Ku Nan to Perkasa: Don’t preach to Hindus

(FMT) – Malay right-wing pressure group Perkasa has been ridiculed for questioning the construction of a Hindu temple in Putrajaya, and suggesting it should face Banting, Selangor, instead.

In a rare rebuke from an Umno politician, Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said it was immaterial where the entrance faced, adding that it was not for the Perkasa leader to preach to Hindus, Malaysian Insider reported.

The Perkasa Youth leader, Irwan Fahmi Ideris, had questioned why a Hindu temple was being built in Putrajaya, a Malay-majority area, and suggested that the entrance of the new temple face Banting, which has a large Hindu population.

Tengku Adnan said Perkasa should stop playing up the issue. “We have built many temples before, building another one in Putrajaya is not going to change the entire population into Hindus,” Adnan said.

The new temple, to cost about RM12 million, was approved many years before. It will have a library and a hall. “The facilities can be used by everyone, not just Hindus,” Adnan said. About 600-700 Hindus live in the federal administrative centre.

The Sri Lalithambikai Alayam temple can accommodate as many as 10,000 devotees during festivities.

Former MIC president S Samy Vellu had broached the idea of building a Hindu temple in Putrajaya during initial planning of the administrative capital. An acre of land was then allocated following approval by Mahathir Mohamad, then prime minister.