State Govt pledges to help temple project

Kota Kinabalu: The State Government will support the development of the Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kuala Penyu. Minister for special tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang told a delegation led by Kuala Penyu Assemblyman Limus bin Jury that the State Government allocated RM 32 million for temples, churches, Chinese and mission schools every year - RM 20 million to non-Islamic religious bodies and RM 12 million to the schools.

"The State Government has been providing financial allocation to the religious bodies and schools for the past 20, 30 years."

But in order to be eligible for the state grant, Teo said the association responsible for building the Wong Tai Sin Temple must be registered with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and the land which the temple would be built on must be owned by the association.

Additionally, he said the development plan (DP) must be approved by the local authority before the association could apply for the State Government's allocation.

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Teo hoped that the temple would commence construction soon.

Also present was Lee Yiu Fai, the abbot of Sik Sik Yuen which manages the Wong Tai Sin Temple.

The temple would be erected on a five-acre site donated by Limus.

Teo commended Limus's huge support for the construction of the temple despite not being a Chinese.

He said the State Government welcomed the plan to bring the Wong Tai Sin Temple into Sabah.

"The Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kowloon, Hong Kong is world-famous.

"The temple attracts close to 6 million worshippers, visitors and tourists annually.

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"If the Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kuala Penyu is able to attract five per cent of the worshippers or tourists, it will certainly bring significant benefits to the district and even Sabah."

The Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kuala Penyu will be the first in Southeast Asia, and the third in the world located outside the original temple in Hong Kong. The other two Wong Tai Sin Temples are located in Vancouver, Canada and Macau.

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