Minority Hindus staged a rare protest on Thursday to condemn the demolition of temples by authorities.

About 50 protesters gathered on the sidewalk outside the headquarters of Kuala Lumpur City Hall, and threatened to file a civil suit against the government and local councils if the destruction of Hindu temples doesn't stop.

Waving banners that read "Demolishing temples is criminal," the protesters chanted prayers to the Hindu God of destruction, Shiva, and smashed a coconut as a prayer offering.

The activists said hundreds of Hindu houses of worship have been destroyed in the past 15 years across the country, blaming a growing "Islamisation" of Malaysia.

At least seven temples have been torn down, partly destroyed, served demolition notices or torched since late February in various parts of the country, they said.

"We are not asking for a club to play billiards. We are not asking for a prostitution centre," said P Uthayakumar, the group's lawyer. "We are asking for our temples to pray."

About 60 per cent of Malaysia's 26 million people are Malay Muslims.

Chinese, most of them Buddhist or Christian, represent about 25 per cent of the population and ethnic Indians -- mostly Hindus -- make up 10 percent.

The activists -- gathered in a coalition calling itself the Hindu Rights Action Force -- were turned away by City Hall police officers who refused to accept a petition denouncing the temple destruction.


what the hell is wrong with these people..

u mean the hindus or malaysians? lol

Isn't a Malaysia a islamic state? yah lol

^^ yea..but there's like 10% or more hindus there..and that don't mean to destroy their culture

Malaysia is a multi ethnic society. There a native Malays, there are Chinese Malays and there are Indian Malays etc. Most of these people have been there for hundred of years. They originally came there to trade but some eventually settled to become Malaysian citizens. No one should be destroying anyones Temples. Its deplorable.

not suprising, I don't even feel like complaining. It's becoming pointless!

Malaysia moves to preserve temples to calm Indians

By Reuters
Monday December 24, 05:00 PM

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia vowed to preserve Hindu temples on Monday in a bid to calm ethnic Indians who complain that their places of worship have been torn down as part of racial discrimination.

More than 10,000 ethnic Indians took to the streets in an unprecedented anti-government protest last month, demanding better education and job opportunities and an end to state demolition of temples.

"I will scrutinise all matters concerning temples with a view to ensure no temples are demolished in the future," Works Minister S. Samy Vellu, the only ethnic Indian minister in the cabinet said in a statement.

"And if they have to be demolished, suitable alternative sites must be allocated so that Hindus can continue to worship," he said, adding that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had ordered him to monitor the temples nationwide.

Hindu activists say one temple had been pulled down every three weeks on average. Authorities deem temples built without permission as illegal structures.

Around seven percent of Malaysia's 26 million people are ethnic Indians, whose forefathers were brought to the Southeast Asian country as labourers by British colonial rulers.

Many in the community complain of racial discrimination, accusing the government of trying to wipe out their culture by imposing Islamic laws and targeting Hindu temples.

Following last month's mass protest, which prompted India's prime minister to voice sympathy for the plight of ethnic Indians, Malaysia arrested five Hindu activists under a tough security law that allows indefinite detention without trial.

The government denies it is mistreating Indians.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/071224/137/6ot0b.html

Were they actually built without permission?

They are built in government's land illegally. Once government wants to build double railway, all illegal squatters, mosques, temples, buildings. etc given noticesto move away . However , government only give privelege to Hindus only as only temples get compensated with money. The rest don't get anything as the buildings were illegal.

Tamilian in Malaysia receive special quota to enter universities, colleges. Even to Malay ethnic special college. Tamil schools are funded by government. Tamilian get special quota to become public administrator, including police and army. Tamil movies, news are shown in special Tamil channels.

I don't understand what kind of complains the Tamilian are trying to highlight. I personally, prefer Malayalee, Punjabee, Gujeraties and Ceylonies. Punjabees always on the side of Malay people. I don't hate Tamilian. But Hindraf complaining about fake issues. There is no genocide in Malaysia. Policemen prefer to shoot Malay people if riot took place. Once in Kampung Medan occured incidence of marriage wedding blocking residential area. Suddenly the quarrel become big. Policemen came and point guns to Malays and not Tamilian.

