news focus

Approvals for the building of churches and temples are 'extremely' difficult' to obtain from the authorities concerned and this includes both land and building applications for such places of worship.

This is revealed in a book The Journey of the Catholic Church in Malaysia, 1511 to 1996 authored by Sister Maureen KC Chew and released last year.

"Allocation of places of worship and burial grounds have not been made in the master plans of some of the new towns," adds the writer in her 500-page paperback.

The book outlines the history of the Catholic religion in Malaysia spanning 485 years from the Portugese occupation of Melaka up to the present day.

The writer also deals with all aspects of the Malaysian church-experience and explores the achievements, ambiguities, tensions, and nuances that characterise church-state and church-Vatican relations.