Describing the temple along Jalan P Ramlee in Kuala Lumpur as a "shrine" instead of a temple, he alleged that illegal activities were being carried out there according to his ministry's checks.
"Recently
we sent a Hindu priest to the place. The priest wanted go the bathroom,
he insisted to enter, and in the bathroom he found liquor and alcohol,
whisky. "I hope they don't abuse (the temple)," Tengku Adnan said at a press conference today, adding that the priest was from India and was knowledgeable," he said.
He added that the priest had told him that what the priest discovered is a disgrace to to Hindus.
"I want to beautify it and make it a tourist attraction, I want to make it like the four-faced Buddha in Thailand. That is what I hope," he said, in reference to the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand.
"We will beautify the temple immediately, make sure it will be done quickly," he added, saying the developer Hap Seng will come up with the quotation for the cost of the temple’s renovation.
The minister further said his ministry would maintain the temple after it is "beautified". Yesterday morning, DBKL personnel arrived at the temple along Jalan P Ramlee in Kuala Lumpur, allegedly unannounced, and proceeded to demolish structures around its main prayer hall.
Padang Serai MP N Surendran, who was present during the demolition, said the action was "in bad faith" as the temple committee had already fixed a meeting with Federal Territories deputy minister Loga Bala Mohan Jaganathan on Nov 19 to discuss the issue.
Committee was paid RM50,000
This
was DBKL's second attempt at demolishing parts of the temple since
September. At the time, witnesses claimed that the DBKL personnel were
disrespectful and carried out their work without notice.Tengku Adnan insisted that in both instances, DBKL's personnel were not out of line and performed their duties according to their standard operating procedure (SOP), stressing that no statues were destroyed.
"I won’t do anything against any religion and DBKL respects every religion. But they must respect law and order of the country," he said.
He also brushed off claims by the temple committee that DBKL did not provide the committee any notice.
"We had repeatedly informed them about the court orders for the demolition and yet they say no notice was given to them.
"They are lying, they knew there was a court order... Please remember that in India, there will be no negotiations when they want to build roads or buildings. They don't care," he said.
Tengku Adnan added that Hap Seng had payed the temple committee RM50,000 and offered them a plot of land in Serendah, Hulu Selangor for them to relocate.
What makes a 'real' temple?
On his claim that the structure in question was a "shrine" rather than a "temple", Tengku Adnan said proper Hindu practices were not incorporated into the construction.
"For a real temple, firstly you must have a source of water," he said, pointing out that the source of water could have been from a lake, river, sea or a well.
"Secondly, when we build a temple, we must build a dome facing east and by 12pm, when the sun is at its highest point, there musn’t be a shadow. That is a real temple.
"When you enter the temple... How do you enter a temple? You must lie face down you know? That's the right method. This is the things they do not know that I know," he said.
To further dispute whether the structure was indeed a temple, Tengku Adnan said that he had sent his representatives to inspect the building during Deepavali and found it empty.
He later urged the public to learn about Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism in order to foster greater understanding among Malaysians.
"I am not like the opposition who speaks unthoughtfully without knowing the facts," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment