MORE PLACES OF WORSHIP FOR BUDDHIST PLEASE, AUTHORITIES URGED by SJ ECHO

SJ ECHO 30 January 2008

Buddhist Community hands over objections to the Draft Local Plan with 4,000 signatures attached
Excerpts from the objection letter submitted to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council:
We urge the MPSJ 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.
Based on the MPSJ Draft Local Plan, there is no land allocation for the building of Buddhist temples (Vihara)/ tokong in all the areas under planning except Blok Perancangan Kecil 3.4 Puchong which was allocated only ONE tokong/Vihara.
We need to have more Buddhist temples to cater to the spiritual and religious education needs of the large number of devotees.
With regards to public amenities, we would like to propose to the MPSJ to reserve a piece of land and provide allocation to build a crematorium especially for the benefit of the Buddhist and Hindu communities who opt for cremation for their last rites. Considering the size of Buddhist residents in MPSJ areas, the building of a crematorium will directly helps the MPSJ in reducing land use for burial grounds.
We hope the Federal, State and local authorities; elected representatives and local councillors will seriously consider our objections and proposals as a duty and commitment to take care the welfare and interest of the Buddhist community which comprises 42.6% of all residents within the Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya which includes areas in Subang Jaya/USJ, Kinrara, Puchong, Seri Kembangan, Putra Heights, Bandar Putra Permai and Subang Hi-Tech.
We are prepared to attend the Committee Public Hearing on the MPSJ Draft Local Plan and we hope the local authority will invite us to attend the public hearing to provide details on our submissions.
Persatuan Penganut Agama Buddha Subang Jaya
Persatuan Penganut Agama Buddha Fo Guang Malaysia, Cawangan USJ
Persatuan Penganut Buddha Serdang, Seri Kembangan
Malaysia Mahayana Buddhist Association, Subang Jaya
Kinrara Metta Buddhist Society, Puchong