The Home Ministry is confident the police will ensure safety at the Taman Medan church when it puts up the cross it was forced to take down following the protest on April 19.  

"I am confident the police will cooperate when asked for assistance from the church," Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said during his wrap-up of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan in the Dewan Rakyat today.

The  members of the Community of Praise Petaling Church want the police to guarantee their safety when they install the cross, MP Hee Loy Sian (PKR-Petaling Jaya Selatan) had said.

This, however seems like a change from the way Wan Junaidi ( photo ) spoke on Monday, when he was unsure if the sentiments around Taman Medan would allow the church to put up the cross back.

"I am from Sarawak. If this happened there, I will say 'yes', you can put back (the cross).

"But here, we have got to look at the environment. I cannot answer the question at the moment as I don't know what the environment is really like.

"You have to observe the sensitivities of the environment," Wan Junaidi told reporters at the Parliament lobby on June 8.

 

The Taman Medan churchgoers had a rude shock on April 19 when some 50 people turned up outside the shoplot where the church is located demanding the removal of the cross on its outer wall. Church members complied.

Despite assurances given by Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali at the end of April, the church only decided to reinstall the cross a month later. However, this has still not been done.

In addition, the Petaling Jaya City Council has said the church h as yet to obtain a permit  as place of worship.

However, Selangor state executive councillor Elizabeth Wong maintains that non-Muslim places of worship do not need a permit to operate from commercial units.