For the formation of a peaceful, prosperous and blissful country, spirituality needs to be striven for. For now, there is no blueprint (direction, transformation and action plan for the future) that is complete and scientifically related to Malaysian Hindu temples that can be used as a reference, and proposed as a policy in the future. Many temple issues exist today, but the solutions made are only for short term. Realizing this fact, YB Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, Minister of Human Resources, has taken a pragmatic step by inspiring a unit, namely the Malaysian Hindu Temple Information Coordination Unit or UPIKHM, to collect detailed data and the latest statistics about Hindu temples in Malaysia. To implement this initiative, UPIKHM has established an official portal to share all the information about Hindu temples throughout Malaysia in detail.
Various methods are used for the collection of temple data, including field studies, discussions and round table consultations, which involve various levels of society, including experts and university scholars. Data on Malaysian Hindu temples is collected online using the Airtable platform with several scopes of questions such as demographic information of the temple (address, phone number, email, social media), registration status, background and uniqueness of the temple, list of temple committee members and etc.
UPIKHM's main hope is to develop a Development Plan for the Transformation and Action of Hindu Temples in Malaysia from 2022 to 2030. This development plan can be used as a framework that covers the needs, wishes and suitability of Hindu temples in Malaysia for the next 10 years, from 2022, and it will help in identifying the challenges faced by Hindu temples in Malaysia. This development plan is also drawn up based on the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 which carries the commitment to make Malaysia a country that continues to develop sustainably along with fair, equitable and inclusive economic distribution to all levels of Indian society regardless of income, ethnicity, region and chain supply.