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Penang Hindu Endowments Board replies

January 15th, 2008
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The Hindu Board replies to attacks on its status.

Said Kumaraendran: "The board has never been a political tool of the ruling coalition. (Its) commissioners and temple management committee-members have always been appointed based on merit and (their) credentials, (not) political affiliation as alleged."

 

They are all appointed by the state governor on the advice of the state government based on their track-record as persons of high esteem in the society.”

– wonder how they define merit and credentials. Based on the track record?

Penang Hindu Board 'not BN political tool'
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/77039
Athi Veeranggan | Jan 15, 08 2:37pm

The Penang Hindu Endowments Board has defended itself against allegations that it has become a political tool of the MIC and Gerakan in Penang and that it is acting beyond its powers.

K Kumaraendran rebutted the claim that political considerations have been the yardstick for the appointment of commissioners and committee- members, who manage the five temples in the state. 

A commissioner and lawyer, he was commenting on a Malaysiakini report last Friday, in which United Hindu Religious Council president G Mugunthan had alleged there is rampant political meddling in the annual appointments. 

Said Kumaraendran: "The board has never been a political tool of the ruling coalition. (Its) commissioners and temple management committee-members have always been appointed based on merit and (their) credentials, (not) political affiliation as alleged.

"They are all appointed by the state governor on the advice of the state government based on their track-record as persons of high esteem in the society.”

Hindu endowments belonging to the hilltop Waterfall Temple – Sri Balathandayuthabani Kovil (photo) – Sri Ramar Kovil in Dhoby Ghaut, Sri Kunj Bihari Krishan Mandir, Sri Maha Mariamman Kovil in Lebuh Queen and Sri Maha Mariamman Kovil in Butterworth are administered by the board.

Under the Hindu Endowment Ordinance, the state governor on the advice of the state executive council appoints a board of commissioners, one of whom must be a government officer.

The board then sets up an endowment management committee consisting of members of public professing the religion applicable to the endowments – in this case, Hinduism.

'Orderly festivals'

According to Mugunthan, political-based appointments of commissioners have become a norm since the 1980s.

Even the board chairperson is a politician, he said, referring to former MIC state chairpersons T Suppiah and K Rajapathy, and current state deputy chairperson PK Subbaiyah.

Over the years many MIC division leaders and prominent Gerakan Indian leaders have been appointed as commissioners. 

Reliable sources had claimed that Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon (photo ) has insisted on "his men from Gerakan" being appointed.

Kumaraendran also refuted the allegation that the board had overstepped its jurisdiction.
The board is entrusted with managing the temples and their endowments and to organise their religious festivals, he noted.

In this respect, it has a legal obligation to ensure that religious festivals are celebrated in correct and orderly manner.

This involves implementing measures to regulate tanneer panthal (refreshment booths) and installing a centralised system to control the type of music played during Thaipusam each year.

"Various quarters have commended the board for its actions to bring more order into Hindu religious festivals," he added.

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Penang Hindu Endowment Board under attack

January 11th, 2008
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Political meddling in Penang Hindu temples
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/76923
Athi Veeranggan | Jan 11, 08 10:46am

A Hindu organisation has taken the Penang Hindu Endowments Board to task for acting beyond its jurisdiction and becoming a political tool of the MIC and Gerakan.

The United Hindu Religious Council (UHRC) president S Mugunthan alleged that the board's nine commissioners were appointed yearly based on their political affiliation rather than their knowledge on Hinduism and administrative skills.

He said that the political-based appointment for the board's commissioner position had become a norm since the 1980's.

"It is obvious that the present commissioners were appointed due to their political allegiance with certain parties or leaders notably the MIC and Gerakan,” he said.

Sources close to the endowments board told Malaysiakini that MIC president and Works Minister S Samy Vellu and Gerakan president and Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon were the most powerful influence behind the appointment of the commissioners.

The source revealed that MIC and Gerakan had been using the commissioners’ position as a political gift to their local leaders.

The present chairman of the endowments board is the state MIC deputy chairperson and executive councillor PK Subbaiyah.

Over the past 20 years or so, many commissioners were appointed from political ranks of MIC and Gerakan.

