[NEW UPDATE] Buddhist Meditation In 'Surau': PERKIM & Kelantan Mufti Give Thumbs Up

PERKIM and Kelantan Mufti laud the move to revoke the resort owner's citizenship

Pertubuhan Kebajikan Islam Malaysia (PERKIM) menyokong tindakan Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) menarik semula taraf permastautin tetap (PR) warga Singapura, Syed Ahmed Salim Alkaff, 45, secara serta merta kerana membenarkan penganut Buddha melakukan meditasi di surau resort miliknya.

        themalaysianinsider.com

Naib Yang Dipertua PERKIM, Datuk Nakhaie Ahmad menyarankan kerajaan mengharamkan pemilik resort di Sedili Besar, Kota Tinggi itu ke negara ini sebagai pengajaran terhadap tindakannya. “Ketegasan itu wajib untuk pemerintah menjaga keselamatan dan keharmonian negara,” katanya.

        yahoo.com

“Isu membabitkan keselamatan negara perlu ditangani lebih awal dan jangan biarkan mana-mana pihak cuba memperkotak-katikkan serta mempersoalkan asas kenegaraan terutama dalam isu agama rasmi negara dan hak Raja-Raja Melayu sebagai ketua agama.

        yahoo.com

Menurut Mufti Kelantan, Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad, sebagai sebuah negara yang meletakkan Islam sebagai agama Persekutuan, manakala agama lain boleh diamalkan secara aman, tindakan berkenaan wajar diambil untuk memberi pengajaran.

        themalaysianinsider.com

Resort owner’s PR revoked over surau fiasco

Menurut Menteri Dalam Negeri itu, Putrajaya berhak menarik balik status PR mana-mana individu sekiranya bertindak menyentuh sensitiviti agama seperti pemilik resort surau'meditasi' Buddha di Johor itu.

        themalaysianinsider.com

Malaysian authorities on Saturday revoked the immigration privileges held by a Singaporean man who offended some Muslims by allegedly letting Buddhists use an Islamic prayer room.

        washingtonpost.com

On Aug 10, this 45-year-old man had allowed the surau at the resort to be used for a religious ceremony by a Buddhist group.

Image via imgur.com

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this was the first time the government had taken such stringent action.

        freemalaysiatoday.com

"The action was taken after the ministry, through the National Registration Department, carried out an indepth study on the resort owner as the status is only a facility given by the government, and not a privilege," he told reporters.

        malaysia-chronicle.com

The man has been released by police and is not formally charged with any crime, but the government’s decision was “based on the law in the interests of religion and the nation,” Ahmad Zahid wrote on Twitter.

        dailyexpress.com.my

Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz says we should move on

Cabinet minister today questioned the need to tear down Muslim prayer room in Johor that was used by Buddhist tourists, noting that the controversy was already resolved.

        malaysia-today.net

“I am not an expert on Islam but I think this is something we have resolved, what is not elok (good) until it needs to be demolished?” “There’s already an apology by the Buddhist council, we move on,” he said.

        themalaymailonline.com

“I don’t agree,” he later said, when speaking on the demolition of the surau. “We are humans. The thing has been resolved, apa nak roboh? (What’s to demolish?)”

        yahoo.com

Sultan of Johor says investigate the issue immediately

“Baginda menitahkan Jabatan Agama Islam Johor (Jaij) mengeluarkan pekeliling kepada semua kadi daerah supaya semua pengusaha hotel dan pusat peranginan mematuhi prosedur pembinaan surau dan masjid.

        sinarharian.com.my

“Dalam perkara ini baginda amat peka dan prihatin serta mengarahkan agar pihak berkuasa yang berkaitan menjalankan siasatan menyeluruh secara tepat berlandaskan fakta.

        malaysiandigest.com

Katanya, mana-mana pihak yang berhasrat membina surau atau masjid perlu mendapat kebenaran Jaij bagi tujuan mewakafkan kawasan selain prosedur mengukur arah kiblat yang betul dan tepat.

        sinarharian.com.my

[VIDEO] A buddhist meditation session being held in a surau at Tanjung Sutera Resort, Johor

Tanjung Sutera Resort questioned for allowing Buddhist tourists to meditate in a Muslim prayer room

The controversy hit media headlines after a video surfaced on YouTube yesterday allegedly showing a Muslim prayer room in Johor being used by Buddhist tourists for worship.

        malaysiandigest.com

In the chanting session which took place at 1.15pm on Saturday, 12 men and women accompanied by a Buddhist monk went to the surau and placed a framed picture of an idol and hooked up the sound system for them to recite Buddhist chants before starting the chanting session.

        abnxcess.com

The group, which had booked the place for four days, was then brought to a nearby police station and sent home. No one was reported hurt, but some members were said to be in tears while the monk was visibly shaken by the incident.

        nst.com.my

Surau Jadi Tokong: Isteri Pengurus Resort Maki Penduduk Islam Kuala Sedili

        terbakor.com

The operator of the resort has been remanded for four days

The operator of the resort has been remanded for four days.

