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Selangor State Govt Chinese New Year Dinner on Thaipusam Eve

February 2nd, 2012
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This is being compared with last year’s Parliament sitting on Deepavali eve by MIC and MIC-friendly folks.

The Parliament sitting was cancelled by Cabinet after some noise were made by various groups (and DAP reps sent a memo), as it was considered a disrespectful and insensitive move.  Read about it below:

http://poobalan.com/blog/borninmalaysia/2011/10/11/parliament-sitting-on-deepavali-eve-issue/

http://poobalan.com/blog/borninmalaysia/2011/10/21/parliament-sitting-on-deepavali-eve-cancelled/

This time, its Selangor state government which is organising its Chinese New Year Dinner on 6th February (6pm till 11.30pm) at Rawang, which is on the eve of Thaipusam.  Refer here:

http://www.selangor.gov.my/main.php?Content=vertsectiondetails&VsItemID=423&VertSectionID=373&CurLocation=481&IID=

The difference between the two events are clear:

- one is an official “serious” event, the other is a official celebratory dinner.

- One involves all elected reps, govt staff and media, while other involves elected reps in Selangor and also includes public in addition.

- One is covering whole nation (imagine MP Bagan Serai balik kampung after parliament sitting) while the other is covering Selangor state. Probably the number of Hindus involved is very small (even the Selangor state EXCO don’t have Hindus).

- Deepavali eve is important as most Hindus will travel back to hometown. Thaipusam is not necessarily celebrated at hometown as some Hindus make pilgrimage to certain temples while other take opportunity to visit different temples for the celebration. Also, not all temples have chariot procession on the eve.

- Parliament sitting is usually arranged at beginning of the year. The dinner, was probably arranged few weeks ago.

- Deepavali came midweek, thus many other people will be working. Thaipusam this time around is on the end of a long weekend holiday (4 days if Saturday is off day), thus most people would have already made plans to travel elsewhere if they intend to celebrate Thaipusam.  The dinner may not be of consequence to them.

- Note that the last day of CNY would be on 6th February, thus the state could have organised the dinner on 23rd Jan, 24th Jan, 28th Jan, 29th Jan, or 4th Feb (maybe 4 is not lucky number?). 5th is Prophet’s birthday, so that’s definitely a no-no.  Those who are fasting (like for 10 or 30 days) would not be attending, so its likely that whichever day the dinner is organised, you’ll see lesser Hindus.

Similarities:

- both fall on the eve of a religious event.

- both are organised by governments.

- both are considered insensitive due to proximity to religious festival.

For me, even though the function is a non-compulsory “fun” event, the organisers could have chosen another day to do it, as perception of public is important. It would seem like the CNY dinner did not take into consideration participation of Hindus as majority Hindus are not expected to attend. Maybe its just targeted at the Chinese community.

Again, this maybe due to the lack of sensitivities among the officers in state government. Being from the majority race, probably they lack proper exposure to cultures and religious beliefs of others.  None may have thought of asking a fellow Hindu colleague/friend about the suitability of the date.

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New Sikh temple in Section 18 Shah Alam

January 13th, 2012
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 Happy to hear that a Sikh temple is being built. Interesting to note that it took them 21 years to get the application approved after several rounds of negotiation. Quite fast eh? :-) Good luck to the community in building the gurdwara. Hope they will get sufficient funds from federal and state governments. Election coming soon, so better squeeze them for much fund as possible.

Also I hope the gurdwara doesn’t become an issue since I believe about 90-over % of the population in Shah Alam are Muslims.

 

SOME 400 Sikh families in Shah Alam can soon look forward to performing their prayers and carry out other related activities in a more conducive environment once their long-awaited new place of worship in Section 18 is completed in November.

The community, who had been holding their religious activities under cramped conditions at a corner unit of a low-cost double-storey house in Section 25, Taman Sri Muda since 1993, will no longer have to travel all the way to other gurdwaras in Klang or Petaling Jaya as the new premises will be sufficient to accommodate larger congregations.

The New Building Fund committee chairman Patminderjit Singh said work on the new place of worship began last month and some RM1.1mil had been raised to-date.

For a smooth-sailing project: Priests performing prayers before the commencement of the construction of the new Gurdwara Sahib Shah Alam project in section 18.

“The Sikh community desperately needs a new gurdwara as the present premises is unable to accommodate us. We have had to put up tents outside the present premises whenever the crowd was big,” he said.

Patminderjit said Sikh families were also unable to hold weddings or other major events such as Vaisakhi, which was the most important event in the Sikh calendar on a big scale at the present premises due to this.

