The Selangor State government has decided to go ahead with building a temple in Section 23, Shah Alam. This is an addition to another temple to built to replace the infamous Kampung jawa temple. Read here.
This might bring about another round a chaos within the residents there. As I have written before, both Pakatan Rakyat and BN are just pandering to the newly found political power of Indians without thinking about whether there is such a need for another temple in this country.
It was reported before that there are about 18,000 Hindu temples in various sizes and locations around the country to cater for about 1.5 million.
Out of that, I believe, based on my estimates roughly only 10% visit temples on weekly basis consistently, the rest only go to temples whenever there are some religious and non-religious events and celebrations or when somebody decides to give free food or slaughter some cows in the name of sacrifice.
A decently sized temple cost roughly RM 2 Million. The more elaborate ones cost 2 or 3 times more.
I would rather be happier if the Selangor State government spent the money on children education. If they chose cheaply to focus on getting Indian votes, might as well provide financial assistance for Indian students or at least buy some books for Tamil School library around the state.
That would be a reasonable good investment that would certainly go a long way improving the social economical situation of the community.
While Hindu temple can be a sensitive issue. I don’t see a reason why any more Hindu temple to be built in this country.
What is a Hindu temple contribution to the Indian Community as a whole? Apart from providing a place for them to worship various deities of their choice, basically none.
It does not pay well to the priest, it is costly to maintain, it is usually headed manned by people with political interest, it has been proven to split local community into various factions.
Worst, power struggle in the past has resulted in frictions within groups resulting in violence and even deaths. Few thousand goats has lost it’s life at temples, sacrificed in the name of god, even though there is no such requirements in the first place.
Every year, annual temple celebrations are held costing a bomb, an event that last for a day. Multiply that by 18,000 and imagine how much of money are spent down the drain in one day.
If it could be proven that these celebrations and prayers do contribute to the well being of the community and enhancement of their life standards as well as wealth, I have no complains or disputes.
However, this cannot be proven if you look at the high crime rate, poverty and overall condition of sections of the community.
What is definitely proven is that, Indians and families who provide strong emphasis and invest in their children’s education has seen an overall improvement to their lives in the long term.
Spend more on vocational training, scholarship and entrepreneur development. This will ensure visible and positive returns and not some prayers and celebrations that are not proven to improve the Indian community.
Instead of building the temple in Shah Alam, why not go on a registration drive in Shah Alam to register all Indian school drop outs and enroll them onto some skill training.
Therefore, governments and Indian leaders should make full use of their brains rather than their heart when assessing Indian issues. It is the mindset that needs to be changed and the solution is certainly not building another temple or spending to maintain existing ones.
As for Pakatan Rakyat, they may succeed in becoming the ultimate Indian Champions but will certainly will be losers in the long term if they do not asses the issues appropriately and take proactive and pragmatic measures to assist the community.
Repeating the same tricks of charming Indians by building temples will not last long, have they not seen enough of BN using the same tricks for more than half a century? Don’t Pakatan Indian leaders have the guts and brains to do something more positive to change the mindsets of Indians.
At the moment, none dare to be the visionary and do something different for the community and assist them where it is needed most. At the moment, looks like they just want votes and support to stay in power.
When Pakatan Rakyat criticized BN government’s 100 Storey Warisan Merdeka tower, they don’t realise that they are also just doing the same here in Selangor by building 2 Hindu Temples that does not bring about any benefits to the Indian or local community. On top of this, millions of Ringgit of tax payers money are also being donated carelessly to temples in Selangor, just to boost the popularity of state government and certain Exco Leader.
At least, the Warisan Merdeka tower will certainly result in numerous economic spin off and benefits various sections of businesses and people as a whole. What does the hindu temple bring about if not more problems in the future!.
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