What Makes A City If Not Its Sacred Religious Heritage

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What is a city? What is a nation? I hope this article will give pause and meaning to the contentious issue of relocating a 130-year-old temple in Kuala Lumpur that is still honoured, revered and attended by many Hindus in the city.
To add insult to injury, there are plans to build a mosque there; in other words, a mosque to replace the temple. This is 100% an explosive political issue if ever there was one.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is lucky that I’m not the prime minister.
The leadership that consented to the proposal neither understands Malaysian politics nor the spirit of what the nation is about.
These leaders have no business being in a place of authority and service to the people when they do not appreciate, nor show dignity, to issues like replacing a heritage and sacred artifact with a sacred artifact with no heritage status.
What is a nation? It is the collective heritage and dignity of all races and faiths. The country is made up of landscapes, structures, waters, minerals underneath and the sky above.
But a nation lives in the spirit of her people.
What then is the spirit of the people? Firstly, it is the history of our people.
Some say that the valid history is that of one race only, but I disagree. That notion refers to the history of another country, from a long time ago. That country is no more, and what exists now is the history of Malaysia.
Thus, before all the economic or scientific issues pertaining to the environment, must come the issue of living in harmony with each other.
What does this entail? Not money, not land, and not titles. What’s required is giving each other dignity and respect. That’s all.
We do not need a ministry to unite us, nor do we need a ministry of religion to remind us to live in harmony. If we understand respect, that is all it takes.
But do we understand what respect entails? Most of us don’t. We understand respect superficially.
Respect is about telling ourselves how we need each other in our social, economic and spiritual lives. Respect is when we tell each other that without one another we are no one.
If we follow the argument above, a city is merely the buildings, roads, and drains. That is all. What is built and torn down is decided by some appointed authority like DBKL.
But who tells DBKL how to design the city, what to tear down, or what can be built? It is us.
All of us must participate in determining how and what buildings we should live in and with.
That is why many countries have conservation and preservation laws. Such laws ensure we appreciate our history; a history of building the country through the sweat and pains of our forebears, whether they hailed from Patani, Sumatra, Java, India or China.
These ancestors built the roads, laid the train tracks and tapped rubber that gave life to the nation. When these migrants came, they were allowed to build houses, schools and religious buildings to build their lives in a new land.
When urbanisation came with new economic owners, some of these buildings needed to be shifted, but some continued to be honored where they were.
I am of the opinion that religious buildings are important landmarks for our nation through its continued use by our people. There is no logic in relocating a religious building when that building is the heart of a community residing in its vicinity.
In one of my lectures about my theory of the Islamic City, one of the principles I teach about is honouring all religious buildings. Municipalities must honour these sacred heritage structures by making laws and regulations that would ensure that they thrive and stand out because they form the heart of the city.
The heart of KL lies not in the shining KLCC with its million ringgit square footage, but in the heritage buildings that have served as the social, religious and political glue of the nation.
Eliminate these sites and we stand to show the next generation nothing about who made this nation and country, while Malaysia crumbles under racial and religious hatred.
The role of DBKL is to build the nation first, the city second. Let those at the helm never forget that. - FMT
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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