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Govt gives RM500,000 grant to Metro Tabernacle to help relocate
By YUEN MEIKENG
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is giving a grant of RM500,000 to the Metro Tabernacle Church, which was set on fire early Friday morning, to help it to relocate.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the grant was the the Government’s way of showing its sympathy towards what has happened.
“It is a sign of the Government’s sincerity in offering our support,” Najib told reporters after visiting the church in Desa Melawati yesterday at 5pm.
VIP visit: Najib visiting the razed Metro Tabernacle Church at Desa Melawati yesterday.
On hearing the announcement of the grant, some 200-odd church members, who had gathered outside the burnt ground floor of the three-storey building, cheered and clapped.
Metro Tabernacle lay leader Peter Yeow later told The Star that the church’s new building in Batu Caves was nearly ready.
“We tried to move into the new place by Christmas for the midnight service but failed to do so because we could not get the necessary approvals.”
Yeow added that the church had moved three times previously in Taman Melawati because of its large number of members and even rented a room in a hotel once a month to hold a service which could accommodate everyone.
During his visit, Najib expressed the hope that everyone would remain calm and committed to maintaining the peace and good relationship between the various religious communities.
“My visit to the scene of the arson shows the seriousness with which the Government views this incident.
“Burning places of worship of others is wrong, not only in the eyes of the law but also in Islam,” he said.
Asked to comment on those who criticised the Government for not doing enough following the arson attacks on the churches, Najib said:
“Those people like to point fingers because they have political agendas.”
Asked whether the other churches would receive grants as well, Najib said the RM500,000 was given to the Metro Tabernacle as it had suffered the most damage.
Welcoming the grant, Metro Tabernacle senior pastor Rev Ong Sek Leang said:
“We need a new office, probably at a new area, because the infrastructure here is all gone.”
“All of us are very happy about the grant.
“The fact that the Prime Minister came to visit us is a big encouragement to our church.”
By YUEN MEIKENG
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is giving a grant of RM500,000 to the Metro Tabernacle Church, which was set on fire early Friday morning, to help it to relocate.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the grant was the the Government’s way of showing its sympathy towards what has happened.
“It is a sign of the Government’s sincerity in offering our support,” Najib told reporters after visiting the church in Desa Melawati yesterday at 5pm.
VIP visit: Najib visiting the razed Metro Tabernacle Church at Desa Melawati yesterday.
On hearing the announcement of the grant, some 200-odd church members, who had gathered outside the burnt ground floor of the three-storey building, cheered and clapped.
Metro Tabernacle lay leader Peter Yeow later told The Star that the church’s new building in Batu Caves was nearly ready.
“We tried to move into the new place by Christmas for the midnight service but failed to do so because we could not get the necessary approvals.”
Yeow added that the church had moved three times previously in Taman Melawati because of its large number of members and even rented a room in a hotel once a month to hold a service which could accommodate everyone.
During his visit, Najib expressed the hope that everyone would remain calm and committed to maintaining the peace and good relationship between the various religious communities.
“My visit to the scene of the arson shows the seriousness with which the Government views this incident.
“Burning places of worship of others is wrong, not only in the eyes of the law but also in Islam,” he said.
Asked to comment on those who criticised the Government for not doing enough following the arson attacks on the churches, Najib said:
“Those people like to point fingers because they have political agendas.”
Asked whether the other churches would receive grants as well, Najib said the RM500,000 was given to the Metro Tabernacle as it had suffered the most damage.
Welcoming the grant, Metro Tabernacle senior pastor Rev Ong Sek Leang said:
“We need a new office, probably at a new area, because the infrastructure here is all gone.”
“All of us are very happy about the grant.
“The fact that the Prime Minister came to visit us is a big encouragement to our church.”
