Church and mosque in Sarawak work together to find parking solution
A church and a mosque in Lutong, Miri, Sarawak, have captured hearts recently after joining forces to tackle parking limitations in their shared neighborhood.
The Parish of the Good Shepherd and Masjid An-Naim are two houses of worship located right next to each other.
For years, they have famously opened their parking lots to one another’s congregations – Muslims are welcomed to park at the church during Friday prayers, while Christians park at the mosque for Sunday services.
Addressing the space crunch
Recently, however, the mosque began much-needed upgrades to its parking facilities.
While this is a positive development for the long term, it has created a temporary shortage of space.
Instead of allowing this to become a point of friction, the two institutions proactively sat down together to find a solution with representatives from both the church and the mosque eventually meeting with their local representative, Datuk Sebastian Ting (ADUN Piasau), to propose a collaborative way forward.
A ‘Grand Plan’ for shared space
The unified group proposed transforming a vacant plot of land located directly in front of the church into a temporary shared parking site.
This would serve both congregations until the mosque’s permanent parking upgrades are completed.
While the ownership of the specific plot was not detailed, the site was recommended due to its strategic location and easy road access.
Datuk Sebastian Ting has committed to looking into the matter and coordinating with the relevant authorities to ensure the proposal materializes.
