Revival of Mazu project seen
Published on: Saturday, March 25, 2023
Liew (2nd left), accompanied by tour guide Tham Yau Kong (left) and others, viewing the 'facial image' of the proposed Mazu Statue during the site visit on Thursday.
KUDAT: Sabah will experience a tourism boom that will meet all the Sabah Maju Jaya goals of improving the State’s economy, provide jobs for locals and raise the livelihood of many in the poverty-hit district if the stalled Mazu project in Kudat is allowed to proceed.Hence, State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Christina Liew said the Mazu project warrants another look by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-led State Government.
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Christina made a side trip to the site of the abandoned project at the request of the local community during her two-day working visit to the district.
They expressed hope that the State Government would agree to the construction of the “Goddess of the Sea” statue.
They told her that Kudat would experience a tourism boom if the project is revived and successfully completed. The project was abandoned more than 20 years ago.
Liew assured them that she would bring the matter to the attention of the State Government and the Chief Minister for consideration and approval.
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"It will definitely be a tourism icon and boost the tourism sector in the district, just like the spectacular Tip of Borneo and other hotspots in Sabah.
"Whatever conflicts in the past can be resolved amicably for the benefit the people of Kudat and its economy," she said after visiting the site on Thursday.
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The project which was approved and construction of which started in 2005 was at the midway stage when the approval was withdrawn in 2007 following acrimony between the then sitting Chief Minister and his predecessor.
Critics at that time regretted that the two leaders allowed their differences to affect the project that would have raised Malaysia’s image as a model multi-racial society.
One of the complaints then was that the statue was too close to the mosque although these were nearly almost a kilometre apart.
Then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is understood to have sympathised with the Sabah Chinese community’s plight and proposed erecting a hotel between the project site and mosque as a compromise.
However, the then Umno-led State Government of Tan Sri Musa Aman remained adamant.
Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat, who resigned from the State Cabinet as a matter of principle over the cancellation later took Musa to court.
The existence of numerous mosques all over Malaysia beside other places of worship, including one sharing a common wall boundary with a Hindu temple in the national capital, were among arguments used by the plaintiffs.
However, Chong lost on a matter of technicality when the Kudat Thean Hou Foundation that he represented in the case was found to be not on the Registrar’s list of approved NGOs.
Meanwhile, Christina also toured the Tun Mustapha Museum (under the Department of Sabah Museum) and Hakka House, operated by the Kudat Anglican Church.
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