SIBU: The Sarawak government, through the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor), gave a grant amounting to RM50,000 to a Hindu temple in Jalan Awang Ramli Amit here.
Nangka assemblyman Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee said the money was for repair works on the temple.
“This is the old temple…the new one (right behind the old temple) is still under construction. We still need to repair this building as it will be turned into its office once the new temple is completed,” he explained.
He was speaking to the media after a brief ceremony to present a cheque for the amount today.
As for the new temple, Dr Annuar said it was short of RM500,000 for its construction.
“I will seek assistance from Unifor in the next few months for funding. As you know, Unifor has an allocation from the state government totalling RM50mil per year.”
Meanwhile, temple president Manogaran Krishnasamy thanked the state government for the financial assistance.
“Our temple (a small part of it) was built in 1920, then in 1971, we built this building and we did not do any renovation until 2014. Now and again, we see some damage.
“Hence, we requested funds from Unifor (for repairs) then today, Datuk Dr Annuar presented the cheque to us,” he said.
Manogaran pointed out that the allocation as well as the new temple would benefit about 350 Hindus in Sibu.
“This new temple will be a new landmark in Sibu. Along this road, you can see we have Masjid An-Nur, church, Gurdwara Sahib (place of worship for Sikhs) and our temple, so we are very blessed.”
