As a Christian and a church leader, I am disappointed with the Subang Jaya state assemblyperson Lee Hwa Beng. He has neglected his job in helping the non-Muslims.

This MPSJ draft local plan was definitely unfair to churches and temples in Subang Jaya. Why were the churches and temples not alerted to submit their objections? If they need to pay for permits, why were they not informed until DAP's Teresa Kok brought it out? Churches and temples should be exempted from paying for permits. They are not running a business and getting profits. RM1,000 per year is a lot of money. What about a church or a temple which is occupying more than one lot of a building? Does it have to pay according to the number of lots?

Officially if you don't have a permit, it is illegal. No church in Subang Jaya is legal except the First Baptist Church in SS17. In the past, I knew of municipal councils purposely making it difficult for churches. For example, if you rent premises for your church, you have no right to apply for a permit. The landlords have to apply on your behalf. At the end of the day, no landlord would want to go through all the hassle.

Applying for permits would have lots of disadvantages. That would mean that the operations of churches are being controlled by MPSJ. At any time, they will have the right not to reject your renewal. Even if you own the property, they would say that the buildings are meant for commercial use only and not for religious purposes. When permits are not renewed, it is equivalent to churches and temples being closed down.

Under the constitution, all citizens are given the right for freedom of worship. Which church or temple wants to use shops and houses or factories for our places of worship if the government allow us to build on land in proper areas? Why is land just given for suraus only? Hwa Beng has never pushed the constituency's developer Sime UEP to comply with housing laws and allocate certain proportions of land for non-Muslims' places of worship.

Therefore the MPSJ draft local plan is definitely eroding the rights of non-Muslims. That is why churches and temples should have been alerted from the beginning to allow them the opportunity to hold dialogues with MPSJ to voice out our objections. But now it is too late. Teresa Kok has done the right thing.