I welcome professionals from India to come to Malaysia and see by yourself how luxury the Tamilian living in Malaysia. 100 to 200 times more luxury than those in Tamil Nadu.

They were built without permission but many have been standing for decades some form my understanding even more then a century.

I think you need to put things in perspective. Firstly, no mosque that I know of has ever been demolised by the govnt, illegal or otherwise. Any new housing development has to provide land for free to build mosques the funding of which largly comes from the govnt. No prevelidges like this apply to any other religious body.


The quotas you speak off, is much lower then what exists for ethnic Malays, indeed the Quotas for ethic Indians at University is a lower percentage then their percentage population ie <10%. Which means they don't get an equal share of the university places. Ethnic Indians HAVE to attend Malay ethnic special colleges because there are NO OTHER SPECIAL ETHNIC COLLEGES. And the quota "reserved" for Indians at these colleges is still less then the 10% that their population percentage suggest they deserve. The special Tamil channel you speak of do not exclusively show Tamil shows.

Punjabi's do not always side the Malays and I have never ever heard of Malaysian policemen shooting Malay people who were rioting, I think this statement is full of crap. Show me any credible report which shows the police only threathened Malays during the Kampong Medan riots, this did not even happen during the 1969 riots. Instead I can show you reports of accusations of Malay policemen who just stood by and did nothing while an Indian man was beaten to death by a Malay mob. And in the floods in Johor last year the army and police were accused of preferentially helping the ethnic Malays over the other races. 5 Indians were arrested and held without charge under Malaysia's Internal Security Act for organising what was largely a peacful protest. Yet when Malays protested threatheningly against the Lina Joy case, a Muslim lady who wanted to convert to Christianity, not one protester was arrested. Neither did the police even investigate death threats made against her and her lawyers.

The "luxury" you refer to, Indians are still collectively the poorest of the 3 major ethnic groups. Should you be comparing them to Indians in Tamil Naidu or other ethnic groups in Malaysia, should they be Tamils first or Malaysians first?

Put a point of view across if you want but don't embolish your arguments to the point where the truth becomes cloudy. Indians in Malaysia ARE marginalsed, they DO NOT enjoy their fair share of the wealth that Malaysia has to offer and Islam recieves special prevelidges that NO OTHER religion enjoys.

swingdoctor. Are you Malaysian. It seems you are not aware what is going on in Malaysia. You do not know anything about Malayisa. There were mosques been demolished in Selangor and Terengganu. My own friend was one of officers who demolished mosques in Terengganu. The mosque demolition in Selangor was so popular issue.

During previous NEP time, Tamilian was getting 8% to 10% enrolment into top universities. Recently, Chinese asked for meritocracy. Now it is based on meritocracy. The reason why HINDRAF get mad is because the meritocracy system being practised now.

There are a lot of incidents where policemen shooting Malays (Batu Burok). Including in favour of Tamilian. For instance in Kampung Medan. My own friend also was one of the victims. Policemen pointed guns to Malays and not Tamilians. Do you want me to put it in internet. I hope not since this is a sensitive issue.

The reality is, since Tamilian came to Malaysia, they have been living in luxury. In my own statistic, For every 10 Tamilians, 9 possesed cars, including 1 have luxury cars. The 1 person that have no car, is still living in comfort. I mean he get full education, house, food, good health system, etc.

One more point, have you ponder why British do not accept Tamilians, Hokkiens and Cantonese as British citizens. And asked UMNO to accept them to become Malaysian. Why British are so cruelled of this thing. For your info, Mainland Chinese Premier told Mahathir (former PM) that he does not want Malaysian Chinese to come back to China. Not because China have a lot of people in mainland. It is something about racism issue. I do not want to say here. Too sensitive. You can ask Chinese Embassy.

Malaysia is still a peace country. Nobody is marginalised. Government help all races. There are nearly 100 universities and colleges in Malaysia. Think about it. Enough for all.

I am unaware of any mosques being demolished in Malaysia, even so the govnt forces developers to donate land after which they donate public funds to build mosques, no such special privileges exists for Hindu's or any other religion.


