Archive for the ‘Religion’ category

Status of Investigation by 3-man committee over demolition of Ampang Mahakaliamman Temple

October 7th, 2008
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Dear Sir/Madam,

It has been nearly a month since the 3-man non-Muslim religious affairs committee was supposed to investigate the demolition of Ampang Mahakaliamman Temple. According to Mr Ronnie Liu’s statement in the Star:

“We are expecting the investigation results by Monday and we will look into the next course of action after that,” he said when contacted yesterday.

ref: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/30/nation/2150967&sec=nation

I would like to know the status of the investigation and how to obtain a copy of the investigation report. i hope it is not classified as official secret.

Regards,
M Poobalan

“SAY NO TO ALCOHOL”

Xavier talks on temples in Selangor

October 7th, 2008
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Xavier Jayakumar who visited the demolished temple met with over 300 people. He briefed them on the plans for Indian temples in Selangor. He urged all Hindu temples in Selangor to register with the relevant municipal councils within a month so that the government would have a record of all temples in the state and also ensure that no temple would be demolished in the future.He said committees fighting for ownership of land for their temples in Selangor could meet him to submit their applications.

This news appeared in Makkal Osai. Not sure if he apologies over his earlier statements on temple demolition being a small issue.

Limit for gopurams removed in Selangor

October 7th, 2008
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Common sense dictates that there should have been a valid reason for the previous Selangor government to impose a height limit for gopurams in the state (Gopuram is the tower that is on top of the temple. It is usually adorned with intricate designs, images and statues of Gods and so on). So, perhaps Khir Toyo or MIC fellas can explain to us the reason. Was it due to safety, aviation ruling, town planning acts, building acts, political decision, or based on whims and fancies?

Even the current government did not provide any reason for lifting of the limit.

The Selangor government had decided to lift the earlier 7.3m limit for the construction of gopurams (entrance towers) for temples set by the previous government, Makkal Osai reported.

State Executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar said that the current government had recently given approval for the construction of a temple gopuram for more than 12.8m.

He added that the previous state government had approved 929 sq metres of land, next to a sewerage reclamation pond, for the building of a temple and did not allow any extension or renovation.

One thing for sure is that more money will be spent to build elaborate and grand gopurams!!!

UPM Temple under threat

October 6th, 2008
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I think some of the local universities had a temple in their compound – maybe due to the fact that the universities were built on ex-plantation or forest areas, which housed Indian families nearby.

UTM Skudai’s temple had been relocated. UM’s one is still there. UPM’s one is now under plans to be removed because UPM wants the land back. The 80-year old Maha Mariamman temple (see it on map here) was located on a half-acre plot of land within the university’s ground, according to the temple’s land and building committee chairman K.G. Kuppusamy.

“We are requesting the university officials to reconsider taking back the land. Perhaps they can sell us the plot of land or provide us with an alternative land plus compensation of RM1.5mil to help rebuild the temple,” Kuppusamy said.He said discussions between both parties have been on-going since November last year.

Yesterday, some 200 people gathered at the Sri Maha Mariaman temple near to voice their worries over the temple land problem.

What would be the ideal solution for this issue? The temple is as old as the precursor of UPM, which was the School of Agriculture, officially instituted on 21 May, 1931 by John Scott. UPM itself was established in 1971. Basicall, you have an historic site. Perhaps it can be declared as a heritage site? As for community, I guess UPM students will frequent the temple, along with residents who live nearby. Sometimes, the in-house temples are venues for cultural and religious programs held by students. Not sure if its still the same.

Is this a state or federal issue? Since universities are granted certain amount of autonomy, can they decide on their own? Can state government reclaim the land if such situation arises?

27 places of worship approved in Selangor

October 4th, 2008
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This is indeed a good news. It would have been better if the state published the location and for for who it was approved.

However, what surprises me is the claim by the EXCO Lau Weng San that this was in response to “demolition of the
19-year-old Sri Maha Kaliamman temple near Kampung Tasek Tambahan in
Ampang on Sept 11”. Is he talking about the approval or the quit rent and lease period?

I don’t this knee-jerk response is good. There’s bound to be complaints or problems with this kind of fast approvals. Unless of course, Lau was misquoted and the figures were for the period between March and October this year because Ronnie Liu at another press conference said that “so far 27 permits for places of worship, including churches, Hindu
temples and Chinese temples on government land, had been given since
the took over the state government”.

I fail to see how 27 places can be allocated at one time, so most likely Lau or the reporter got it wrong.

The owners of 27 plots of state land approved for
places of worship in Selangor need pay only RM1,000 quit rent for the
first year and a nominal RM1 for subsequent years.

Kampung Tunku
state assemblyman Lau Weng San said this was approved by the state
government, which had also agreed to give 99-year leases on the land.

The places of worship include churches and Hindu and Buddhist
temples, he said at a press conference at the Selangor DAP headquarters
in Taman Paramount here yesterday.

Councillors of local authorities and 27 Selangor DAP committee members were present.

Lau said the move was made in response to the demolition of the
19-year-old Sri Maha Kaliamman temple near Kampung Tasek Tambahan in
Ampang on Sept 11.

Of course, all this is nice to hear, but lets see if the buildings actually rises before giving more credit. For the beginning, its a good start.