WE DON’T WANT CROSS, WE WANT ‘ONG’ (PROSPERITY): DEVELOPER SAYS LIGHTS AT JELUTONG CONDO DEPICT CHINESE CHARACTER, NOTHING TO DO WITH CHRISTIAN RELIGION

THE lights at the Grace Residence building in Jelutong, Penang, were never meant to show the sign of the cross or have any religious meaning.

A spokesman from developer Nova Mulia Development Sdn Bhd said the lights at the apartment, which was near 90% completion, were being tested.

“Perhaps when pictures were taken, the lights had shown a cross. But the lighting is not meant to show a cross.

“We have lights on the top floor and at the car park level too, but the photographs did not show the two top and bottom rows of lights turned on at the common areas.

“So all that was shown are the lights that form a cross,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

If all lights at the top floor and car park level are turned on, the Chinese character “wang” (王), which means “king” or “royal”, will be visible.

It is also a common Chinese surname, also read as “ong” in dialects like Hokkien, which is widely spoken in Penang.

“That is what the lights would normally show at night,” she added.

Pictures of a cross formed by the apartment building’s light have recently gone viral, leading to an outcry among some Muslims over the display of a Christian symbol.

Islam is Malaysia’s religion of state, and proselytising to Muslims by practitioners of other faiths is illegal.

Late last week, Penang mufti Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor issued a statement urging the local authorities to direct the developer to change the position of the lights so they would not show a cross when turned on.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state had asked the developer for an explanation. He also said the developer was testing the lights at the apartment.

Chow said it was an apartment and not a house of worship, while also reminding all parties to respect the sensitivities of others.

The developer’s spokesman said her firm had informed the state, as well as the Penang Island City Council, of the situation.

“Even this morning we had a meeting with the local authorities. They understand the situation,” she said.

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com