As the full-time whistle looms for elections, the PKR-led Selangor government has been busy scoring own goals.
The latest was the weird state guidelines banning new non-Muslim worship houses from shoplots or converted factories. The worst part was the reason, or rather excuse – to improve traffic and parking.
If that is so, then supermarkets and eateries must also be banned from shops since they attract many cars.
Yet it’s mainly churches that operate in shops or former factories. Their main crowd is on Sundays when many other businesses are closed, so the traffic rationale is not rational.
So what's the real reason? Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung lamented that for years, due to the shortage of land gazetted for non-Muslim places of worship, some have operated in commercial or industrial areas.
“Why introduce restrictions on arrangements that have largely not posed problems?” he asked.
The new rules are for "new townships", and land will supposedly be provided for non-Muslims.
This means traditional Chinese and Hindu temples, Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist viharas, Sikh gurdwaras and churches of different denominations must compete for probably the single non-Muslim space.
Civilised co-existence
Instead of constraints and containment, I expected a Madani or “civilised” Malaysia to learn from our old towns like Malacca, George Town and Seremban, where there is a main “harmony street” with a mosque, church, Chinese and Hindu temple, all within walking distance.
They all coexist peacefully and nobody's faith is "confused". If space is not provided, then please don’t complain of “illegal” temples lah.
The non-Muslim worship house guidelines were approved by the Selangor state exco meeting on Nov 12, 2025 and then published.
But after Lee exposed this on May 23, the state government went into “damage control” mode, saying the rules won’t be enforced yet, pending a review in early June.
But how could the PKR-led state administration even approve such lopsided rules? I confess to having a soft spot for DAP, but even then I have to ask, did the rocket folks agree to this?
Why is Harapan shooting itself in the foot, knowing full well that its support with core non-Malay supporters is falling?
An internal PKR strategic analysis for the coming general election showed that only seven of its 31 parliamentary seats are considered “safe” (Tier 1), and even then, four of those are held by those aligned with its former deputy president Rafizi Ramli.
Even Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s own Tambun seat is now deemed “marginal” (Tier 2B) while the Gombak seat of Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari is deemed to be in the ”red zone” (Tier 3).
Does PKR have a death wish?
PJ hospital debacle
The second recent PKR own goal in Selangor is Amirudin’s recent excuse that there’s a “lack of suitable land” for the proposed Petaling Jaya government hospital.
This quickly drew brickbats as people asked why land was instead available for condos, a data centre and three new private hospitals?
Amirudin said that 2ha of land was needed – well, allow me then to assist our dear menteri besar. The SS2 mall in PJ has been dead since 2015 and has 3ha of land. A new private hospital was announced there in 2020, but the project failed to happen.
The state can use the Land Acquisition Act to take over the site, since a hospital is obviously a “public purpose”. If this freelance journalist can find the place with a 10-minute Google search, it’s mind-boggling to think that the Pakatan Harapan state government can’t.
There are also derelict industrial land plots near PJ Old Town, with some as large as 50,000 to 150,000sq ft. Just two or three of these will come to2ha. The private Beacon Hospital is also located in this area.
Worst-case scenario, there are other green areas in Puchong and Petaling Jaya for a hospital – for example, the huge Padang Astaka, behind the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital.
It’s a shame to lose a green area, but arguably, a hospital is more important. In any case, there is another field called Padang Timur nearby.
So there are many alternatives – unless the politicians want to sell these lands cheaply to developers, as happened with the Ayer Hitam forested areas in Puchong.
If such shady deals take priority over public wellbeing, then Putrajaya should at least step in to reduce steep charges at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, where one night in a four-bedded ward costs a whopping RM300, much more than private hospitals.
UMMC is under the Higher Education Ministry, and it’s galling to think that patients are being squeezed to pay the salaries of “kangkung professors”, such as those who claim that the Romans learned shipbuilding from the Malays.
Ayer Hitam forest fiasco
And now we come to the third own goal. Subang MP Wong Chen has urged the Selangor government to explain why 68ha of land in or adjacent to the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve had been sold to Jakel Group at a low price of only RM13.80psf.
Amirudin replied that a “property consultant” had assessed the land value at RM13psf. But hello, that was way back in 2012 lah. Obviously, prices have risen since then.
Wong has been asking when the land was sold to Jakel, but there has been no answer.
What are prices now? A simple Google search reveals the answers quickly.
For example, the nearby Aseana Puteri condo sells units at a median price of RM420psf according to the Property Guru website. Multiply that by 20 floors of the condo.
Or take the nearby terrace houses of Puteri 8 in Puchong, which sell for between RM600 and RM700psf, according to Iproperty.
Obviously, that is way above the measly RM13.80psf Jakel paid. The ever honest menteri besar said that 75 percent of the land is “unsuitable for development” as there are Class 3 and 4 steep slopes. If so, why was the land sold?
Is Jakel building an “eco education centre” to augment the very popular Bukit Wawasan hiking trails there? Or will they build lucrative condos, even though this will destroy the existing forests and cause soil erosion?
Compromise with greed
But I grudgingly accept that politicians and developers have a sweet tooth, or lips, for each other. I was involved in trying to save the Shah Alam Community Forest and saw various smokescreens and obstacles thrown up by the Selangor Harapan government.
Even a faulty forest degazettement was fixed – by backdating it 22 years to the glorious era when Umno ruled Selangor. That’s when I had to admit that Harapan in Selangor was turning into BN 2.0.
Wong and Lee, who are both in Rafizi’s reformist group, propose that the state government buy back the land. Sadly, this probably won’t happen as Jakel will demand its pound of flesh.
Perhaps a more realistic option is for the state to impose tight conditions for development. A compromise solution is to preserve 80 percent of the forest while allowing condos around its fringe.
The condos will carry a premium price as residents have serene forest views and fresh air, plus a nature getaway in their backyard. They will have the same pristine setting as condos next to Bukit Gasing and the Kota Damansara Community Forest.
It’s a win-win-win solution that caters to developers’ and politicians’ vested interests while saving most of the forest. Will the Selangor government do it to avoid further damage to its reputation?
Its three own goals only add to voters' anger about other broken reformasi promises – be it curbing corruption or racial hate speech.
I was a supporter of Anwar before and even attended Harapan rallies in the rain. But I am now very disappointed, especially with PKR or Parti Kelentong Rakyat (Bluffing People’s Party).
The final whistle for elections is coming. Can the PKR-led Selangor government recover after repeatedly shooting itself in the foot? - Mkini
ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist who likes teh tarik khau kurang manis. You are welcome to give him ideas to brew at tehtarik@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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