Illegal Structure. A threat to whom?

Illegal structures are generally permanent buildings or the likes of it which do not have a town council's permission. The general rule here that it should not be an obstruction and a threat to the general population or users of that particular building.
A few months ago, this very issue cropped up in Pandamaran, Selangor, where a State councillor nominated by the Government (here, here and here) had built his mansion. However, till this day, the then illegal structure still stands.

In Tambak Paya, Malacca, a Hindu Temple, the Sri Maha Peiachiamman is facing this very threat of demolition by the Town Council (MBMB- Majlis Bandaraya Melaka Bersejarah - Town Council of Historic Malacca). This temple, which houses the Sri Periachi Amman considered by Hindus to be the protector of babies and mothers, has it's own devotees (estimated to be around 400 families from far and near) and has been in existence on this private land for almost 16 years. Prior to this, the deity was housed in a makeshift temple on the grounds of the Union State Estate, situated about 1/2 a kilometre from the current location. Mr Nadarajah, the joint land owner of the current temple site, further adds that in its previous location in Union Estate, the makeshift temple stood for almost 20 years. All in all the Sri Maha Peiachiamman has a history of almost 40 years.

MBMB officers on one of their visits to the temple grounds had issued a notice to the trustees that the structures which had been rebuilt was to be torn down due it being illegal. The temple had undergone reconstruction due to its previous wooden roof truss and pillars which had been damaged by termites. The application by the temple to submit the necessary building plans had been turned down by the council, as did the appeal in March 2007. The council had given the temple a dateline on 15th July 2007.
On interviewing a house and landowner in the vicinity of the ground in question I was told that he too does not have the necessary approvals for his property which had stood for almost 20 years. Therefor, it is safe for us to assume that there are more properties under this council which should also be considered illegal.

Speaking to the head priest, it was ascertained that there were complaints from immediate neighbours to the town council resulting in this action. Further in a roundtable discussion with the Village head of a nearby Kampung, the Priest was told by the village head that he did not liked the idea of having another Hindu temple, in their Kampung.
Indeed, this Kampung does have two temples, one the Mariamman Temple, and this, Sri Maha Peiachiamman. Evidently, it is the belief of Hindus that god exist in the many different Devas and Devis which leads to their preference to worship their Gods in tradition to their own needs and preferences. But the very question exist still, is this Temple a threat to its devotees and those who use enough it that warrants a demolition? Why has the town council not taken the application into consideration which was made good by the Temple trustees?

To stress the importance of having multiculturalism in our diverse population of Malaysia, En. Yusuf of Parti Keadilan, in his own capacity, had co hosted the 'Acara Mesra Rakyat' event with the temple trustee, Mr.Harold Gomez, and had invited us to see for ourselves the importance of having the temple continue its service to the Hindu community. In all, there were probably 100-150 people which attended this event. From this number at least 8-10 of them were Police Officers of the Special branch from both the district and state levels. It was told to me that this is a common practice by Special Branch to gather intelligence.

I suppose if you do care as a Malaysian, you should know that it is now up to us to instill this muhibbah spirit of tolerance and acceptance of each and every Malaysian, whatever our believe. Our coming together to support each other to strengthen the bond between cultures reflects well on our upbringing and nation building as we celebrate 50 years of independence.
What transcends from these actions by the local government and the likes will further spur us to keep up this spirit of support. But let's not just talk, for now you should also know that each of us have a role to play, that we shouldn't be happy to just make the team, and watch the game from the sidelines.

(pictures here of the temple and Acara Mesra Rakyat event, courtesy of Haris Ibrahim)

UPDATE - 5:00pm 30 July 2007
This morning, the Malacca Town council and scores of Policemen as well as Federal Reserve Unit (FRU-Generally used for crowd and riot control) personnel proceeded to tear down the 'Illegal structure' of the Sri Maha Peiachiamman in Tambak Paya.
Interesting enough, the Temple head received a call last night from one, Mr Krishna, purpotedly from the Malaysian Hindu Sangam Society, informing him that no action will be taken yet.
Despite, the please of the devotees, as well as support from NGO's the council see it fit to demolish this structure.

Who determines which structure is illegal and fit to be torn down remains my guess.

But let this be a wake up call..again.
Yes, if you are Malaysian, not of a presumably 'Superior' race, with a man given notion that one religion stands above all, let this be it.
For there are others out there who share the same sentiment, that religion in this country is of a free choice, your right to practice it is also yours and yours alone to choose.
But even so, you have to decide that the fight, if at all, has to be fought by you.
The temple was given adequate support, by Lawyers who gave their time to help bring this case to the right recourse. However, even having consulted the temple officials, and the devotees, the temple officials and devotees chose not to provide the required sworn affidavits to support their own case.
And since, those who were marginalised could not bring themselves to fight the fight, hence the result was inevitable.
It was like stepping onto the ring with a world champion. You are not going to win.

God help those who help themselves. Remember that, but for now, I symphatise with the 300 odd families who use to go to this very temple for their prayers. To the childless couples that wishes to seek the intervention of their deity , do try a written petition to the Town Council.
Maybe, they can direct you to a temple that has the right Deity and Permits!