Fearing ‘christianisation’, local NGO wants construction of new church stopped
(Malay Mail Online) – Some 70 local residents and members of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) protested against the construction of a church claiming the growing number of the Christian places of worship in the area is part of an attempt to evangelise and convert Muslims to Christianity.
The Petaling chapter of Pertubuhan Sahabat – the NGO which organised the demonstration this morning – said that there are three churches in the vicinity, although close to 70 per cent of the residents in the area are Muslims and predominantly Malay.
The NGO’s spokesperson Ishak Maarof instead suggested that the land should have been alienated for the construction of a Hindu temple, claiming that some 25 per cent of the residents were Hindus.
“I used to live on this plot when it used to be a squatter area… but we moved when they wanted to build a place of worship, we gave way because we thought it was for a temple… I can’t believe they demolished our homes and stalls just to build another church,” Ishak told the crowd in the sweltering heat.
“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,” he said.
The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) had approved the building of a four-storey church in the vacant plot of land – which has been allocated for the construction of a non-Muslim place of worship – opposite the Mentari Court and Damai apartment complexes in 2012.
The vacant area was previously occupied by squatters, a car park and several food stalls.
“Aren’t those three churches enough to cater to the Christians… only some of the Indonesians here are Christians as far as we know,” said a Damai Apartment resident Norhafiza Hassan, 42, who had joined the demonstration which kicked off at 9.30am today.