"This is unwarranted," added Mugunthan.

The statutory powers

Under the Section 3(1) of the Hindu Endowment Ordinance 1906, the state governor on the advice of the state executive council shall appoint a board of commissioners, in which one of whom shall be a government officer.

Under Section 6 of the HEO, the board of commissioners shall appoint an endowment management committee consisting members of public professing the religion applicable to the endowment.

UHRC deputy president K Suppayah, who was appointed as assistant secretary to the commissioner board for more than 20 years (1970-1993), said there was no provision under the ordinance that empowered the board to appoint the management committees to manage any Hindu temples, organise Hindu religious festivals, govern tanneer panthals (refreshment sheds), collect donations and charge devotees with prayer fees of any form.

"The board is only a trustee of Hindu endowments of five temples," he said, while stressing that he had clarified the matter with the Attorney-General Chambers.

At present Hindu endowments belonging to the Waterfall hilltop Sri Balathandayuthabani Kovil , Sri Ramar Kovil in Dhoby Ghaut, Sri Kunj Bihari Krishan Mandir, Lebuh Queen's Sri Maha Mariamman Kovil and Butterworth Sri Maha Mariamman Kovil come under the jurisdiction of the endowments board.

Although it's merely a board of trustees to safeguard and manage the endowments of the five Hindu temples, the statutory body has, however transformed itself into a religious authority to appoint, control and dictate the management committees of the five temples, religious festivals and tanneer panthals (refreshment sheds).

"This clearly contravenes Article 11 of the Federal Constitution which was unambiguous that the government shall not handle religious affairs pertaining to religions other than Islam.

"Since the board is a statutory body, it shall not encroach into Hindu religious affairs," said Suppayah, while adding that the management of the five temples should be left to Hindu public, especially Hindu organisations.

Legal action possible

If the letter of law were to be enforced strictly, the board had no powers to manage temples, interfere in organising of the Thaipusam or Chitra Paruvam festivals and tanneer panthals.

As such, the board would have no authority to stop tanneer panthals from playing their own music during the Thaipusam festival and install a 3km-long single public address system between the Waterfall hilltop temple in Jalan Air Terjun and the Jalan Brown – Jalan Utama.

It also cannot impose charges on devotees for prayers of any form at the five temples.

Technically and ideally, said Suppayah, either existing Hindu organisations shall be allowed or new independent organisations shall be registered to manage each of the temples and organise religious festivals and functions associated with the temples.

"However, the board has now usurped a non-existent power by directly interfering with Hindu religious," he said.

Mugunthan said his council would carry out awareness campaign on the real position and powers of the endowments board since many Hindus were either ignorant and naive about the whole issue.

He did not rule out legal redress on the issue to stop the board from overstepping its judicial boundary thus committing unlawful acts.

"We have to take court action to right the wrong then we will do it," he said.

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batu caves improvements for thaipusam

January 7th, 2008
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Batu Caves gears up for Thaipusam

By : Veena Babulal

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 1.5 million people are expected to converge on the Batu Caves temple here for the Thaipusam celebration.

With two weeks to go before the festival on Jan 23, preparations are in full swing to ensure better crowd control and facilities.

Among others, the temple committee will be spending about RM20,000 a day during the festival to treat the "prayer milk" which coagulates in the drain.

There are also 25 new permanent toilets near the Sri Venkatajalapathi temple.

These will complement the 80 toilets at the Sri Sanes-warar Temple located 500 metres away.

The temple committee has also come up with a better rubbish collection system.

Thirty cleaners will be hired on two-hour shifts throughout the five-day festival period. The rubbish will be placed in three stationary compactors which are able to crush up to 24,000kg of rubbish an hour.

The crushed waste will then be stored at a transfer station where it would remain until it is sent to the landfill.

The temple committee is also seeking the help of the Selayang Municipal Council to keep the beggars away from the 6.5ha temple complex during the festival.

"We have so many things to deal with to ensure that the celebration proceeds smoothly.

"Text messages calling for a boycott of the celebration is the last thing on our minds," said Sri Maha Mariamman temple chairman Datuk R. Nadarajah.

