Khir Toyo says his temple enclave would have prevented row

The Khir solution... former mentri besar Khir (red tie) has the answer to race relations, so says he. - Picture by Choo Choy May

By Neville Spykerman - The Malaysian Insider

SHAH ALAM, Sept 4 — Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo today rehashed a proposal for an Indian religious enclave for one Sikh and six Hindu temples in the city’s industrial heartland, arguing it would have solved the current temple row in the city’s Section 23 neighbourhood.

But the proposal had been rejected by the city’s Indian community, including representatives from Barisan Nasional (BN), as ludicrous and impractical.

The former mentri besar, who is now state opposition leader, scheduled a press conference today at the site in Section 18 near the Cadbury factory, to defend his administration’s efforts in solving the temple issue.

He also defended last Friday’s cow-head protest, saying no offence was meant, and that the protestors wanted to compare what he said was the stupidity of the animal to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government.

A group claiming to be Malay-Muslim residents of Section 23 had marched to the state secretariat last Friday to oppose the state’s plan to allow the construction of a Hindu temple relocated from another location with a bigger Muslim majority.

The group threatened bloodshed while dragging a cow’s head to the gates of the state secretariat where they proceeded to stamp on and spit at the head. Their act has sparked a major uproar as Hindus consider the cow a sacred animal.

The protestors also claimed Section 23 was more than 90 per cent Muslim, and that having a temple nearby would disrupt their own religious practice.

But a check showed that the neighbourhood was multi-racial, with Indians making up more than a quarter of the population.

Khir defended his administration today, saying the Selangor State Economic Development Corporation had spent RM600,000 to lay down the infrastructure for the Indian religious enclave, which was divided into seven lots measuring 10,000 sq meters each.

“Where else in the country has a state government spent so much money for places of worships of other religions?” he said.

He said site was supposed to accommodate Hindu and Sikh temples from throughout Shah Alam and came ready with paved roads and parking lots.

However he said the Section 19 temple committee refused to accept the site and PKNS then found and alternative site in Section 22.

Khir lashed out at the current PR state government for blaming his administration for failing to solve the temple relocation issue and Umno for instigating the cow-head protest by residents from Section 23, last Friday.

He said the issue was similar to what was being faced by the Kampung Buah Pala villagers in Penang where PR made election promises they could not keep.

He said PR was now forced to relocate the temple to Section 23 despite objections from residents there.

“BN and Umno have no objections to temples being built so long as they are in conducive sites.”

However Hindu Sangam advisor Datuk A. Vaithilingam had told the press earlier today that the site in Section 18 was rejected by temple authorities because there were already other temples in the area and that the temple in Section 23 was meant to cater to Hindus in other areas.

“This should not matter because they have many Gods and separate temples for each.” said Dr Khir, who added that distance should not be a factor because everyone now drove cars.

Also at the the press conference were former BN executive councillor Datuk Nawawi Zin, former Batu Tiga assemblyman Datuk Salamon Selamat and at least one of the protestors who took part in last week’s demonstration.

Dr Khir, who returned from Mecca yesterday, said the Section 23 residents did not mean to insult Hindus by using a severed cow head, an animal which is sacred to their religion, during the protest.

“There was no religious significance in bringing the head. The cow is a stupid creature and they wanted to point out that the state government was being stupid.”

In an immediate reaction former Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) MIC councillor RS Maniam said the plan to relocate six Hindu and one Sikh temple to Section 18 was ludicrous.

“Where in the world are there so many temples located side by side?”

He said the plan was proposed by the previous state government between 2006 and early 2007 but failed to take off.

He said the Section 19 temple committee rejected the idea outright and was offered the alternative side at the industrial area in Section 22.

“However they accepted the site half heartedly because it was just too far away.”

Following the March 8 general elections, PR proposed to move the temple to Section 23.

Meanwhile Selangor Executive Councillor (Exco) member Dr Xavier Jayakumar pointed out today that no temple had moved to Section 18 because the people had rejected the idea.

“Why has no temple move to the site, if it was such a brilliant idea?” he asked.

Xavier said it was now easy for Dr Khir to make claims he had helped the Indian community but the reality is that the problem was not solved during his time as mentri besar.