KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — It is a dark sliver of history some 14 years old, but the recent protest over a church here has brought memories of the racial clashes at Kampung Medan rushing back to residents who lived through the fighting.
In the neighbourhood bustling with small sundry stores and roadside mechanics, many who witnessed the incident still shudder at the memory of the May 2001 riots that triggered a brief emergency.
On Sunday, when a group of Muslims marched upon a local church to demand the removal of its cross, their fears of a repeat of the deadly five-day clash that claimed at least six lives renewed.
“There was already bloodshed here before, years ago... memory and tempers from the incident still live among some here till today… I just don’t want it to happen again,” said Mazlan Suran, 61, a long-time resident of the neighbourhood.
Mazlan is among the locals in the Malay enclave who are against the appearance of the new church operating out of a shoplot here, claiming it was quietly testing the faith of the Malay-Muslims in the area.
“There isn’t a huge Christian following here… besides, I am a little afraid also, especially since you know this religion has appeal factors to some…” he said, alluding the regularly cited but never demonstrated claims of Christian proselytisation towards Muslims.
The proselytisation of non-Islamic faiths to Muslims is prohibited by law.
Mazlan explained that the disquiet was not directed at all non-Muslim houses of worship, pointing out that Hindu temples have existed in Taman Medan since its beginning and without issue.
Instead, he said residents were irked by the open display of the cross outside the church, which itself is new to the area.
“We do not have problems with them (non-Muslim houses of worship), but the sudden presence of the church with the cross was shocking… was provocative,” the retired paint factory worker told Malay Mail Online when met at his home.
Stressing that he bore no ill-will towards the Christian community, Mazlan said the church operators should have researched the area before deciding to operate there and before choosing to install a cross outside.
Hosrimah Mudari, 37, another resident who witnessed the 2001 riots shared Mazlan’s sentiment, saying that the church should have chosen an area with more non-Muslim population.
“You should have seen the state of this place at that time… blood splatters, vehicles crashed, burnt and turned over... it was apocalyptic,” she recounted to Malay Mail Online when met.
The 2001 Kampung Medan riots that unfolded a short distance from Taman Medan was believed to have been triggered when an Indian security guard, upon finding a tent erected for a Malay wedding in the middle of a narrow road, began destroying the tables and chairs set out beneath it.
His actions triggered the wrath of the Malay family preparing for the wedding and they reportedly assaulted him. He fled but returned later with weapons and a group of friends.
The incident triggered a flurry of violent racially-charged attacks and resulted in six deaths and at least 40 hospitalised. One man had both his arms hacked off.
Now, Hosrimah fears that the controversy of last Sunday’s cross protest may similarly spiral out of control should more outsiders decide to intervene, which she said would prevent the locals from letting the matter subside.
A neighbour who identified herself only as Cik Am expressed the same concern: that tensions may be stoked to the point that may cause a repeat of the riots over a decade ago.
“You see the problem is we are afraid that this church issue might court outsiders to come here and get involved... just like in a 2001 incident, when many of those involved in the ethnic clash were outsiders... everybody felt that their rights were being violated and their race was being made a mockery off, resulting in the bloodshed,” she said.
Both insisted that the church was only adding to problems that locals were already facing, such as high crime rate, and should not have been opened here.
The sentiment was also not exclusive to Muslims met by Malay Mail Online; some non-Muslim residents also felt the church was thoughtless for openly displaying the cross in the Malay-dominated area.
“I have been here since 37 years, lived through the riot... why seek trouble? If you already know the sensitivity, don’t go looking for problem,” W. Banuregha, who runs a beauty parlour and tailoring school, said.
On Sunday, about 50 Taman Medan Muslim residents staged a protest against the new church for putting up a cross, a religious symbol for Christians, on its façade.
The Muslim group claimed that putting up a cross in a Malay-majority area is a challenge to Islam and could influence young Muslims.
The church removed the cross several hours after the protest.
