Buddhists need more temples

Below is the press statement issued by the Selangor Buddhist Development Committee in response to the Draft Local Plans prepared by five local authorities in Selangor. Leaders from 12 Buddhist organizations were present during the press conference held at Chempaka Buddhist Lodge, Petaling Jaya.

PRESS STATEMENT

Regarding MDHS, MPKj, MPAJ, MPS, MDHL Draft Local Plans

28th January 2010

Based on year 2000 census report by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, Malaysian citizens of the Buddhist faith comprised 4,419,042 people or 20.2% of the total citizens of this country.

In Selangor there are a total of 1,011,169 Buddhists, which is 25.26% of the state 4,002,440 citizens. Based on ethnic distribution, there are a total of 1,230,271 ethnic Chinese in the state of Selangor and 999,748 (81.26%) of them are Buddhists.

According to the Manual Garis Panduan Dan Piawaian Perancangan Negeri Selangor DE published by Jabatan Perancangan Bandar dan Desa Negeri Selangor, JPBD in June 2006, there are provisions for places of worship for non-Muslims include “one place of worship for every 2,600 devotees or 5,000 residents”.

In response to the calls by the local authorities, namely the Majlis Daerah Hulu Selangor, Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya, Majlis Perbandaran Kajang, Majlis Perbandaran Selayang and Majlis Daerah Kuala Langat for the people to submit objections and proposals on their respective Draft Local Plan 2020(Draf Rancangan Tempatan), 15 Buddhist organizations in Selangor met on 16th December 2009 to discuss and review the five Draft Local Plans.

The meeting decided to establish an action committee known as the Selangor Buddhist Development Committee (SBDC) to take the necessary actions and to submit objections and proposals on the Draft Local Plans.

There are three pertinent matters that the SBDC would like to highlight for further considerations of the respective local councils.

1. With reference to religious practice, we urged the local authorities to adhere to the Federal Government guidelines in relation to the provisions for building of places of worship for non-Muslims, which is one place of worship for every 2,600 devotees or 5,000 residents.

Basing on the proposed five Draft Local Plans, within all the areas under review, there are limited or no allocation of land for the building of Buddhist temples (Vihara Buddha) in all the areas under planning.

We need to have more Buddhist temples (Vihara Buddha) to cater to the spiritual and religious education needs of the devotees.

2. With regards to public amenities, we would like to propose to the local authorities to reserve land and provide allocation to build crematoriums and columbarium complexes especially for the benefit of the Buddhist and Hindu communities who opts for cremation as their last rites. Considering the size of Buddhist residents in Selangor, the building of crematoriums will directly helps the State in reducing land use for burial grounds.

3. We urged the Selangor State Government and all local authorities concerned to live up to the spirit of Article 3 (1)* and Article 11 (1)* and 11 (3)* of the Federal Constitution in regards to the needs of adherents other than Islam to practice their own religion and to build and manage their places of worship.

We urged the Selangor State government and all local authorities; elected representatives and local councillors to seriously consider our objections and proposals as a duty and commitment towards the welfare and interest of the Buddhist community in Selangor.

We are prepared to attend the Public Hearing on the Draft Local Plans and we hoped the local authorities would invite us to attend the public hearing to provide details on our objections and proposals.

This statement is also endorsed by the following Buddhist Organizations in Selangor.

1. PERSATUAN PENGANUT AGAMA BUDDHA FO GUANG MALAYSIA

2. PERSATUAN PENGANUT AGAMA BUDDHA SUBANG JAYA

3. PERSATUAN PENGANUT BUDDHA SERDANG

4. BUDDHIST GEM FELLOWSHIP

5. SAKYAMUNI DHARMA CENTRE

6. DHARMA DRUM MOUNTAIN BUDDHISM INFORMATION CENTRE

7. KINRARA METTA BUDDHIST SOCIETY

8. MUDITA BUDDHIST SOCIETY

9. PERSATUAN AGAMA BUDDHA PU CHOONG

10. CHEMPAKA BUDDHIST LODGE

11. BANDAR UTAMA BUDDHIST SOCIETY

12. LOSANG DRAGPA BUDDHIST SOCIETY

13. KLANG & COAST BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION

14. PERSATUAN PENGANUT BUDDHA KOK DOH RAWANG

15. JINJANG BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION

16. SELAYANG BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION

17. KAJANG BUDDHIST CENTRE

18. PUTRA HEIGHTS BUDDHIST SOCIETY