DAP’s Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming has ticked off MCA religious harmony bureau deputy chief Ng Chok Sin over his claim of a “clandestine” attempt to destroy the St Joseph Chapel in Kajang.
“Ng’s statement was totally irresponsible and unbecoming of a political leader.
“If he had bothered to put in just a bit of effort to find out more about the situation, he would have easily found out that the local authorities as well as the state government had been discussing the matter with the Catholic Church and the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) since the beginning of the year,” Ong said in a statement today.
Ong pointed out that the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Julian Leow had in a letter on Aug 19 to the parishioners of the Holy Family Church in Kajang explained why he agreed to allow the Kajang Municipal Council to demolish the unused chapel.
The letter, which was read out during all masses last weekend, also asked the parish priest to cooperate and assist the local council to ensure no untoward incident in the demolition.
He added that archbishop in a letter to Selangor exco member Elizabeth Wong also thanked her for engaging the Catholic Church on a sensitive issue that ended with an amicable solution.
However, Ong said Ng’s attempt to play up the demolition as something sinister forced the Catholic Church to issue another statement yesterday clarifying the matter.
In that statement, The Catholic Church of Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur explained that the chapel was not in use since the 1980s as it was meant for parishioners of Braemar Estate which no longer existed.
“The Archbishop would like to appeal to these individuals to respect the lawful right of the council to carry out its duty, and to remind everyone that the decision to demolish the unused chapel was made after due process was followed,” it said.
Ng, who is also Selangor MCA secretary, had also questioned whether the demolition was influence by PAS and Amanah in the Selangor government.
Ong urged the MCA leader to apologise for not only attempting to put the state government in a bad light but also the Catholic Church.
“I call upon Ng Chok Sin to apologise to Kajang state assemblyperson Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the Kajang Municipal Council, PKR and DAP for his baseless and unfounded accusations.
“In addition, I call upon Ng Chok Sin to apologise to Archbishop Julian Leow for making it seem as if the Catholic Church had been irresponsible in not taking part in the decision-making process to decide the fate of the chapel.
“Now that the facts surrounding this matter are clear to the general public, as a responsible public figure, Ng should issue an unconditional apology to all the parties who have been aggrieved by his irresponsible statement,” he said. - Mkini
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