He was referring to text messages that have been circulating urging Hindus to boycott the Thaipusam celebration at Batu Caves.

The text messages claimed that the temple committee had allowed the police to enter the temple complex during the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally in November to disperse the supporters who had gathered there.

"This is propaganda against Hinduism. No one from any religion will call for a boycott against a temple or any religious place," Nadarajah said.

"You do not have to support me or contribute to the temple but don't boycott the temple.

"Don't worry or panic and spread rumours. There will be two FRU (Federal Reserve Unit) trucks as usual and the Selangor police force will be here on Jan 23 to handle the crowd," he said.

Yesterday, the temple committee started registering traders who would be setting up shop during the festival. By noon, some 260 of the 345 lots had been snapped up.

A successful applicant, Ka-thirasan Kannusamy, said he had faith that it would be business as usual during the festival.

"I've also received the text message but I consider it a rumour.

"In my six years of trading in textiles during the Thaipusam celebrations here, the crowd has never gone down and it's more likely to increase this year," said the 56-year-old.

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thaipusam at batu caves minus indians?

January 6th, 2008
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Hmmm..if many indians don't go to batu caves in two weeks time, pity all the foreign tourists! Perhaps the organisers can hire the many foreign workers and dark-skinned malaysians to provide cover, just in case.

businessmen may also think about setting up their stalls in other locations as a backup plan since even if the crowd is there, but don't spend much, will affect their business. Other locations like Penang, JB, Ipoh, Kuala Selangor, Teluk Intan, Port Klang, Klang etc will surely see bigger crowd this year.
 
 
Boycotting Batu Caves for Thaipusam?
K Kabilan | Jan 5, 08 4:23pm

A movement is fast gaining momentum on the ground to canvass support among the Indian community to boycott the Batu Caves temple for the Thaipusam festival which falls in Jan 23.

Short message services (SMSes) and emails are being circulated asking people not to fulfill their spiritual vows in Batu Caves following the temple committee’s role in allowing the police to violently disperse a gathered crowd in the early hours of Nov 25.

So far no one has claimed leadership or responsibility for the boycott call but the feedback from the ground seemed to indicate that it is a random act of protest propagated by unknown individuals.

“As mark of respect for all fellow brothers and sisters who were part of the Nov 25 rally, we will fulfill all our spiritual vows at other temples in Malaysia except Batu Caves during Thaipusam,” said one such SMS making its rounds in recent weeks. Other SMSes with similar messages have also been in circulation lately.

The SMSes refer to the violent dispersal by police of a large crowd who had gathered peacefully at the compound of the Batu Caves temple in the early hours of that day last year.

The crowd had arrived there prior to participating in the much-talked about Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) organised rally in Kuala Lumpur later that morning.

The police have said that they had acted only after they were called in by the Batu Caves temple management committee, headed by R Nadarajah.

Nadarajah (photo) had defended the temple’s actions by saying that the crowd had trespassed into the temple after closing hours and in the process had caused severe damages to the temple’s properties.

Thaipusam is one of the most important festivals for the Hindus. It is dedicated to Lord Muruga and celebrates the victory of good over evil. In Malaysia, Batu Caves has been the centre of the celebration for years, attracting about a million visitors on that day every year.

An angry community

One annual Batu Caves visitor, S Sivalingam from Pasir Penampang in Selangor told Malaysiakini that the calls for the boycott was likely to be heeded in his area.

“Every year bus loads of devotees from this place and the surrounding estates will make the pilgrimage to Batu Caves. This year lots of people are asking us not to go after what the temple has done to the people who were there on Nov 25,” he said.

He said that calls for the boycott has come not just via the SMSes, but also from local community leaders and from fellow residents themselves.

“They talk openly about Hindraf and how Nadarajah and his committee members have failed to support the fight for Indian rights,” he added.

He admitted the local Indian population in his area and the surrounding areas – which have long been strong BN supporters – were angry with the manner Hindraf supporters and protesters were treated in both Batu Caves and Kuala Lumpur city centre on Nov 25.

