PETALING JAYA: The distribution of flowers in the Taman Medan neighbourhood yesterday following a protest a week ago against a church drew mixed reactions from local residents.

Some appeared taken aback when a group from the Malaysians for Malaysia movement went around handing out flowers in the Muslim-majority area where the protest occurred outside the Community of Praise Petaling Jaya church last Sunday.

A man who was approached with some flowers at an Indian Muslim restaurant at the commercial area where the church’s shop lot building is located asked the group if the flower distribution activity was religious-related.

“The man was asked if it was ‘Anglican’. I assume he was asking if it is the church that distributed the flower. I said no,” said a Malaysians for Malaysia group member.

While some gave those handing out flowers the cold shoulder, others appeared quite receptive. About 10 people, led by Azrul Mohd Khalib, the Malaysians for Malaysia group coordinator, turned up yesterday in solidarity with the church that was at the centre of last Sunday’s protest.

The group bearing flowers went to the nearby flats to give out flowers there while waiting for the church’s Sunday service to end.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 27, 2015.