‘Crosses’ on rooftops of housing project in Langkawi create stir

KUALA LUMPUR — A decision by the Kedah state government to order the developer of a housing project in Langkawi to paint over air wells on rooftops that resemble crosses from afar has led to calls for Malaysians to be less prejudicial over one another’s religions.

According to media reports, Kedah State Education, Transport and Housing Committee chairman Tajul Urus Mat Zain said the developer did not mean to create the cross symbols, but had built an internal air well to enhance light and air ventilation.

However, he added, while the issue was not a big one, the Kedah government had to step in because the photograph showing a view of the housing project had gone viral on social media.

“I have advised the developer, just paint the fire breakwall to a similar colour of the roof colour, (that) will solve the issue ... I have said that we in Kedah don’t want a small matter like this to snowball into a religious issue,” Mr Tajul Urus told Malay Mail Online on Saturday.

He added that the Langkawi local council will call the developer today to “immediately take action” and “be more careful in future”.

The state government’s move led the chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, the Reverend Dr Eu Hong Seng, to point out that not every object that was shaped like a cross was religiously significant to Christians.

“People need to be more broad-minded. Something may appear like a cross, but it doesn’t necessarily represent the Christian cross,” he told the Malay Mail Online on Monday.

“Even the multiplication sign is a cross; even the letter ‘t’ is a cross. This matter is very unfortunate, but I am quite sure the majority of people are not affected by the appearance of the air well,” Dr Eu said.

The Reverend Dr Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, told the news portal there was no harm for the Kedah government to order the housing developer to paint over the roofs to obscure the parts that resemble crosses.

However, he also wondered whether the state government was over-reacting by issuing such an order for what appeared to be an oversight by the developer.

Amid the controversy, an opposition Member of Parliament, Mr Lim Lip Eng, questioned whether the cross-shaped Kuala Lumpur International Airport should also be torn down because of religious sensitivities.

“I have read on Facebook that people say KLIA also is shaped like a cross. Will we be demolishing it?” Mr Lim, a Democratic Action Party lawmaker, said during a press conference at his office in Kuala Lumpur. He suggested that the individuals who raised the issue were suffering from “eye problems”, after aerial angles of the offending homes showed that the air wells were square rather than cross-shaped.

The case in Kedah is the most recent controversy over Christian icons, both actual and perceived, in Malaysia. In April, an angry mob protested outside a church in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya, and demanded the removal of the cross affixed to the exterior of the building.

Religious ties in Malaysia have been taxed by recent events including the Muslim exclusivity over “Allah”, the Arabic word for God, as well as accusations against Christians for the alleged proselytisation of Muslims. AGENCIES