Reverend unfazed by attacks

KOTA BARU: Rev Goo Siew Lai of the Kota Baru Chinese Methodist Church will not be deterred by the attacks which have damaged his church.

He said he would continue staying at there with his wife and two children after unknown perpetrators threw objects at his church and a temple here.

“The church has been here for 40 years. We have never faced such hostility before,” he said yesterday.

Rev Goo, 42, said he and his wife Ong Bee Hoi would not react with fear because they had found peace in their hearts.

He was responding to the incident on Saturday night when a man was seen throwing hard objects towards the church and the Arulmigu Siva Subramaniyar Temple nearby, shattering windows.

Kelantan Hindu Maha Sabha deputy president B. Jayabalan said it was the first time things were thrown at the temple.

MCA Religious Harmony Bureau deputy chairman Datuk Ng Chok Sin said the culprit should not be let off the hook.

“While thankfully there were no reported injuries, our bureau is concerned that the object could have injured people or caused fatalities,” he said in a statement.

Ng called on the police to investigate whether the perpetrator was linked to any terror networks, as the three men arrested for plotting to attack the Better Beer festival in Kuala Lumpur last October were from Kelantan.

“The latest attack is worrisome as it occurred just two weeks after debris from improvised water bombs by several Mat Rempits were flung at the Luther Centre in Petaling Jaya after the New Year midnight service.

“We hope it is not a copycat assault,” he added.

Kelantan CPO Datuk Hasa­nuddin Hassan said the pastor had recorded the suspect’s actions during Saturday’s incident on his mobile phone.

“The object was thrown from a bridge some 7m away,” he said.

He said the first incident happened at the church, where a caretaker heard an explosion on the upper floor of the building.

“The caretaker went up to the second floor of the church and found a broken mirror along with a water filter tank with burn marks on it,” he added.

Hasanuddin said preliminary investigation found that the tank was hurled from a moving car on the elevated road to Pasir Pekan.

He said police also found a water filter tank in the temple, believed to have been thrown at the building from the same vehicle.