A public dialogue organised by the Shah Alam City Council with Section 23 residents over the relocation of a 150-year temple to their area has descended into a shouting match this morning.

Some of the participants shouted profanities at Selangor Mentri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, and called him “MB bodoh” and “Khalid babi”.

Also heard above the din were “you should be ashamed of being a Malay” and “don’t be like a cow led by a ring through the nose”.

section 23 resident arges with khalid samad

The fracas began when about 50 unruly residents of the 300-strong crowd - most of whom were at the controversial cow-head protest last Friday - wanted several people out of the hall as they were apparently not from their residential area.

Participants were required to register before being allowed into the hall and were restricted to one person per household.

The situation took a turn for the worse when the residents began booing Abdul Khalid as well as a number of state government leaders as they were introduced at the dialogue.

Even when order was restored, the shouting continued from the floor as Selangor state leaders, including Shah Alam parliamentarian Khalid Samad, attempted to speak to the residents.

The interruptions, boos and profanities continued throughout the dialogue while the Indian residents sitting on the other side of the hall, remained mostly quiet.

MB appeals for calm repeatedly

Aside from the two Khalids, those on the podium at the Shah Alam City Council hall were Batu Tiga state assemblyperson Rodziah Ismail, state development agency PKNS chief Othman Omar and mayor Mazalan Md Noor.

section 23 residents dialogue with mb However, executive councillor Dr A Xavier Jayakumar, who was blamed by the residents for the controversial relocation of the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple from Section 19 to Section 23 - was absent.

Mazalan said the temple committee could not agree to a site in Section 22

proposed by the previous administration as it was located 6km from the original site and that there was no residential area nearby.

Abdul Khalid repeatedly appealed for calm during the dialogue but he was ignored by the residents, many of whom continued to hurl insults at the Selangor mentri besar.

After a rowdy two-hour meeting, the dialogue came to an end at 12.15pm with Abdul Khalid announcing that the state government would be looking for an alternative site for the temple.

"We will pay for the land even if we have to," said the MB, who was greeted with applause from the residents.

‘I don't want to fight my Hindu brothers'

Earlier during the intense dialogue, the Malay residents accused the state government of "shifting the problem" from Section 19 to Section 23 rather than solving the matter.

The 150-year-old Hindu temple needs to be relocated as residential areas have subsequently sprouted near the complex.

In his speech, resident Jamil Isa said that Section 23 folk, Malays and Indians alike have been living "peacefully" before their neighbourhood was being forced to accommodate the temple.

NONE "(But) this proposal suggested by these two ‘ekor' (pointing at both Abdul Khalid and Khalid Samad) has caused some tension among us," he said angrily, while suggesting that the temple should be located to a non-Malay majority area such as Section 18 or Section 22.

Meanwhile, a resident named Mastura alleged that the state government, in particular state exco and Batu Tiga state rep Rodziah, had "refused" to meet the residents to discuss the matter.

"I had been saving up for many years to buy a house in Section 23 and I have the right to object to this. And now we are speaking in anger... and don't make us look stupid by quoting Quranic verses to us," she told Khalid Samad.

section 23 resident dialogue with mb s'gor Ainul Hisham, who is a teacher, said she feared the relocation of the temple would create a "higher crime rate" in the neighbourhood.

Despite all the criticisms and negative feedback from the residents, only one came up with an alternative for the state government to consider.

Saifuddin Said, 42, said there was an unoccupied land near a factory compound in Section 23 and it is located two kilometres away from the residential area.

"I do not want to fight my Hindu brothers as I have lived with them side by side for the past one year.

"I just hope the state government considers my proposal to put the temple a little further than the the original, which is also in Section 23," he said and was met by applause from the residents.

Tense moments

However, situation turned chaotic again when a member of the Indian community spoke up, saying that the Malay residents should be more "tolerant" about the temple relocation.

He raised the issue of tolerance among the non-Muslim community to the all of 'azan' five times a day.

section 23 resident dialogue 050909 map Twenty-seven-year-old resident R Gunaretiram, said his relationship with his Malay neighbours have turned sour following the temple controversy.

"I want to ask them, in Shah Alam, there is no such thing as non-Malay majority area so where is the temple going to be relocated?

"Although our law says we should be tolerant towards other religions, I have to admit that I have not been talking to them (Muslim Malays) face to face since this has happened."

Gov't leaders slog on despite boos

To rebut the residents' criticisms, Abdul Khalid said that Shah Alam has been a predominantly Malay area since it first opened and that there is no ‘non-Malay majority' areas.

section 23 temple dialogue 050909 crowd He also said that proposed sites such as Section 18 - although it is fully equipped with some infrastructures - had been rejected by the Indian community because of it was "too far".

"And we work differently from the previous government who had spent a lot of money on the site and now it is not even utilised.

"What we are doing now is to first consult PKNS, MBSA and the (Section 19) temple committee before suggesting it to the residents. And you have to remember that this is merely a proposal - it is not approved yet."

Meanwhile, Rodziah who was greeted by boos, denied that she had rejected a meeting with the residents, saying that she had met the residents' action committee chairperson Mahyuddin Manaf and was informed about their grievances.

section 23 resident dialogue 050909 argument "I even have the proof and documents to show that we held meetings before this," said Rodziah.

As the end of the dialogue, Mahyuddin told reporters that the police should investigate both Khalid Samad and Rodziah for "posting seditious postings on their blogs".

He also denied that he and other protesters last week had intended to step on the cow's head but instead blamed it on the media for encouraging by "asking us to step on it for photo purposes".

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