1. Malaysiakini(http://www.malaysiakini.com)
(1) Demolished Shah Alam temple to be rebuilt, 21 September 2010
The Sri Maha Mariamman Hindu temple in Section 16 Shah Alam will soon be rebuilt.
Its controversial demolition by the state government in 2007 had led to the Indians turning their backs on BN.
The Selangor exco in charge of non-Muslim houses of worship, Dr Xavier Jayakumar, officially pronounced the 15,000 square feet of land which is located near the original site, gazetted as temple land in perpetuity.
"Tomorrow, the state exco meeting will also approve an allocation of RM300,000 to go to the construction of the temple," added Dr Xavier.
The state exco announced this to the 30-odd crowd at the temple construction site in a press conference after unveiling the project signboard.
He also explained that the land was ceded by the developer to be gazetted as temple land after a marathon session of 17 meetings with all parties concerned.
This gesture by the Pakatan state government shall soon see this house of worship returned to the Hindu devotees who have been resettled in a nearby high-rise residential project.
The temple's Hindu devotee association secretary M Muniandy who gave the welcome address at the beginning of the event expressed the resident's gratitude to the Pakatan-led state government for their efforts in securing new land for their house of worship.
"We are touched by the the state government's efforts and the excos who have worked to solve our woes," said Muniandy.
The event was preceded by a prayer recited by the temple's priest.
Also present during the even were fellow excos, Pandamaran assemblyperson Ronnie Liu and Batu Tiga assemblyperson Rodziah Ismail as well as representatives from Hindu Sanggam, Klang municipal councillors and local residents.
The temple, along with the squatter settlement of Rimba Jaya, was demolished in 2007 by the then BN-led state government as part of its Zero Squatter programme.
It resulted in intense protests by Indian groups and was said to be a trigger for the historic Hindraf rally on Nov 25 that year.
(2) Church body slams stop-work order, 22 September 2010
The Council of Churches Malaysia Youth have slammed the stop-work order on an Orang Asli church by the federal government, calling it an act of "bullying".
"The CCM Youth opines that the Department of Orang Asli Affairs (JHEOA) has overstepped its boundaries in denying the Orang Asli community their rights to choose to empower themselves, be it building upon their own land, homes, wells, a community hall, a temple, a mosque, a shrine or even a church, if they so wish, within the aboriginal reserves.
"These land rights of our Orang Asli community are protected by the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 whereby the lands which they occupy are protected as aboriginal reserves, belonging to them and they have every right to their land," it said in a statement today.
It added that the department should instead focus on its primary responsibility and objectives of caring for the well-being of the indigenous community as stipulated in its mission statement.
"As we have only just celebrated our National Day and Malaysia Day as well, may we remind the JHEOA, as well as all other state and federal government agencies, of our Prime Minister's 1Malaysia message of seeking to build community and unity through harmonious respect for one another, and celebrate proudly our colourful 'Ais Kacang' heritage.
"CCM Youth reiterates our call to stop bullying our indigenous peoples and for the JHEOA to respect their chosen Christian faith and, in the spirit of 1Malaysia, allow them to proceed
peacefully in building their church at Pos Pasik without further obstacles," they said.
The youth wing of the religious umbrella body will also be setting up an online petition in support of the Orang Asli communities.
Orang Asli fight back
It was previously reported that the Orang Asli community in the Temiar Village of Pos Pasik, Kelantan, had built a church halfway, only to be met with a letter from JHEOA last month saying that their application had been rejected.
The federal government agency also issued a stop-work order in their Aug 9 reply to the village head, Setmen Belungei, who had written to inform the department that they would be replacing their existing structure made of bamboo and leaves.
The agency did not include any other reason for their stop-work order, apart from the community not obtaining prior permission.
To that, Setmen - through his lawyers - has fought back, saying that his initial letter dated May 20 was merely to inform, and not to seek approval from the department.
In a copy of the correspondence from his lawyer, Lum Chee Seng, to the department, it was also stated that the rejection was "baseless".
"You have failed in stating any reasons in your letter on why my client's intention to build a church has been rejected. Therefore, your rejection is unreasonable, baseless, unfounded and illegal in the eyes of the law.
"With that, your letter will be ignored," said the letter obtained by Malaysiakini.
2. Catholic News Asia(http://www.canews.com)
Indigenous church under threat in Malaysia, 22 September 2010
A Christian church constructed by an indigenous community in Malaysia’s Kelantan state faces the prospect of demolition for reasons still unknown to the native community there.
The church is located in Pos Pasik, a forested area about 70km from Gua Musang, and only accessibly with a four-wheel drive vehicle, Free Malaysia Today reports.
The 600-strong Orang Asli (indigenous) population is of Temiar ethnicity, with most them having converted to Christianity since 2001.
“The community has always had bamboo churches which have to be replaced once every two years,” said Moses Soo, a pastor who oversees the Orang Asli churches in Kelantan. “Two years ago, the government began providing brick houses for the villagers and this sparked the idea of a brick church too.”
The money for building the church was raised by the community with the assistance of Soo and work commenced in May this year.
“As a gesture of courtesy, the villagers sent a letter to the Department of Orang Asli Affairs (JHEOA) informing it of their plans,” he said. “In August, they received a reply from the JHEOA deputy director-general Nisra Nisran Asra Ramlan saying that permission was denied and they were to stop work immediately.”
With the church due for completion next month, the angry Orang Asli stood their ground and protested that they didn’t seek permission from the JHEOA.
“The land belongs to the Orang Asli and they consider it their right to build a church on it,” added Soo. “Furthermore, the JHEOA didn’t provide any reasons for its decision so the villagers sought legal counsel.”
Their lawyer, Lum See Cheng, advised them to ignore the JHEOA’s letter and proceed with their plans. The church is now 70% completed.
“This is a religion-related issue,” he claimed. “Otherwise, I don’t see why the authorities would be so interested in meddling in the affairs of people who live deep in the heart of the jungle.”
3. Catholic Culture(https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=7686)
Malaysian officials block rebuilding of church , 23 September 2010
Local government officials in predominantly Muslim Malaysia have ordered a Protestant community to stop building a brick church in a village where 600 were baptized in 2001. The previous bamboo church in the village had been destroyed by flooding.
“The Christian community enjoys freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Malaysia, Article 11, but sometimes this freedom is limited by the restrictive interpretation given by government officials and the perception of the majority religious community in Malaysia, the Muslims,” said Tan Kong Beng, executive secretary of the Malaysian Christian Federation.
3% of the nation’s 27.7 million people are Catholic, according to Vatican statistics. 60% are Muslim, 19% are Buddhist, 6% are Hindu, and 6% are Protestant.
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