BRICKBATS have been hurled at Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territory) Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa for her reluctance to reveal value of the 4,000 sq ft temple land offered to management of the Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman temple as amicable settlement for its relocation.
This came about after she dismissed as “completely untrue and baseless” an allegation by Muslim convert preacher Firdaus Wong Wai Hung that the Madani government had allegedly paid RM2 mil in compensation to the 130-year-old temple to relocate it to a new site which is 50-60 metres away.
“The government has never promised or approved any form of compensation to the temple as depicted (by Firdaus Wong),” she clarified in a statement issued yesterday evening (March 26).
“In fact, no other agreement or deal was made other than the settlement that I officially announced on Tuesday (March 25).”
The PKR lawmaker went on to stress that the Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman temple issue cannot be used as a precedent case for any other case in the future.
“It is a specific solution to the issue which was handled wisely in accordance with the law and considering the sensitivities of various parties.”
For the record, following the deemed amicable settlement of the temple land issue in which Dr Zaliha was part of the Madani government negotiation team, Firdaus Wong has not only harped on the RM2 mil compensation but further claimed that “the current estimated price of land near Jakel Mall is approximately RM2,500/sq ft x 4,000 sq ft”.
“(Thus), the value of the land that the temple acquired is approximately RM10 mil,” he claimed in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening (March 25) to the anger of Malay Muslims who perceived that the Madani government had succumbed to the pressure of pleasing the temple which they deemed as an “illegal squatter”.
Obviously, Firdaus Wong’s ‘inflammable’ statement has sparked immeasurable furore among rightist Malays as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim prepares to perform ground-breaking ceremony of the purported Masjid Madani which in the future will be occupying the current Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman temple site today (March 27).
“Still not answering the question. So, the land is also be free or how?” berated a commenter to Dr Zaliha’s statement on X while another was curious to know if the land has a “permanent status”.
Others went to harp on the narrative that “one just need to find a big tree and tie a cloth around it” as a start to claim ownership of the land with one commenter even mooted a tit-for-tat preposition that “land for the mosque construction must also be free” or that “RM10 mil is paid to Jakel (Trading Sdn Bhd) as well for the mosque’s land”.
Thankfully, some Madani government backers stepped in to call for cooler heads to prevail.
“Defamation by Firdaus Wong. I hope Dr Zaliha takes legal action against this convert,” screamed BULETIN RMS (@RajaMohdShahri) while another told Dr Zaliha to advise PMX to act against those “spreading false information on social media specially TikTok”.
- focus malaysia
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