Netizen points out more purportedly illegal-build temples

THE issue of temples built on other people’s land has always been a sticky one.

As though the spectre of the 130-year-old Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman Temple was not enough, here comes another netizen to raise awareness over another purportedly illegal-built-temple.

Expect the temperature to rise in the cyberspace. Here in a viral post on X by @MALAYSIAVIRALLL, a temple could be seen nestling under the LRT rail.

“When will the Klang municipal council visit this illegal temple under the LRT fronting Klang Parade?” he said, adding that if the temple was not demolished, it may soon grow and stick to the pillar of the LRT rail.

In the photo, people could observe the government avoiding the temple by narrowing the road as can be seen in the bright yellow guard rail.

The peaceful image proved deceptive when readers head over to the comment section and discover the verbal firestorm there. 

Netizen @AnbalaganRamas3 drew first blood by tagging the police and the Ministry of Communication, urging them to look into this account holder for making posts against the unity of the nation.

His comment, however, drew criticisms from a good number of netizens.

“Is occupying other people’s land is part of your unity,” said @tempurkata, adding that the authorities should investigate the municipal council who may have been bribed by the Indian community so that they do not demolish their illegal temples.

@azisacatlover added that it has nothing to do with unity. “Go name any mosque, church or Buddhist temple that does this in Malaysia. We will viral them as well,” he continued.

Then there was @iam_ein who came up with a twist in his reply.

According to him, the post was made to preserve harmony. Before the illegal temples became bigger and turned into a problem, it was best to check and act now.

“You still remember what happened during the temple riots on November 27, 2018?” he said.

Prompted by the post, several netizens have since come forth to report several other temples which were purportedly built illegally.

Perhaps, the winning comment goes to netizen @wmsif who suggested that instead of labelling and finding out these illegal temples, people could have asked their Indian friends about the factors that make them build their temples there.

“We find a win-win solution in the context of law and justice,” he said, being a voice of reason amidst all the rage and anger.

On our part, the issue is never a simple one as voiced out by some netizens.

It is not a, “You can’t build here. So when you build here, you are wrong,” argument since some of these temples pre-date even the independence of Malaya.

Back then, quite a number of structures, not only temples, were built without government approval.

Hopefully, as netizen @wmsif has stated, everyone could reach an agreement in a nation that has been divided by race and religion for far too long. — Focus Malaysia