This week, a photo of houses in Langkawi with “white Christian crosses” on their roofs went viral. Some Muslims freaked out, claiming that it was an insidious plot to convert their more vulnerable brethren to Christianity. The Kedah state government threw a fit, with its Housing Exco, Dato’ Hj Tajul Urus bin Hj Mat Zain (Tanjong Dawai – BN), demanding that the housing developer “fix” the roof.

Well, Dato’ Tajul Urus Mat Zain, we have good news for you. Those aren’t even Christian crosses. They aren’t even crosses. Let’s show you why…

 

This Christian Cross Isn’t Even A Cross

Thanks to Ottoman Ibnu Othman, we cleared up the mystery of why the housing developer added a “Christian cross” to the roofs of those houses. The vertical stalk of the “Christian cross” is actually the party wall. It is the dividing partition that acts as a fire wall between those terrace houses.

The horizontal arms of the “Christian cross” is actually a VENTILATION SPACE next to the party wall. It only looks like a line because you are viewing it from directly in front. If you view it from above, it no longer looks like the arms of a Christian cross… MAGIC! 😀

 

It’s Just Pareidolia

As you can see, this really isn’t a Christian cross at all… just pareidolia. That’s a fancy word for recognising shapes or familiar objects where they don’t exist.

Now pareidolia is a common human phenomenon. However, it is truly appalling for the person in charge of housing in Kedah to be so ignorant of common housing architectural features like a party wall, or a ventilation space. One wonders how is he suited for such a post…

Instead of correcting those who were (admittedly) ignorant of such architectural features, he pandered to their fears. Dato’ Hj Tajul Urus bin Hj Mat Zain (Tanjong Dawai – BN) should be ashamed of himself.