Mamma Mia, Papparaidu… Where were you when the temple, church guidelines were approved?

 

ONE can be forgiven for thinking that the controversy over guidelines for non-Muslims places of worship that dominated headlines in recent weeks took place in PAS-held SG3+1 states like Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis (now under a Bersatu Menteri Besar).

Surprise, surprise, it happened in Selangor, a stronghold of Pakatan Harapan (PH), a coalition which derives its support largely from the non-Muslims but who have increasingly become more disillusioned with the pact.

Who can blame them? After decades of supporting the so-called more “liberal” anti-Barisan Nasional (BN) pact, the PH-led Selangor state government quietly approved the Selangor State Manual on Guidelines and Standards for Community Facilities Planning last November.

Among others, the guideline stipulates that houses of worship for non-Muslims are not to be located in commercial areas; should not exceed the height of nearby mosques and require service routes instead of direct access from main roads.

Had Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung not publicly raised concerns about the guidelines late last month, Selangor voters, especially the non-Muslims would have had to put up with restrictive rules pertaining to their places of worship.

As it is, many non-Muslims already find lack of land and support from the state frustrating enough without having to contend with additional layers of restrictions and uncertainty.

As public anger ran high, Selangor executive councillor member who is also the Selangor DAP chairman Ng Sze Han clarified that the guidelines had not yet to be implemented and that a review would be conducted with religious groups.

That sounded more like damage control and had done little to assuage non-Muslims in Selangor that PH was not grandstanding to the Malay-Muslim electorate whom the coalition was fast losing support from.

But to make matters worse, Selangor’s co-chair of the special committee on Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, and Taoist Affairs of Selangor (LIMAS) Papparaidu Verama finally broke his silence over the controversy.

A fellow state EXCO as well as DAP colleague of Sze Han, Papparaidu said on June 6 that Selangor consistently supported non-Muslim communities and pointed out that since 2008, the PH-led Madani government had approved and issued 481 plots of land for non-Islamic religious purposes.

Why did he issue a statement a day after the Malaysian Hindu Sanggam called on the Selangor state government to withdraw the controversial provisions in the guidelines?

More concerning is, wasn’t Papparaidu, the Banting state assemblyman – alongside Sze Han  and another DAP colleague Datuk Ng Suee Lim – part of the executive council that approved the guidelines last year?

Were they hoping to slip in the provisions quietly or did they even read the guideline before rubber-stamping it?

Papparaidu and his ilk may try to make all kinds of excuses and justifications about the guidelines but the fact was that they were party to approving the guideline where the provision of height of non-Muslims’ places of worship had absolutely nothing to do with town planning principles.

Non-Muslim voters in Selangor are not asking for excuses after the fact. They are asking how the guidelines were even approved in the first place.

If this is what passes for vigilance in a PH stronghold, then perhaps the real problem is not the guideline alone but the people who allowed it to see the light of day. –  Focus Malaysia