I don't know where you get your 8-10% of university places during the NEP. What I can tell you is that the admission to public Universities is not based on merit despite what the govnt says. Entry into university is based on marks obtained from pre uni courses of which there are 2. One which is open to everyone and the second is largely restricted to Malays. They have different syllabus and different exams. How do you compare one stream to the other, so the process of entry to university may be based on merit but the process leading up to this is discriminatory, so therefore the whole process is discriminatory. And Hindraf is not protesting against meritocracy, its protesting that the govnt is not looking after them equally.



In the Batu Burok incident, Malays were not selectively targeted by the police. Police fired randomly into the crowd, which in itself is a terrible thing to do and it was unfortunate that two people were hit. In the Kampong Medan incident I have not seen any credible reports(and I have read many) that Malays were targeted or anywhere else when there are 2 groups rioting that police selectively pointed their guns at Malays.


I'm sorry but your own statistics mean little, firstly its only 10 people, hardly enough to represent the 2 million Indians, secondly its not a random sample but a biased sample based on the people whom you are acquainted with. So if you live in the city, if your family is middle class, if you go to an expensive school, the Indians you meet will be of like and therefore not representative of the whole sample.


Malaysian Chinese are simply that, Malaysian. It is outrageous that anyone would consider sending them back to China . The fact that anyone would consider this suggests that people still see them as "Pendatang Asing" or "foreigners" to those who don't understand Bahasa Malaysia . And UMNO did not accept them, the entire new government of Malaysia accepted this, not just UMNO. It is also outrageous that you consider it “cruel” that people who were born in Malaysia and are therefore Malaysian citizens be allowed to stay in Malaysia . Do you believe deep down in your heart that Chinese/Indian Malaysians are true Malaysians and deserve to be treated as the equal of any other Malaysian including the Malays?


It doesn't matter how many tertiary education centers there are in Malaysia , most of them are private and not everyone can afford a private education. The most important thing is how the govnt regulates entrance to Public institutions.

Finally Indians ARE marginalised and they DON'T share the equal wealth of the nation. Indians make up 10% of the population but according to a Times[i][/i] poll in 2000, they only had 1.5% of the wealth of the country, that means the average Indian is 4x poorer then the average Malaysian and has ½ the wealth of the average Malay. The worst thing is that in the Indian community there is the biggest discrepancy between rich and poor compared to the other ethnicities, so there are even more, poorer Indians.

Thanks to you @swingdoctor for the explainations. You know most Indians have no idea what is going on in Malaysia. Even I was unaware that discrimination would be that deep rooted in Malaysia.

I don't mean to be rube and although I understand the empathy Indians from India have towards Malaysian Indians, the truth is that they are Malaysians first and foremost, the majority of the families have been in Malaysia for a few generations and most of them have never been to India. Express your concern if thats the way you feel but this is still an internal matter and any formal diplomatic protest I feel would be over the top. Malaysians still generally get along well but things have been deteriorating these last few decades, the people most suffering from the institutionalised discrimination are sadly Malaysia's ethnic Indians and things need to change. The Malaysian govnt should be helping the poor irrespective of race or religion.

Yes this is our internal affair. Outsiders can advise our government, but Malaysians do the decision. Generally we are peaceful. Only few things that hopefully been resolved. What I understand, Malaysian government is trying to formulate one permanent solution for this matter. All races will one day feel happy. If GOD will.

So far nothing has been resolved and its more serious then you are making it out to be.

Also its nothing to do with GOD, its got everything to do with politicians and if Malays treat other races and other religions as equals.

Which shows how ignorant you're regarding the Malaysian internal affairs. In East Malaysia, where Christians are a majority, even shophouse can be turn into a church, reflecting the openness of the state Govt. whose leaders are Muslims.



The 8-10% admission quota is there ... but not well publicised. This quota was championed by MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress) since 1970s & implemented in 1980s as Mahathir went to become PM.

As for pre-University level, with Matriculation reserved for Bumiputra & STPM (equivalent to A Levels) open for all, that are part of Mahathir's legacy. Yet what you seem not to know, Matriculation graduates (usually Muslim & non-Muslim Bumiputras) can only used their matriculation result only to apply into public universities, but the matriculation certificate is worthless in terms to apply fro jobs in both Govt. & private sector. As for STPM holders, STPM results are used to apply into public Universities, & STPM certificate is equivalent to Diploma level, which give choice for STPM holder to join Malaysian workforce with a salary the same as Diploma graduates enjoy! Bet you didn't even know that, do you? BTW, an STPM grads should he/she apply for Royal Malaysian Police, he/she will become a Police Inspector (or using Hindi movie slang popular in Malaysia, Inspector Sahab!).

