opposition supporters, but we seek to attain our basic human rights, and in our case, voting the opposition gives a greater voice to those who will speak for us and NOT against us.

Freedom of Religion in Malaysia - A Fallacy

It's our constitutional right to enjoy our freedom to practice our and worship as we like. But yet, there are people in our government and authorities who by their abuse of authority and narrow minded-ness , do their earnest best to prevent the proliferation of any other religion but Islam.

The following articles extracted from The Star are examples and of such injustice. One may read them and feel, well, they are going to sort out their problems. There are parties that seem to want to resolve this amicably. True. By saying resolve, they mean; stalling the project and insisting on their way forward for the perceived benefit of their religion and narrow beliefs.

In this case, I would ultimately like to see the project continue and the authorities see the value of it, as well as educating the objecting parties that we live in a multiracial and multireligious country and this is part of learning to live together.

What does a mosque and a Taoist statue, in "close proximity" symbolise? It symbolises the hormony between religions, races and the people. That at least 2 religions can co-exist without conflict. It symbolises to the Chinese and Buddhists that the government is also sincere in their attempts to break the segregating barriers between races and that the will of our Malay Ministers and Muslim countrymen will not be imposed upon us. In doing this, other people of other religious faiths will also take this as a beacon of hope.

But you see, the issue is not really the proximity of mosque and statue, it's the height of the statue. Apparently, in the attempt to build the Catholic Church in Shah Alam (which was later retracted by the Selangor State Government), the architechts were told that the highest part of the Church should be no taller than the tallest mosque in the area. Though no explanation is given, the perception is that certain people feel that Islam's superiority over other religions is denoted by the lower rooftops of the other religious buildings.

Malaysia, in its early days did not have such issues and the government didn't impose such things until the 80s or thereabouts. Taking this matter to another level, Churches are not allowed to be built even if the parish has money to do so. However, mosques are built everywhere on the basis that there should be 1 mosque per every 3-400 muslims. Better still, the public thru taxes pay for the building of these mosques, regardless if they are non-Muslim. How unfair is that? Further to that, based on the mosque quota above, the time has arrived where there are so many, that the "location is important" said by Tan Sri Hamid will no longer be possible for other religious sites. This is evident today where there are so many mosques around, many which are marble clad and gigantic, paid for by ALL Malaysian Citizens, while Christians and Buddhists have to resort to preaching and worshipping in little shophouses.

Many people whom I have spoken to say that we shouldn't rock the boat and should be thankful that this government even allows us to practice our faiths in a small way. We are thankful for the leeway we are given.

But I ask why?

Why should I pay for a mosque and not even get a temple or church in exchange? Isn't this a violoation of my religious rights, my constutional rights and my human rights?

It is the job of the government to ensure that quarters that object in such situations are put to rest and managed. Instead, they are supporting them.

Clearly if this is the case, then perhaps this is another reason why I should take my chances with the opposition.

Malaysia in its early days, was a place where

‘Leave Ma Tzu out of politics’

KOTA KINABALU:The Buddhist Foundation said the issue arising from the construction of the Ma Tzu Goddess of the Sea statue in Kudat should not be turned into a political issue.

Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat resigned as deputy chief minister. The foundation’s Sabah and Labuan chairman Tsen Nyuk Vun hoped the state government and the Kudat Ma Tzu Foundation would arrive at an amicable solution.

Work on the 27-metre statue was stopped following objections from several organisations that it was located too close to the district mosque.

The decision prompted Tanjung Kapor assemblyman Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat, who mooted its construction, to resign as deputy chief minister and tourism, culture and environment minister.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman had on Monday revealed that the state government had offered an alternative site for the statue and agreed to compensate the costs incurred so far.

Tsen was among 50 religious leaders who met with Musa at his office on Monday.

During the meeting, Musa explained that he had never objected to the project and that the stop-work order had nothing to do with curtailing religious freedom.

"We sincerely hope the state government and the Kudat Ma Tzu Foundation will seek an amicable solution on the matter," Tsen said in a statement on behalf of 10 Buddhist bodies in Sabah and Labuan.

He said they were happy with the chief minister’s reassurance of freedom of religion as guaranteed in the Federal Constitution.

"We should encourage the peaceful coexistence of different religions to promote mutual respect, understanding and harmony to build a better society in Sabah and in Malaysia as a whole," he added.

Be more sensitive to religious issues, leaders told

PUTRAJAYA: Political leaders, regardless of the parties they represent, must remain sensitive to religious issues, no matter how trivial.

Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Othman, religious adviser to the prime minister, said such issues must never be politicised as this could disrupt peace and stability."There must be alternatives and solutions to every problem. "As political party leaders, they must refrain from making statements that can lead to provocation or anger. "They must be tolerant of each other and seek solutions that will ensure the continued religious and ethnic coexistence among all the races," he added. Hamid was referring to the controversy over the Ma Tzu Goddess of the Sea statue in Kudat, which had resulted in the resignation of Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat as the Sabah deputy chief minister.

Chong wanted the 27-metre statue to be built, but Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman had ordered the work to be stopped. Musa said the decision to stop the construction followed objections from other quarters.

During a meeting with 50 Christian, Buddhist and Taoist leaders, Musa said the United Sabah Islamic Association, Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia, Persatuan Belia Intelek Kudat, Kudat As-Syakirin mosque committee and Umno Kudat were unhappy with the site for the statue. They objected because the statue was being built too close to the district mosque. Musa said the state government had offered an alternative site for the statue and agreed to pay compensation for the cost incurred. He accused Chong of trying to politicise the issue, adding that the original site of the statue had been given to a shipping company to put up a building.

Hamid said constructing places of worship for all races had never been a problem. "It is not an issue at all, but the location matters."So, it becomes the responsibility of all quarters and the leaders to find a suitable site that will not create problems for someone else. "Sensitivity of the location must never be overlooked," he said.