Malacca is a major historical town in Malaysia which has a truly mixed background. It was Hindu, Portuguese, Dutch, English, Chinese, Malayan and finally Malaysian. Development in Malacca has meant many and different things to all concerned; stakeholders past and present.
For the Portuguese Malaysians it has meant not destroying their traditional and religious heritage. To the other original Malaccans like the Babas or the Chitis, it has meant sustainability of their culture and way of life; in spite of modernity and all other challenges. The Malaccans are a truly unique people, among all other Malayans. They do not have a Sultan to pay homage to; unlike the other nine Federated and Unfederated Malay States. From there arise both the heros and crooks like Hang Jebat and Hang Tuah.
Like Penang, she was historically a Straits Settlement. This actually meant some special and extra privileges; including the bumiputera status to some of the ethnic communities in Malacca. Although, even many tenth generation Chinese in Peninsular Malaya like, the dependents of Yap Ah Loy, are not even so recognized. Today, if I am not wrong, the Malacca Portuguese even have a very senior deputy secretary general, and bumiputera in the public services; even as they probably have had many others before.
History aside, in the 50th year of our independence from colonization and political patronage of paying homage to others, we may still have colonialist mindsets operating right in our midst; as we celebrate our so-called independence and our Visit Malaysia Year when a visit to Malacca is a must! Really? To see what? To find out about the truth of how we \”manage local cultures and traditions of faith and practice?\” This is neo-colonial exploitation of a new kind which we usually accuse the West for. The quote below from Dr Farish Noor says everything, to me:
\”In short, what we are witnessing today is the destruction of Malaysian temples, and that is why we Malaysians should be concerned. It doesn\’t matter what religion you may or may not choose to profess: this is an issue that needs to be addressed by us collectively. To recognise that these temples are Malaysian temples means locating them here, at home, as part of our collective identity and what defines us as what we are. I grew up in a neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur where at dawn I could hear the sound of the azan from the mosque and the chimes of the Hindu temple nearby. Today the temple bells are being silenced; and my world – and yours – is poorer as a result.\” – Dr Farish Noor, The Other Malaysia.
The story of the Hindu temple in Tambak Paya has broken into the news but the real under-currents are still fanning anger and hatred. I mean it: anger and hatred. I hope the National Unity and Integration Department have their feelers on the ground in Malacca before it is too late. Too many things are happening in Malacca which has upset the local Hindu population to no end. Malaysiakini carried a photograph of an Umno-linked poster \”warning the adherents that the Malay limits have been reached.\” But does Umno speak for the government on all matters, and especially so on matters related to the religion of another race or another ethnic community?
Surely the local council president does not take orders from Umno but instead, from the chief minister or ketua menteri of Malacca (note that he is not an MB like the 9 others). In fact, if I were the housing and local government minister, I would definitely find some legal basis to intervene to stop this abuse of Federal Constitutional rights of other communities to have their places of worship. The religious rights and liberties of the non-Muslim communities are found in the Federal Constitution and not from State Enactments.
Yes, therefore, if no proper places are officially allocated, then their worldview dictates that from the alignment of the stars and the full appreciation of the universe, different places and locations are considered more suitable for the setting up of temples. Therefore, the adherents build where they find such \”spiritually aligned locations.\” Technically it may be state land or even other forms of private property, like estate lands, but that becomes incidental when \”the principle of occupation legitimizes existence.\” After all, I think it was the Foreign Minister of Israel, Moshe Dayan who once said, \”Occupation is 90% of ownership.\”
50 years on
Let me now relate to what happens elsewhere, almost in identical form but wherein double standards prevail. There was a 40 year old green lung in my neighborhood. Many children in our neighborhood who are parents today \”grew up in this neighborhood green lung and park.\” The park had sepak takraw courts, a skating ring and badminton courts and a dilapidated playground for younger children. More importantly it had some huge and large trees which looked more than half a century old.
The neighborhood Muslim community had been asking for a new mosque because their old surau was bursting at it seems. The housing developer, made many verbal promises and even had proposed plans to build a mosque which were publicly presented. Then, slowly but surely, the developer forgot their promises, after the houses were sold. Then in 1999, just two weeks before the general elections, earthmovers came and cleared our 30-year-old green lung and ark. Nobody but the government knew what was happening and I suspect that government involved some state exco members (read Umno) who sanctioned and colluded to rape our green lung.
My many AR registered letters to the president of MPPJ went unreplied. The only ones that replied were two minister\’s offices, one was the DPM\’s (then deputy premier Pak Lah to whom I personally handed my letter of appeal to stop it) and the other Minister Dr Rais Yatim\’s (then minister of law). No one else bothered or cared. In fact, a current Umno exco member of the Selangor government even lied to us about his concerns, at a meeting arranged by friendly parties.
Today, the green lung is gone and in its place stands a huge \”illegal mosque\” which started as a local masjid committee project but then stopped because of corruption, and was finally \”bailed out and completed by the government.\” It was completed partially with the people\’s money on illegal land, which rightly belonged to the people of Kampung Tunku, based on the costs they paid for the housing development. Such rape continues before our very eyes.
Therefore when attending the parliamentary hearing at MBPJ recently I registered this complain as \”one type of crime happening which the police should not ignore!\” All criminal activites like these ones and others, are seeking to destroy legitimate rights of other Malaysians must be seen as crime and fought with a vengeance; otherwise we participate in propagating double standards of governance – one standard for the \”migrant non-Malays\” and another for the Muslim Malays.
But, this is the year we are celebrating 50 years of independence and what does it really mean if we cannot view ourselves as Malaysians. I pray that the Constitutional rights of the Hindus in Malacca will be justly preserved and protected, otherwise, as I have written before, maybe we should review whether we can and should really celebrate independence of 50 years from the colonial governance of the past. Maybe neo-colonialism is right here with us! God Bless Malaysia.
