Why was there a need to cut off electricity and water supply to the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman temple if the government wanted to beautify the site?
COMMENT
The demolition of the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman temple, located in the Bukit Bintang Golden Triangle area, last weekend has angered Malaysian Hindus and several politicians from both sides of the divide.
On top of being disrespectful to the sensitivities of the religious minority, many are also upset that DBKL had demolished the temple despite a Cabinet directive to reach an amicable solution with the affected parties.
And instead of rebuking DBKL, Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor defended the act, saying the DBKL was attempting to ‘beautify’ the sacred place.
The most mind boggling comment came from none other than the MIC president G Palanivel, who said only stalls at the vicinity were removed. But the entire episode has left several questions unanswered.
The main question is that why would Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and Syabas cut off power and water supply to the temple if it was an attempt to beautify the place?
On top of that, why would the Federal Territories Ministry choose to ‘beautify’ the temple at 7am on a weekend, with about 300 officers from five government agencies being present there.
The agencies involved on the day were from DBKL, Land and Mineral Department, TNB, Syabas and the police.
Now, can anyone recall when was the last time five government agencies got involved in a temple issue, unless a demolition is taking place?
The unusual thing about the whole ‘beautifying’ process is that the police cordoned all main roads leading to the temple, Jalan Raja Chulan, Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan P Ramlee, to ensure no one approached the area.
Why is DBKL is helping a private firm?
And Tengku Adnan said that the funds to beautify the temple will be provided by the developer involved in the land dispute over the temple.
So, five government agencies came about demolishing a temple so that a private developer could provide money for the temple committee to beautify the site? Interesting, is it not?
But the minister also pointed out that the temple would be rebuilt on the existing site, but on a smaller plot of land.
So, what is the real issue here? It seems that the whole incident has something to do with a directive issued by DBKL to the developer involved in the matter.
Upon embarking on a development project near the area, it is said that the developer was told that it would only be given Certificate of Fitness(CF) if it built an eight-foot walkway along the building.
However, the walkway will have to occupy some portion of the land where the temple is located, which is along Jalan P Ramlee.
But this also raises another question. Why is DBKL is so accommodating of the developer, to give the eight feet of land housing a temple which has been there for 100-years?
Why didn’t the developer meet the condition upon embarking on the development project?
And instead of penalising the developer for not doing so from the beginning, DBKL is helping the private firm, so much so that the existence of a temple is under threat just to build a walkway.
Meanwhile, the umbrella body for Hindus, the Malaysian Hindu Sangam is keeping mum on the matter till today, giving the impression it is nothing more than a toothless tiger.
COMMENT
The demolition of the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman temple, located in the Bukit Bintang Golden Triangle area, last weekend has angered Malaysian Hindus and several politicians from both sides of the divide.On top of being disrespectful to the sensitivities of the religious minority, many are also upset that DBKL had demolished the temple despite a Cabinet directive to reach an amicable solution with the affected parties.
And instead of rebuking DBKL, Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor defended the act, saying the DBKL was attempting to ‘beautify’ the sacred place.
The most mind boggling comment came from none other than the MIC president G Palanivel, who said only stalls at the vicinity were removed. But the entire episode has left several questions unanswered.
The main question is that why would Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and Syabas cut off power and water supply to the temple if it was an attempt to beautify the place?
On top of that, why would the Federal Territories Ministry choose to ‘beautify’ the temple at 7am on a weekend, with about 300 officers from five government agencies being present there.
The agencies involved on the day were from DBKL, Land and Mineral Department, TNB, Syabas and the police.
Now, can anyone recall when was the last time five government agencies got involved in a temple issue, unless a demolition is taking place?
The unusual thing about the whole ‘beautifying’ process is that the police cordoned all main roads leading to the temple, Jalan Raja Chulan, Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan P Ramlee, to ensure no one approached the area.
Why is DBKL is helping a private firm?
And Tengku Adnan said that the funds to beautify the temple will be provided by the developer involved in the land dispute over the temple.
So, five government agencies came about demolishing a temple so that a private developer could provide money for the temple committee to beautify the site? Interesting, is it not?
But the minister also pointed out that the temple would be rebuilt on the existing site, but on a smaller plot of land.
So, what is the real issue here? It seems that the whole incident has something to do with a directive issued by DBKL to the developer involved in the matter.
Upon embarking on a development project near the area, it is said that the developer was told that it would only be given Certificate of Fitness(CF) if it built an eight-foot walkway along the building.
However, the walkway will have to occupy some portion of the land where the temple is located, which is along Jalan P Ramlee.
But this also raises another question. Why is DBKL is so accommodating of the developer, to give the eight feet of land housing a temple which has been there for 100-years?
Why didn’t the developer meet the condition upon embarking on the development project?
And instead of penalising the developer for not doing so from the beginning, DBKL is helping the private firm, so much so that the existence of a temple is under threat just to build a walkway.
Meanwhile, the umbrella body for Hindus, the Malaysian Hindu Sangam is keeping mum on the matter till today, giving the impression it is nothing more than a toothless tiger.
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