Image via themalaysianinsider.com

POLICE have arrested the operator of the Tanjung Sutera Resort, which recently came under public focus for allowing a group of Singaporean Buddhists  to use its surau for religious chants.

        nst.com.my

The 45-year-old man was arrested on Sunday afternoon at the Tanjung Sutera Resort and is currently being investigated under Section 295 of the Penal Code for defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class.

        themalaysianinsider.com

Surau dijadikan tokong: Pengusaha resort ditahan

        terbakor.com

The resort operator says all the other halls were fully booked

Amid the uproar, Tanjung Sutera Resort manager Syed Ahmed Alkaff has explained his case, saying that permission was given to the tourists as the resort had no knowledge that they would be using it for worship.

        malaysiandigest.com

Tanjung Sutera Resort questioned for allowing Buddhist tourists to meditate in a Muslim prayer room.

Image via sinarharian.com.my

"The group said they wanted to use the hall for meditation but we could not fulfill the request as the hall had already been booked by others earlier on.

        malaysiakini.com

"So we allowed them to use the surau in the resort but their bringing other religious items into the surau was done without my knowledge," he was quoted as saying.

        malaysiakini.com

“They told us only for meditation, not worship. I do not think the action of giving permission to believers of other religions to use the surau is wrong. This is because they only wanted to use the surau for meditation."

        themalaymailonline.com

Penjelasan Pengurus Resort: Video Surau Dijadikan Tempat Upacara Agama Buddha

        terbakor.com

Two resort guests lodged a police report against the resort

Tanjung Sutera Resort in Johor allowed a group of Buddhist tourist to conduct a meditation session in a Muslim prayer room (surau) and now the resort operator is in police custody.
Image via themalaysianinsider.com

A heated argument broke out between villagers who wanted the group to get out of the surau. Two police reports were lodged by the resort’s guests, Ahmad Tarmizi Adnan, 43, and Arizalakmal Ayob, 41, over the incident.

        abnxcess.com

In Arizalakmal’s report, he said: “I do not feel satisfied with their action which is an attempt to insult the religion of Islam and the provocation in the place of worship for Muslims.

        abnxcess.com

“I saw inside the surau holy verses with the words Allah and Prophet Muhammad. I think this is an insult to Islam, “said Ahmad Tarmizi in his report.

        abnxcess.com

Buddhist chief high priest says they are sorry

Buddhist chief high priest says they are sorry

Image via astroawani.com

Isu surau: Ketua sami Buddha mohon maaf

        terbakor.com

Ketua Sami Buddha Malaysia Datuk K Sri Dhammaratana pada Selasa memohon maaf kepada umat Islam di atas tindakan penganut fahaman Buddha yang menggunakan sebuah surau di Johor untuk melakukan upacara keagamaan.

        relevansokmo.com

“We would like to apologise to our Muslim brothers and sisters for the actions of a certain Buddhist group from Singapore in having their meditation session at the surau of a resort in Kota Tinggi,” he said in a statement today.

        freemalaysiatoday.com

“I advise Buddhists in Malaysia and Singapore to respect the religious sensitivities of other religionists while carrying out our own religious obligations. I try my best to encourage Buddhists to not have this kind of incident in the future”.

        freemalaysiatoday.com

"All Buddhists must at all times be conscious and aware of the fundamental principles expounded by Lord Buddha: It is impossible to build one’s own happiness on the unhappiness of others," he said.

        malaysiakini.com

Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia’s president says the Singaporean Buddhists were not aware

“The Singaporeans (who came to meditate) weren’t aware of the sensitivities of religious issues in Malaysia, and so I don’t blame them,” he told Malaysiakini when contacted today.

        malaysiakini.com

“It’s very disrespectful to our Muslim friends. There are other places of worship for Buddhists to perform their prayers, but it is not in a surau,” he explained.

        malaysiakini.com

Johor Mufti says there are also problems with the surau's design

Tanjung Sutera Resort questioned for allowing Buddhist tourists to meditate in a Muslim prayer room

