There is SARA Issue Behind Controversy of Giant Chinese Gods Statue in Tuban?
There is SARA Issue Behind Controversy of Giant Chinese Gods Statue in Tuban?
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JAKARTA - In last week, statue of gods located in area of Kwan Sing Bio temple, Tuban, East Java suddenly became a conversation and triggered pro-contra in social media. Until finally this statue is now covered with white cloth.
Statue of Kongco Kwan Sing Tee Koen which standing 30 meters high was actually inaugurated early last July and claimed to be the highest statue in Southeast Asia. The idea is triggered by the board of temple with funding from donor from Surabaya.
However, over past few days, there have been various oblique opinions on social media that compare the height of this statue with the statue of General Sudirman in Jakarta which is much smaller. Some uploaders also twist the news by calling that this god statue stands in the square.
Although there has been no direct protest to the statue, the news that leads to the issue of SARA is enough to make Chairman of Kwan Sing Bio, Gunawan Putra Irawan worried. He said the news spreader in medsos was misguided.
"Do not get the language wrong (the true) statue of Kwan Sing Tee Koen gods, there is something wrong with calling it warlord from China.We have no cooperation whatsoever with China, funding original Surabaya," said Gunawan as quoted by BBC Indonesia.
He added that this statue stands inside a temple complex, not in the town square, as it is called in social media.
A number of Islamic organizations in Tuban claimed no objection to the presence of the statue. The Head of Tuban MUI, Abdul Matin, said that there was a person who deliberately uploaded a comparison of Kongco Kwan Sing Bio statue in Tuban with General Sudirman statue in Jakarta to form an opinion.
One thing that the city government is concerned about is the statue's permit. Chairman of the DPRD Tuban, Miyadi said until now has never received permission to erect the statue. Previously, he said the pagoda had indeed proposed the establishment of a pagoda in the middle of the sea, but was rejected by the local government for violating regulations.
However, this claim was immediately dismissed by Gunawan as he said the permission to the district government had been filed since March 2016 and approved.
"If the permit is now being sued, it is weird and on what basis," he said.
Meanwhile, social, legal and political observers, Kan Hiung asks no sides and vigilante on this issue. Appropriate, if there are elements that allegedly violated, resolved through legal channels.
"If there are parties who dare to file a lawsuit through the courts in the country and internationally, then able to prove that the statue of the Kwan Sing Tee Koen god in the temple complex has harm the interests of Indonesian citizens materil and imateril, then I as a citizen Indonesia from the law-abiding of Chinese, promised to come to Tuban to take it down," he said.
Related building permit, Kan saw when building a pagoda must have been accompanied Building Permit (IMB).
"Does setting up additional statues in the temple also still need special IMB's again?" he said.
He mentioned that the chairman of the Confucian High Council of Indonesia (MATAKIN) in the field of law, Sofyan Jimmy Yosadi has explained that from the beginning of establishment to the process of development and inauguration, it has coordinated with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), police-TNI, FKUB, religious figures and community figures.
He was worried, this problem will be brought to the realm of SARA.
"We must be wise and intelligent, do not be easily provoked or provoked by the issue of SARA. If today is still easy to provoke or provoked SARA issues, undoubtedly we keep going backwards," he said.
Statue of Kongco Kwan Sing Tee Koen which standing 30 meters high was actually inaugurated early last July and claimed to be the highest statue in Southeast Asia. The idea is triggered by the board of temple with funding from donor from Surabaya.
However, over past few days, there have been various oblique opinions on social media that compare the height of this statue with the statue of General Sudirman in Jakarta which is much smaller. Some uploaders also twist the news by calling that this god statue stands in the square.
Although there has been no direct protest to the statue, the news that leads to the issue of SARA is enough to make Chairman of Kwan Sing Bio, Gunawan Putra Irawan worried. He said the news spreader in medsos was misguided.
"Do not get the language wrong (the true) statue of Kwan Sing Tee Koen gods, there is something wrong with calling it warlord from China.We have no cooperation whatsoever with China, funding original Surabaya," said Gunawan as quoted by BBC Indonesia.
He added that this statue stands inside a temple complex, not in the town square, as it is called in social media.
A number of Islamic organizations in Tuban claimed no objection to the presence of the statue. The Head of Tuban MUI, Abdul Matin, said that there was a person who deliberately uploaded a comparison of Kongco Kwan Sing Bio statue in Tuban with General Sudirman statue in Jakarta to form an opinion.
One thing that the city government is concerned about is the statue's permit. Chairman of the DPRD Tuban, Miyadi said until now has never received permission to erect the statue. Previously, he said the pagoda had indeed proposed the establishment of a pagoda in the middle of the sea, but was rejected by the local government for violating regulations.
However, this claim was immediately dismissed by Gunawan as he said the permission to the district government had been filed since March 2016 and approved.
"If the permit is now being sued, it is weird and on what basis," he said.
Meanwhile, social, legal and political observers, Kan Hiung asks no sides and vigilante on this issue. Appropriate, if there are elements that allegedly violated, resolved through legal channels.
"If there are parties who dare to file a lawsuit through the courts in the country and internationally, then able to prove that the statue of the Kwan Sing Tee Koen god in the temple complex has harm the interests of Indonesian citizens materil and imateril, then I as a citizen Indonesia from the law-abiding of Chinese, promised to come to Tuban to take it down," he said.
Related building permit, Kan saw when building a pagoda must have been accompanied Building Permit (IMB).
"Does setting up additional statues in the temple also still need special IMB's again?" he said.
He mentioned that the chairman of the Confucian High Council of Indonesia (MATAKIN) in the field of law, Sofyan Jimmy Yosadi has explained that from the beginning of establishment to the process of development and inauguration, it has coordinated with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), police-TNI, FKUB, religious figures and community figures.
He was worried, this problem will be brought to the realm of SARA.
"We must be wise and intelligent, do not be easily provoked or provoked by the issue of SARA. If today is still easy to provoke or provoked SARA issues, undoubtedly we keep going backwards," he said.
(rnz)
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