With reference to the letter by Edmund Burke Fan, ' Don't expect reigious equality ', the writer inferred that given Islam's status as the official religion, Muslims have the right to expect official support, especially in the building of mosques.

The writer further asserted that this, was something agreed upon by the founding fathers. I believe he/she is wrong. As far as I can recall, official allocation for the building of mosques and other Islamic structures from state funds was only provided following amendments to state constitutions in the 1970s. I doubt our founding fathers wanted a large part of the tax revenue directed towards a specific section of the Malaysian community when they first assigned the official epithet to Islam.

As basis for arguing, the writer brought up the fact that Islam does not get the official support of governments in China, India, etc. But these countries also do not provide official support for any other religion. So where is the discrimination?

The question remains if tax money, which is collected from Malaysians from all religious affiliations, should be used for the building of mosques or to support other Islamic causes. Shouldn't it be better for all if such causes are supported from the zakat collection per se (as it is partially done now). Of course this is only workable if zakat payment is not made tax deductable, lest tax revenues needed to support common infrastructure drops.

Admittedly, utopian ideas should not be pursued. But surely, some degree of rational discussion should be allowed to ensure that Malaysians are governed by common sense and not blind adherence to traditionalist past.