I refer to the malaysiakini report Umno banners call for temple's demolition .

It is highly regrettable that those responsible for the Maha Periyachi Temple in Tambak Paya have brought about the present situation by not following the procedures to register Hindu temples (before contemplating to renovate it) when this matter was brought up years ago,

Religious issues are sensitive in our society and they create a lots of emotional outbursts and actions. We should not rely on such emotional reactions to defend our unlawful actions. While we have every right to be angry at temple demolitions or attempted demolitions of lawfully erected temples, we should not condone the actions of those who elect to ignore the ground rules of setting up Hindu temples in this country.

The Indian leaders have been trying to 'educate' Hindu temple authorities all these while but some - especially those with temples on private land - feel that it is their 'right' to maintain temples that are not duly registered. We need to submit plans even to build a house on one's own land, what more a place of worship.

The community's leadership should have taken steps to recognise only temples that have been duly registered and the whole community should have been notified of this official list so that only these temples are accorded the support of the comuunity.

And having two temples in the same village for a minority community speaks volumes on the community's unity. And these two temples are about 100 metres away from each other! There may be about a thousand Hindus in the vicinity, surrounded by Malay villages. The Maha Mariamman Temple is a duly registered temple, and it does not face any problems from anyone.

It is time that we keep ours emotions out of such issues, no matter how difficult it is, and maintain some sense of balance. As a community, we have to understand some of the basic rules and observe them rather than expect special privileges when we violate them. More so at present, when many religious issues have sprung up dividing Malaysians along ethnic lines.

It is high time the Indian Malaysian leaders, including the Malaysian Hindu Sangam leaders to take a rational stand on Hindu temple issues especially and give a sense of direction to the community.