Nowadays, meritocracy has being in placed in Malaysian Universities, you kinda missed the train 4 years ago.... BTW, the MIC (Indian-based party) has established The Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST) University in Kedah, Malaysia .... Guess the majority of the students .... yessss, the MY Indians ...

Hell, we even have OUM, Open University Malaysia & Wawasan Open University that caters to all Malaysians without any favored Bumiputra status.

Hell, we even have 3 Australian University Branch Campuses in Malaysia, namely Curtin University of Technology, Monash University & Swinburne University of Technology. Even Nottingham University has a branch campus in KL!

Bloody hell, we've world class international universities branch campuses in Malaysia that practice meritocracy, & YOU DARE SAY THERE'S A DISCRIMINATION TOWARDS INDIANS IN EDUCATION! Hell, there's a bunch of Universities & Colleges all across Malaysia that practice meritocracy, that able to cater to MY Indian communities so much so they only need to choose!

Do you even know that Malaysian Govt. these days send our medical students to study in India because India's medical sciences & medical institute provide the BEST medical doctors? Do you even know .... Oooppsss, you don't, apparently!

Ohh puhleezzzz, the most aggrieved ethnic in Malaysia is not MY Indians, but the indigenous Bumiputra of Sabah. Yet these Bumiputras don't complain much.

Batu Burok incidents involving Malays that supported PAS (Islamist party) which is in the opposition party. In Memali incident in mid 1980s, Police gunned down fanatical Malays Islamist supporters of Ibrahim Libya. In reformasi riots of 1997-1999 (no thanks to Anwar), rioters were beaten up, sprayed with chemical laced watercannons ... a majority of them are Malays.

In Kg. Medan incident, it is a simple misunderstanding that fueled by emotions running high, led to clashes between Malay & Indian youths fighting that turned deadlier as Indian gangsters & Malay street punks clashed. Yes, the police turn their guns to Malay punks hotheads & the Indian gangsters, who surprisingly, comprised some members from a KL triad wanted by Police. Oh BTW, Chinese triads in MY do recruit both Indians & Chinese into their ranks ...

Majority of MY Indians comes from middle class, or you simply didn't know?



There PTPTN, a national education fund that specifically caters to all Malaysian students, irregardless of race, that gives out educational loans, whereupon after finishing their studies, the graduates must pay back with 3% interest. Guess you miss that spot, eh?

BTW, majority of Malaysians studying in private institutions in MY also covered by PTPTN education loans .... duh!

The whole shebangs begins when Mahathir suggested Wawasan schools to be opened, & comprised of National school, Tamil school & Chinese school all under one roofs, but still under 3 different management, sharing only canteen & sport facilities. Later, the Chinese educationalists & lobby groups attacks this very idea & make it into one big Sino-centric issue that blown outta hand. Mahathir kind of pissed with Chinese communities (even MCA - Chinese dominated party- stand silence over the issue) attitude, calls the China Premier, & suggest jokingfully to give return the Chinese back to China .... the China Premier reply: NO! This is known in political circle, even become public joke for awhile.

As for national language, a true-blue Malaysian regardless of races, MUST FULLY UNDERSTAND & CONVERSANT IN BAHASA MALAYSIA! That is no-brainer fact!

Affirmative action policy is agreed upon after 13 May 1969 race riots, to help the Bumiputras achieved a significant slice of economic pie that non Malays enjoyed hegemonically before 1969 incident.

The same can be said of African Americans, despite given equal footings in USA, yet still living in urban slums & ghettoes & even a greater divide between its communities.

MY Indians must learn from MY Chinese, despite the affirmative action that favors Bumiputras, MY Chinese still can prosper & actually de-facto leader in Malaysian private sectors.

If MY Chinese can become competitive, so do MY Indians. It is whether they're up for it or not. The option is in their hands ...