JOHOR BARU: The area outside Surau Austin Perdana here was a picture of serenity today, with the surau congregation making their way in an orderly manner to attend Friday prayers.
This was in stark contrast to the ugly scenes which took place the same time last week, when the surau congregation had clashed with the driver of a car who had become enraged over haphazard parking.
Today, although cars were parked along both sides of the road, there was no obstruction to traffic along Jalan Austin Perdana 5, with vehicles moving smoothly throughout.
A large banner, strung across the surau's fence, reminded surau visitors to park their cars at the designated area behind the surau, and if none were available, every effort should be made to not obstruct any other road users.
Four Rela personnel were also seen manning the traffic flow.
Inside the surau, about 1,400 member of the congregation listened intently as the 'khutbah Jumaat' preached on the virtues of patience and understanding. The khatib, in his sermon, also reminded the congregation to forgive and forget the events of last week, which he said had tarnished the good name of Islam, as well as the surau.
An announcement was also made by the surau management, citing disappointment over the incident and expressing hope that there will not be a recurrence.
Those in the surau were also advised to park their vehicles accordingly and to not obstruct traffic flow outside the surau compound.
Meanwhile surau bilal Zulkifli Ahmad, 31, said the surau administration will put the incident behind them and hope that it will not happen again.
"I hope that everyone will view this incident as a lesson. Patience is a virtue and there is a need to promote tolerance in a community that has diversity in religion and race," he said.
The 28-year-old driver who was involved in last Friday’s fracas, yesterday issued a public apology over the incident.
Toh Chai Eun said he bore no ill intent when he honked at another car driver, which led to the chaos.