[OVERVIEW] Muslim Groups Are Protesting The Development Of A Four-Storey Church In Sunway
A group of Muslim NGOs is protesting the construction of The Praise Emmanuel Church at Dataran Sunway. According to the NGO, building a church at an area with 70% Muslim residency is an insult to the residents.
By Mei Mei Chu — 04 Nov 2014, 01:42 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
A group of Muslim NGOs is protesting the planned construction of The Praise Emmanuel Church at Dataran Mentari in Bandar Sunway
A group of NGOs today protested against the planned construction of a church in Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya in what they say is a predominant Malay-Muslim area.
malaysiakini.comThe Praise Emmanuel Church applied to build a four-storey building with only two floors allocated for religious activities in 2012. It is expected to be due in 18 month's time.
The Praise Emmanuel Assembly Church had applied to build a four-storey building along Jalan PJS 8/9 in 2012.
themalaymailonline.com
Addressing these concerns about the size of the building, Robert said the building was cited as a four-storey structure because the ground floor parking level and the highest level were treated as two floors. This, however, was where the water catchment and air-condition compressors would be located. Only two floors would be used for actual religious activities.
themalaysianinsider.com
"In actual fact we have the sanctuary on one floor and the mezzanine floor will feature a library and a 30-seat capacity prayer room. "It's also a very small piece of land, the size is only 10,000 sq ft (about 930 sq m) and the requirement is for us to have 14 parking bays which we have provided for at the ground level," the pastor said.
themalaysianinsider.com
The vacant area was previously occupied by squatters, a car park and several food stalls.
themalaymailonline.com
NGO Pertubuhan Sahabat said they were not against the construction of churches, but it had to be in suitable locations. They cited that 70% of the residents there were Muslims, thus a construction of a church would be an insult.
The group had demonstrated at the church building site at Jalan PJS 8/9, saying that building a four-storey church in the area would be an insult to the Muslims living there. He said they were not against the construction of churches but it had to be in suitable locations. The group had said there were already three churches in the vicinity and complained that this was not appropriate in a neighbourhood that was 70% Muslim.
themalaysianinsider.com
Pertubuhan Sahabat's spokesperson Ishak Maarof said that the residents had no qualms about setting up any other non-Muslim place of worship and proposed that the land is, instead, given to a Hindu temple claiming that 25 per cent of the residents in the high-rise residential units were Hindus. “Even before the church has been built, flyers on Christianity has been distributed to our homes and this could confuse our children and divert them from the path of Islam,” claimed Ishak.
themalaymailonline.com
Spokesperson for the NGO Ishak Maarof called the planned construction "an ill-intentioned agenda against the Muslims". He questioned why a planned church "appears immediately" but the process to built suraus or mosques is slow.
A spokesperson for the NGO, Ishak Maarof, reportedly said that MBPJ had told them that they had called for a public hearing, but maintained that neither his group nor the surau or mosque representatives were informed. The fact that it is being done quietly, to our mind, is an ill-intentioned agenda against the Muslims here," the news portal reported him as saying.
themalaysianinsider.com
Ishak also complained that apart from the area being a Muslim area, the location was also unsuitable as the four-storey church can be seen from the Federal Highway and the new LRT extension line. "I am curious why when there is a planned church, it immediately appears but when there is a surau or mosque to be built, the process if often slow.
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"The majority in Selangor are Malays... the Sultan is Malay, the menteri besar is Malay, the state police chief is Malay, the administration is also Malay, what religion are they (the local authorities)?" he was quoted as saying in the Malaysiakini report.
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However, it was seven years ago in 2008 when the Selangor exco approved the application to alienate 10,000 sq ft of the land to the church
The vacant plot of land was gazetted back in 2001 as a place of worship. MBPJ sees no issue with the building of a church as all legal and procedural requirements were properly followed.
Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) had gazetted the vacant plot of land ― which is adjacent to the Mentari Court Apartment blocks and opposite the Damai low-cost flats in Bandar Sunway ― for a non-Muslim place of worship way back in 2001, said councillor Cynthia Gabriel. Gabriel pointed out that MBPJ's local plans are “usually” specific on which non-Muslim religious institution the alienated plot is dedicated for. However, she could not confirm if the plot in question has been gazetted for a Christian place of worship. “Nevertheless, the public hearings were conducted and every other procedure was followed,” stressed Gabriel.
themalaymailonline.com
MBPJ councilor Cynthia Gabriel (pic) said there was no issue with the building of the four storey Praise Emmanuel Assembly church as all legal requirements had been met by the church. "The land was gazetted in 2001 during BN's time. So if all legal and procedural requirements had been followed, then MBPJ sees no issue with the building of the church."
themalaysianinsider.com
Residents in the area were initially concerned with parking and congestion issues, but church authorities met with them and had resolved the issue on a good note
Another demonstration by residents of the nearby Damai Apartment complex in PJS 8 was held in October over concerns about the new building when it is operational. Robert said representatives from the church immediately met the residents to allay their concerns about traffic congestion. The meeting ended on a good note, with both sides "exchanging contact numbers", Robert said.
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"They stressed to us that they were not against us or the church, but were only concerned about the parking and traffic issues. "We explained to them that we only meet for one hour and 45 minutes on Sunday mornings and will utilise the parking on a vacant land nearby, and they understood," Robert told The Malaysian Insider.
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He added that the church and residents in the area had also attended a public hearing by the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MBPJ) two years ago when planning approval for the church was first issued. The parishioners, however, were not able to raise the necessary funds to build the new church within the one-year validity period of the planning approval, Robert said. They then resubmitted their plans and another planning approval was issued a year ago. As such, work on the site was to start work this month, with completion slated in 18 months.
themalaysianinsider.com
The Muslim groups had slammed Nik Nazmi for being insensitive to the feelings of the Muslims in the area. The Seri Setia state assemblyman had said that respecting the rights of other faiths does not make one less Muslim.
Christians have a right to their own places of worship, and allowing the construction of a church in Petaling Jaya will not make the Malays any less Muslim, PKR Seri Setia state assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said today.
malaysiandigest.com
"I don’t think (the proposed church) is an insult to Muslims. We can see other places of worship in PJ and across Malaysia that co-exist peacefully. It’s part of our tradition. “Respecting the rights of other faiths doesn’t make us less Muslim. In fact, it is very Islamic and in line with the tradition of our Prophet and the Quran (to allow others to practise their beliefs). “But of course people always try to make this into a political issue,” the Selangor executive councillor said.
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Nik Nazmi added that despite protest by some of the local residents and a Muslim NGO, the construction of the church would go on as long as it followed the procedures. The PKR Youth chief added that the church had already operated at a shoplot nearby for many years, and that many Christians had worshipped there. “At the end of the day, the zone had always been gazetted as a place of worship for non-Muslims. If you don’t want that church there, what will happen to the land?”
malaysiandigest.com
With over 200 worshippers, The Praise Emmanuel Church started three decades ago as part of the squatter settlement in the area
Praise Emmanuel is an evangelical church and besides its lot in Dataran Mentari, it also operates in shoplots in Klang and Seri Kembangan. The Dataran Mentari congregation has more than 200 worshippers living in the immediate vicinity.
themalaysianinsider.com
Robert also said that the church first started three decades ago as part of the squatter settlement in the area, then known as Kampung Lindungan. They then moved into a shoplot at nearby Dataran Mentari 17 years ago and were planning to move into a new church building in about 18 months' time.
themalaysianinsider.com