Image via mynewshub.my

According to Johor Mufti Datuk Tahrir Shamsuddin, the act was insulting to Islam. “A surau is a place to worship Allah and it should not have been used otherwise,” he said.

        thestar.com.my

Johor Mufti Datuk Mohd Tahrir Samsudin visited the resort today and said the state fatwa committee will probe the matter under section 7 (a) of the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1997 for “insulting Islam or causing Islam to be looked down upon”.

        malaysiandigest.com

“Based on monitoring and surveying of the surau, we find there is doubt in terms of its design. It does not face the Kaabah (in Mecca, as required) but faces outside of Masjidil Haram,” he was quoted saying.

        malaysiandigest.com

Among the flaws detected in the building of the surau was the direction of the kiblat (the direction of Kaabah) and the operator had also infused his own family name with that of the Prophet Muhammad.

        nst.com.my

Johor Islamic Affairs Council (MAIJ) says the prayer room might be demolished after investigations

Surau Dijangka Diroboh Selepas Siasatan Selesai

        terbakor.com

"Their act has not only hurt the feelings (of Muslims) but also insulted Islam," said MAIJ adviser Noh Gadut.

        malaysiakini.com

"We need to be more stern by using existing laws to blacklist the group from entering the country. This should not happen as they should know Malaysian law.

        malaysiakini.com

"There is a very strong possibility that the building, which was not built according to specifications, will be demolished," he said.

        malaysiandigest.com

Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism says it should not be seen as an insult

Its president Jagir Singh said while places of worship were deemed sensitive, people should study the circumstances surrounding this incident.

        thestar.com.my

Jagir urged Malaysians to view the incident in perspective, and what the Buddhists did was merely to pray, and no offence against Islam was even intended.

        thestar.com.my

He pointed out that the Malaysian Catholic church had also reacted calmly in 2009 when several Muslim reporters wrote that they had spat out the elements of the Holy Communion after partaking of them, all in the name of “investigative reporting”.

        thestar.com.my

Jagir also exhorted all to look at uplifting happenings, such as the one in India last August when Muslim residents of Joshimath performed Aidilfitri prayers in a Sikh temple after being invited there by its head priest.

        thestar.com.my

Elsewhere: A church in Scotland shares its building with Muslim worshippers

Ketika kekecohan berlaku di Tanjung Sedili, Johor ekoran penganut Buddha menggunakan surau untuk meditasi, sebuah gereja di Scotland mengajak umat Islam untuk solat di gereja mereka.

        themalaysianinsider.com

      Unsupported video platform

The rector at St John's Episcopal Church in Aberdeen has invited Muslims inside to pray because the neighbouring mosque is too small.

        bbc.co.uk

A church in Scotland is thought to have become the first in Britain to share its building with Muslim worshippers.

        bbc.co.uk


[VIDEO] Angry Man Sets Woman's Car On Fire After She Rejected His Feelings

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A man, angered after having his love rejected, set a woman's car on fire in Selangor last Sunday, 5 December

A one-minute-and-28-second long video of the incident has been widely circulated on social media.It shows closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the man riding his motorcycle to the scene, pouring fuel all over a car, before using a lighter to set it ablaze.According to Harian Metro, the incident took place around 5.20am at an apartment in Taman Bukit Serdang.

Image via @bharianmy (Twitter)

Serdang district police chief AA Anbalagan said a neighbour who saw the car go up in flames alerted the victim who was at home

"The victim, who was shocked, then came down from her house and found that her car was on fire and was getting extinguished by firefighters," said the district police chief.He added that the car that was parked beside hers was damaged as well.

Image via @bharianmy (Twitter)

After viewing the CCTV recordings and some investigation, the police managed to apprehend the suspect at Bandar Kinrara, Puchong on the same day

Anbalagan said the police seized a motorcycle, a pair of shoes, clothes, and a lighter believed to be used during the incident.He added that the 29-year-old suspect has no past criminal records and tested negative in a urine drug test.The case is being investigated under Section 435 of the Penal Code for committing mischief by fire and the suspect is in remand for five days until Friday, 10 December.

Watch CCTV footage of the incident here:

Kecewa cintanya ditolak, seorang lelaki gelandangan membakar kereta milik seorang wanita di pangsapuri Taman Bukit Serdang, Seri Kembangan dekat sini, awal pagi kelmarin. Video tular Facebook pic.twitter.com/40jE1qCsMk— Berita Harian (@bharianmy) December 7, 2021