“The residents here had also complained to the authorities several times particularly when we put up a tent to allow the congregation to partake in langgar (vegetarian meals),” he said adding that the Sikhs had never intended to inconvenience their neighbours but were left with no choice.

Patminderjit said the new gurdwara would be able to serve the growing Sikh community with more new townships opening up in surrounding areas.

Apart from Shah Alam, Sikhs from Taman Sri Muda, Bukit Rimau, Kota Kemuning, Bukit Kemuning, Bukit Jelutong and other nearby areas in Petaling Jaya, Kelana Jaya, Subang Jaya and Klang thronged the present premises during religious celebrations.

Soon to be ready: An artist’s impression of the new Gurdwara Sahib Shah Alam.

Patminderjit said the community would also be able to hold Punjabi language and music classes, particularly for the children once they moved to the new premises.

Sikhs, he said, first submitted an application for a parcel of land in 1984. After several rounds of negotiations with the state government, the present site was approved on Dec 20, 2005.

Patminderjit said the committee had also written to the Inland Revenue Board to seek tax exemption for those who donate to the cause.

“Piling work has been completed and work is in full swing now.

“We have now invited tenders for the main building and are hoping that more donors would come forward to help us,” he said, adding that the Sikhs had also written to the federal and state authorities for financial aid.

Those who wish to know more about the progress of the construction or to make donations can visit www.gssabuildingfund.com.

source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/1/6/central/10190913&sec=central

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Guidelines for temples by MHS

January 13th, 2012
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Wonder how many of them will follow the “guideline” since its just a guideline. Is MHS going to come out with some compliance sticker or publish a list of compliant temples on its website? Would the community be interested in such compliance?

BTW, someone said got 20,000 thousand over temples, but MHS says got only 3,300.  We have 222 parliament constituencies. Can we find an average of 100 temples each parliamentary constituency?

All the Hindu temples in the country will have guidelines by the end of this month, Malaysian Hindu Sangam (MHS) president RS Mohan Shan said today.

He said the guidelines would comprise the suitable rules and regulations that a temple should practise in order to preserve the rituality.

“So far, there are no suitable guidelines for a temple to follow, and they are free to do all kinds of programmes at any time they wish.

“We are going to bring out the guidelines on how a temple should be positioned, which temple to conduct which celebration, and how to manage a temple,” he told Bernama.

The guidelines, among others, would encourage all the temples in the country to start providing community service, he said, adding that the management of temples should also think of the community, and not just religion and rituals.

“The guidelines will be prepared by a religious advisory board involving all Hindu association presidents and also religious experts,” he said.

So far, Mohan Shan said, only 2,000 of the 3,300 Hindu temples in the country have registered under the MHS.

“We are asking all our local council members to approach the temples to become members of the MHS as we are the only organisation that deals with temple issues,” he said.

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Father of Hindu Youth passes away

October 27th, 2011
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My experience with HYO is way back nearly two decades ago, when I attended their computer class at Port Klang branch while waiting for SPM results. After that, I’ve seen them at some of the religious festivals at temples, but never been involved in their programs.

One of the founders of HYO passed away yesterday. Condolences to his family. Read about the late Mr Vijayaratnam here.

Malaysian Hindu Youth Organisation (HYO) founder, Vijayaratnam Saravanamuthu, passed away Wednesday at the Gleneagles Hospital here from respiratory complications.

He was 77.

Vijayaratnam, fondly referred to as the “Father of the Hindu Youth”, founded HYO in 1949 and had contributed immensely to its growth, which has some 90 branches nationwide now.

During his lifetime, Vijayaratnam had organised many Hindu Youth conventions in various parts of the country and he was elected the first secretary-general of the Malaysian Youth Council in 1962.

HYO in a statement said Vijayaratnam leaves behind a wife Pushpavathy Chinniah and two sons, Datuk Vijay Eswaran, 51, and Vijaya Vicknesh, 49.

source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/10/26/nation/20111026192456&sec=nation

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Parliament sitting on Deepavali eve cancelled

October 21st, 2011
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Parliament sitting on eve is cancelled. All questions for the day to be replied in writing. The request was made by DAP MPs to Speaker and Minister Nazri last week, which the cabinet also discussed and agreed to postpone in view of the religious festivals the next day. As you may know, parliament sittings can drag to night, especially nowadays. So, not only MPs affected, but also various other staff, journalists, drivers, etc.

While the decision is good, one should always take in the “lesson learnt” so that its not repeated in future. As per my suggestion, time to send officials for sensitivity and common-sense courses. No point talking about creativity and innovation when much more simpler things also we are lacking.

Read about my earlier article on the parliament sitting issue here.

source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/10/19/no-parliament-sitting-on-deepavali-eve/

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