“The feeling is that our political parties have failed us. Our temples have failed too. So why must we continue giving our support to them,” asked Sivalingam, a 43-year-old businessman.

Bloggers too have joined along in asking the people to boycott Batu Caves this year.

“Perhaps we should teach them (the Batu Caves committee) by going to Penang and Malacca for Thaipusam. Let them lose their revenue,” wrote a blogger.

“Public solidarity is paramount in this symbolic effort to achieve the objectives and show that it is not easily quelled. Let's hit them where it naturally hurts most – $$$,” wrote another blogger.

Hindraf denies involvement

A priest in a small temple in Kapar K Munian said that he was worried that devotees from his temple would take “their fight against the wrong party”.

“The anger should not be focussed at the deity in the temple. It is after all Lord Muruga’s day. We go there to pray to him. If the anger is against the temple committee, find some other way to show it. Let’s not ask people not to go to Batu Caves to pray,” he pleaded.

Hindraf coordinator RS Thanenthiran (photo), when contacted, denied that his organisation was the mover behind the call for the boycott.

“How can we ask people not to pray. Of course we at Hindraf are angry with the Batu Caves temple committee, but that doesn’t mean we can ask people to boycott Lord Muruga,” he said.

“It is a temple and we will not stop people from praying there. But if it is their choice to boycott, we can’t do anything about that,” he added.

Batu Caves temple officials when contacted said that they are aware of the calls to boycott the temple for Thaipusam.

“But we are not worried about this. We are sure the devotees will continue to come here to worship,” said an official.

Protest the right way

Similar strong sentiment was espoused by MIC vice president S Veerasingam, who was confident that devotees will not boycott Batu Caves for Thaipusam.

“As usual thousands will turn up at Batu Caves and other places to fulfill their vows. Do not bring negative thoughts into religious festivals,” he told Malaysiakini.

A long time kavadi-bearer at Batu Caves, P Batu Malai said that he would surely fulfill his vows by carrying a kavadi this year too at Batu Caves, although he was angry with the manner the temple committee handled the crowd on Nov 25.

“I was in the crowd and I know how the temple committee worked hand in hand with the police in getting us out of the temple compound,” he claimed.

“But that will not stop me from going there for Thaipusam. However I will not pay a single sen to the temple for any of its projects and charity drives. Neither will I be standing around to hear MIC president S Samy Vellu’s annual speech for Thaipusam at Batu Caves,” he added.

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15000 MIC supporters to gather on Jan 20

January 3rd, 2008
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Just 3 days before Thaipusam? Hmmm…i hope they serve ample vegetarian dishes 🙂 if they can get 15,000 people to attend in the first place. All division leaders + 1000 members from each state should be just about enough.

MIC members set to pledge support for Barisan Nasional and PM Abdullah

BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Thu.:

More than 15,000 MIC members and supporters will gather here on Jan 20 to pledge their support to the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the gathering, to be held at the Cheras Badminton Stadium, would be the first in a series of gatherings throughout the country aimed at bolstering the party’s strength and support for the Barisan Nasional (BN) ahead of the ninth general election.

He said that besides Abdullah, who is also BN chairman, and Deputy Prime Minister and deputy BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak would also be invited to the gathering.

“Similar meetings will be held in all the states in stages,” he said in a statement here today.

He said the prime minister will also deliver an important address at the Jan 20 gathering.

“The prime minister is expected to emphasise the importance of staying united in a multi-racial and multi-religious country,” he added.

He said the gatherings are also aimed at explaining to party members and the Indian community the struggles, achievements and challenges confronting the community to send a loud and clear message to the opposition that the Indian community would always stand solidly behind the BN.

Samy Vellu said MIC members are united in thwarting attempts by certain quarters to stir up racial and religious issues for their own political agenda.

He expressed disgust at some opposition parties for using Hindu temples to flare up racial and religious issues.

“This is a new trend where they get a few Indians to hold political ceramah in temples because they know that people (Hindus) will come for prayers,” he said.

Samy Vellu urged the Indian community not to be fooled by the opposition.

“The Indians must think of their future and the country’s well-being and not allow themselves to be hoodwinked by the opposition,” he said.

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