At the Tanjung Sutera Resort in Sedili Besar, Kota Tinggi, an Indonesia worker was seen milling around. He was hired to take care of the Johor resort together with seven others, most of whom are also Indonesians.
Their life was quiet and idyllic until two weeks ago when a controversy roiled the resort after a video was posted on the Internet showing its surau being used for meditation by a group of Buddhists from Singapore.
Immediately after the issue broke out, the resort was temporarily closed and its entrance padlocked. Only the Indonesian worker and his colleagues remained at the resort to wait for further instructions from their employer.
They were camera-shy and refused to be interviewed whenMalaysiakini journalists approached them at their living quarters in the resort last Wednesday.
However, they were friendly and willing to chat and from the conversation, it was learnt that they were still being paid.
According to the worker in charge, the employer was a "nice person" and was kind enough to continue paying them salaries even though the resort was not taking any guests.
Nonetheless, he worries that he will lose his rice bowl if the employer decides to quit his business in the wake of the controversy.
Worse still, he said it would be very difficult for him to apply for another working permit if he loses this particular job.
Warning notices posted on surau
The resort's owner, a Singaporean, is being investigated under Section 295 of the Penal Code for "injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class", when he allowed the group of Buddhist travellers to meditate at the surau.
He was remanded for four days and released under police bond on Aug 16.
His Malaysianpermanent residency was subsequently revoked, which means he cannot work or own commercial assets in the country, and like his Indonesian workers, must apply for a work permit and find a Malaysian business partner.
The resort, which faces the South China Sea, comprises an accommodation area, a fishing pond, a swimming pool, a restaurant, a football field and other facilities.
There is also a building under construction, indicating that the owner was planning to expand his business.
As for the surau which sparked the controversy, it is a separate building located next to the main entrance of the resort.
A red notice was posted on the wall of the surau, next to the door. It says: "Awas! Premis ini di bawah Pemantauan Jabatan Agama Johor" (Beware! This premises is under the monitoring of the Johor Islamic Religious Department).
On another part of the wall, there were two warning letters from the Kota Tinggi Municipal Council. The first one states that the resort owner had misused the surau and the second notice demands that the owner demolish the building within three weeks.
Life as usual for locals
The tiny Tanjung Sutera Resort is located deep inside an oil palm plantation, with most of the local residents involved in either oil palm or fishing.
It is about five kilometres away from the nearest town and approximately three kilometres from the main road.
A restaurant operator in Sedili Besar town said the closure of the resort did not affect her business much because of the distance and that the resort itself has its own restaurant.
Like the resort workers, the restaurant operator declined to provide her name, but she was willing to chat while wiping the tables.
According to her, the surau controversy did not create a big stir among the locals and it appeared outsiders cared more about the issue that the villagers in the area.
"We only knew about it from news reports. And we didn't think much about it after one or two days," she said, returning to her work.
Their life was quiet and idyllic until two weeks ago when a controversy roiled the resort after a video was posted on the Internet showing its surau being used for meditation by a group of Buddhists from Singapore.
Immediately after the issue broke out, the resort was temporarily closed and its entrance padlocked. Only the Indonesian worker and his colleagues remained at the resort to wait for further instructions from their employer.They were camera-shy and refused to be interviewed whenMalaysiakini journalists approached them at their living quarters in the resort last Wednesday.
However, they were friendly and willing to chat and from the conversation, it was learnt that they were still being paid.
According to the worker in charge, the employer was a "nice person" and was kind enough to continue paying them salaries even though the resort was not taking any guests.
Nonetheless, he worries that he will lose his rice bowl if the employer decides to quit his business in the wake of the controversy.
Worse still, he said it would be very difficult for him to apply for another working permit if he loses this particular job.
Warning notices posted on surau
The resort's owner, a Singaporean, is being investigated under Section 295 of the Penal Code for "injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class", when he allowed the group of Buddhist travellers to meditate at the surau.
He was remanded for four days and released under police bond on Aug 16.
His Malaysianpermanent residency was subsequently revoked, which means he cannot work or own commercial assets in the country, and like his Indonesian workers, must apply for a work permit and find a Malaysian business partner.The resort, which faces the South China Sea, comprises an accommodation area, a fishing pond, a swimming pool, a restaurant, a football field and other facilities.
There is also a building under construction, indicating that the owner was planning to expand his business.
As for the surau which sparked the controversy, it is a separate building located next to the main entrance of the resort.
A red notice was posted on the wall of the surau, next to the door. It says: "Awas! Premis ini di bawah Pemantauan Jabatan Agama Johor" (Beware! This premises is under the monitoring of the Johor Islamic Religious Department).On another part of the wall, there were two warning letters from the Kota Tinggi Municipal Council. The first one states that the resort owner had misused the surau and the second notice demands that the owner demolish the building within three weeks.
Life as usual for locals
The tiny Tanjung Sutera Resort is located deep inside an oil palm plantation, with most of the local residents involved in either oil palm or fishing.
It is about five kilometres away from the nearest town and approximately three kilometres from the main road.
A restaurant operator in Sedili Besar town said the closure of the resort did not affect her business much because of the distance and that the resort itself has its own restaurant.Like the resort workers, the restaurant operator declined to provide her name, but she was willing to chat while wiping the tables.
According to her, the surau controversy did not create a big stir among the locals and it appeared outsiders cared more about the issue that the villagers in the area.
"We only knew about it from news reports. And we didn't think much about it after one or two days," she said, returning to her work.
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