PUTRAJAYA’S RM190 million “Quranic Village” project is unnecessary and a waste of public funds, especially when the economy is hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, said architects.

They told The Malaysian Insight funding for the project could instead be channelled to housing, education and other necessities that could benefit Malaysians from all walks of life, regardless of religion or background.

Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa announced the Quranic Village project on July 21.

The project will be jointly managed by local council Perbadanan Putrajaya and Restu Foundation, while the funding will come from Islamic endowments and private funds.

Its development will consist of among others, a new 5,000-capacity mosque, a “Quranic science and prophetic biography” centre, a hostel and event space, market and arts centre dedicated to Malaysia, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Brunei.

Annuar said Putrajaya has approved the funding for the project.

Architecture lecturer Nazmi Anuar said architecture in the modern world should be in line with social realities and not overblown vanity projects.

“The age of architecture as icons, mega-projects and overblown vanity projects is over.

“Architects and the production of architecture today should be engaged with social realities, such as inequality and homelessness, the lack of adequate public spaces and infrastructure, as well as environmental realities such as global warming and climate change, depletion of natural resources.”

Nazmi said there is no longer a place for architecture to be proclaiming or representing any exclusive ambitions or status, especially if it is done in a “wasteful manner”.

He questioned the necessity for the project and called the architectural language on display in the proposal “an incoherent mix and match of style simply assembled without any sense of composition”.

“What is a project like the Quranic Village trying to portray? How is it beneficial to all Malaysians? How does it represent Malaysia or Islam for that matter? What about the Islamic values or humility and not being wasteful, how are these values embodied in this proposal, which is looking like another overblown vanity project?

“The intention is to project a sense of grandness, but for whom?” Nazmi said.

The 38-year-old said the country could instead use better public infrastructure, better public housing, better everyday amenities, such as bus stops, public toilets, community libraries, kindergartens, public markets, schools, clinics and hospitals.

“These are projects whose improvement will really benefit a large portion of our society and will contribute to a better living environment.

“We do not need more vanity projects, be it the tallest building in the world or the first Quranic village in the world. These kinds of aspirations are archaic considering the challenges and realities of today.

“Wouldn’t the creation of a living environment in which social and environmental issues are addressed to the benefit of all Malaysians, be more in line with Islamic teachings and principles?”

He said a living environment in which social and environmental issues are addressed for the benefit of all Malaysians would be something the nation can be proud of more than any vanity projects like the Quranic Village.

Another architect, Nik Ahmad Munawwar, questioned the cost and returns on investment of the project.

“How would such a project generate income to be self-sustainable? Or will it need to be funded by the government, which is taxpayers’ money, forever?

“And for what? Why do the people need to pay for it when some places don’t even have clean water to begin with? Obviously, none of this was considered,” said the architect living in Singapore.

Nik Munawwar said he does not understand the need for such a project when countries like the UAE, which is richer and has a bigger Muslim-majority population than Malaysia, does not see a point in developing such projects.

“The minister in charge brags that the project is the first of its kind in the world. What he does not realise is that there is a reason why it is so, and it is because it is not needed.”

He said while the Islamic faith emphasises on good governance, providing for the poor, treating people fairly regardless of race and religion and many others, this project does not address any of these issues.

“Instead, the government chose to spend money and time to build a monument that serves no clear purpose and would most likely be abandoned after a few years,” said the 32-year-old.

“In my opinion, there is no good timing for it as it is unnecessary, regardless if we have a pandemic or not.

“It does not change the fact that such a building is not needed and does not address any societal issues and in no way does it improve the livelihood of the people,” Nik Munawwar added.

Another architecture lecturer, Azim Sulaiman, said while the intention is good, to spend RM190 million in the current economic condition is “a big no”.

He said a country having outstanding buildings does not necessarily represent the Islamic way of life.

The lecturer from Shah Alam said the budget is too much.

“Even without the pandemic, the money should be used for other purposes, such as providing houses, education, food, health and better internet service,” he said.

“The money can also be used to conserve dilapidated heritage buildings in Malaysia that can boost our heritage tourism, which eventually will benefit the nation’s tourism revenue.”

Azim said the government should be focusing on fighting Covid-19 while providing assistance to the public who are most affected by the pandemic.

“What is the point of having eye-catching architecture when the rakyat are suffering.” – November 7, 2020.