‘Golden chariot will not hijack Thaipusam’

> RM3m carriage belongs to all Hindus: PHEB

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB) has rejected the idea the introduction of a golden chariot at the Thaipusam celebration this year is an attempt to hijack the festival.

Deputy Chief Minister II and PHEB chairman P. Ramasamy said the board was a statutory body of the state government and so the golden chariot will belong to all Hindus.

He said this was unlike the silver chariot, used for some 100 years in previous Thaipusam celebrations in Penang, which was managed by the Nattukottai Chettiars.

He said the silver chariot was not owned nor managed by the PHEB or the Arulmigu Sri Ganesha Temple, which is popularly known as the Hilltop Temple.

Ramasamy said the idea for the golden chariot did not come about overnight as former PHEB chairman, Bagan Dalam assemblyman A. Tanasekharan, brought up the matter in 2009.

He said the launch of the golden chariot was an attempt on the part of the majority of Hindus in Penang to assert their rights.

“We will have a golden chariot come this Thaipusam,” he said in a press conference yesterday.

The RM3 million, 4.3m-tall golden chariot will begin its journey on the eve of Thaipusam from the Arulmigu Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Lebuh Queen to the Arulmigu Sri Ganesha Temple in Jalan Kebun Bunga.

The journey for the 7.3m-tall silver chariot begins at the Kovil Veedu in Lebuh Penang to the Nattukottai Chettiar Temple in Jalan Kebun Bunga.

On the accountability of the PHEB regarding donations collected during the festival, Ramasamy said the money will be kept in a safe in Komtar after the festival.

He said the money will be counted and tallied publicly, and pointed out that the PHEB accounts was audited by the auditorgeneral and the report submitted to Parliament and could be up for debate if the matter was raised.

He also questioned what happened to the donations collected by Nattukottai Chettiars over the years.

“After collecting money from the public for over 100 years, where did the money go?”

ZULFADHLI ZAKI/ THESUN ... With Chinese New Year around the corner, preparations are picking up to welcome the Year of the Rooster. A temple worker is seen installing a replica of the bird at the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.