KUALA LUMPUR: Late Tuesday morning, devotees of the Yu Xu Gong temple in Taman Bidara, Selayang, who were still in a festive mood after ushering in the Lunar Chinese New Year just last week, were shocked as more than a dozen Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) enforcement officers converged outside their temple to tear down a "Datuk Gong" shrine less than five meters away.
The shrine, which has stood at its place, at the end of an alley for close to 30 years, was torn down by MPS enforcement officers because according to the council, it was built illegally on government land.
According to Yu Xu Gong temple committee member for public relations, Wong May Lin, who has also been a resident in the area for more than three decades, MPS issued a letter of notice regarding the shrine just two days before Chinese New Year.
“Imagine the shock we got in the midst of preparing for Chinese New Year... on Jan 23... we received the letter.
“The very next day, on Friday, New Year’s eve, we went to meet MPS officials at their office in a desperate bid to apply for a permit from the town council’s planning unit so as to prevent our sacred shrine from being demolished.
"After we were done with the Chinese New Year celebrations, on Feb 3 (Monday), we sent in an application for our beloved shrine to remain where it has been for the last three decades, but then MPS enforcement officers showed up late in the morning at around 11.30am the very next day and proceeded to demolish it, much to our utter sadness and disappointment,” lamented Wong, who along with the other committee members were visibly upset by what had happened.
Incidentally when the shrine was demolished yesterday, Wong was at the office of Selangor State government senior executive councillor Datuk Teng Chang Khim to discuss the matter.
Wong claimed MPS acted very swiftly that they did not have enough time and notice to do the necessary in moving the shrine to another spot with the necessary approval from the council.
“It is a sacred place of worship for all of us that congregate here to pray, which is what we do here, and that was the only spot where we could place the shrine as this is an old housing area so space is very tight, and after all these years, only now MPS decided to act and to act so swiftly without giving us a chance and the time to safeguard the shrine’s place,” she pointed out.
The temple, housed in two adjoining terrace houses, first opened its doors in the early 90s, and it was during this time that the shrine was erected at the nearby alley.
The temple attracts more than 500 devotees from all over the Klang Valley, with some devotees coming from as far as Klang and Sentul to pray.
In a media statement issued by MPS today, the council clarified that they took action to demolish the shrine after a decision made during a meeting on Jan 22 to approve of such a move and action, and that an obstruction notice was sent to the temple.
The notice was issued based on section 46(1)(a) of the Road, Drain and Building Act of 1974 (Act 133) to remove the shrine and the location and operation of the temple, latest by July 1.
The council stated that their swift action to demolish the shrine was in line with their standard operating procedure (SOP) if no reciprocal action was taken by the temple’s management committee within three days of the notice being issued on Jan 23.
The council also mentioned via the media statement that the appeal made by the temple’s management committee for a deferment up to Feb 7 was received.
However, internal investigation carried out found that the decision on the deferment, given by one of their officers, was supposedly invalid because it clashed with the decision made by the council in their meeting.
With regards to the location of the temple, MPS revealed that if no action was taken by the temple’s management committee based on the notice sent, the council would refer their paperwork on the matter to the Selangor state’s Non Islamic Affairs Committee (HESI) for further consideration and follow up action.