COMMENT I am a Hindu born and raised in Malaysia. My sisters, cousins, mother, father, their siblings, even their parents were born and raised here.

I have best friends of all races, I know the "right way" of using chopsticks, wore a kebaya for my wedding reception, got married in a church and a temple and have a Malaysian flag stuck in my car and well, tick all the boxes when it comes to being an ideal Malaysian. At least I used to think so.

Yet three decades on, I return from a short trip abroad to the news that Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers had allegedly wore shoes, smoked and damaged statues of deities at a Hindu temple in Jalan P Ramlee in the act of removing the statues to make way for construction for 30-storey tower block next door. Welcome home.