COMMENT | Chinese New Year is here. However, instead of the usual prayers for prosperity and good health, I will be praying for the return of the Malaysia I grew up in - a country where unity, harmony, and tolerance were not political slogans, but lived values.

In particular, my prayers are for my Hindu brethren. Increasingly, many in the community feel singled out, marginalised, and unfairly targeted. Their sense of pain and exclusion deserves empathy, not suspicion.

The current controversy over so-called “illegal temples” did not emerge overnight, nor did it arise in a vacuum.

It is the predictable outcome of a long-standing housing and planning failure, one that successive governments have chosen to manage politically rather than resolve structurally.

For decades, there were suggestions and discussions about allocating land for non-Muslim houses of worship alongside...