State executive councillor on Islamic affairs Abdul Malik Kassim was blasted by a Malay NGO for criticising a former chief justice who claimed that Islam is under threat in Penang.

 

Penang Malay Congress president Rahmad Isahak said, "Why is Malik ‘jumping’ at those remarks from ex-CJ Abdul Hamid Mohamad, who is a Penang boy?"

 

"Abdul Hamid is not talking nonsense (tin kosong) ... he was trying to speak the truth about his race and he is doing so within existing laws," Rahmad ( left ) told Malaysiakini .

 

"Please don't babble like a clown but try to care more for the position of the Malays in Penang who have lost their political power (after Pakatan Rakyat took over the state in 2008)," he added.

 

On Tuesday, in a speech attended by several Islamic NGOs, Abdul Hamid cited an incident told to him by a former state mufti that an imam had to say prayers together with a Christian and Hindu priest at an event attended by the Penang deputy chief minister.

 

Malik has since clarified that the event was a groundbreaking ceremony for the Penang Indians Association building.

 

The ceremony, held in February, was attended by DCM II P Ramasamy and Human Resources Minister G Palanivel, who is also MIC president. Multi-religious prayers were conducted as there were Indians who are Muslim, Christian and Hindu at the event.

 

Abdul Hamid ( right ) also claimed that the former mufti revealed it was difficult to obtain allocation from the state government for Islamic activities as the latter also funds other religious programmes, saying this must not be left unchecked.

 

Rahmad asked Malik to state "other than heaps of sweeteners given to the Penang Islamic Affairs Council (Maipp), how many affordable homes has he built for the Malays since holding the state exco post?"

 

"What about promises Pakatan made in the last general elections, like building an Islamic hospital and medical centre? Was it all just talk?" Rahmad asked.

 

Ex-CJ told to apologise

 

Yesterday, Malik strongly refuted Abdul Hamid's allegations and challenged the former judge to substantiate his baseless remarks and to apologise for them, especially since he uttered them during the fasting month.

 

To disprove Hamid's claims, Malik presented a list of the state's budget allocations for Islamic activities, which he said has seen an increase of 300 percent from when Gerakan was ruling the state.

 

These allocations include:

  • RM25.49 million for Islamic activities under BN in 2008, while under Pakatan, RM35.78 million (2009), RM37.85 million (2010), RM63.21 million (2011), RM64.03 million (2012), RM54.55 million (2013) and RM51.17 million this year.
  • Sekolah Agama Rakyat (religious schools) - RM1.5 million in 2008 and 2009 respectively, RM1.75 million annually from 2010 to 2014.

 

  • Quran reciters (para hafiz) - not given during BN's tenure but under Pakatan: RM30,900 (2008), RM65,000 (2009), RM90,000 (2010), RM130,000 (2011), RM175,000 (2012) and RM202,500 last year.

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  • Ramadan allocations for mosques in Penang - not given under BN but under Pakatan, RM1,000 each to 200 mosques annually since 2008; RM5,000 to the state mosque and RM3,000 to district mosques.

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  • Religious teachers - annually since 2009, bonuses amounted to more than RM500,000 from state allocations, while funds for official government religious programmes have also been increased yearly.

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  • Penang Syariah Court - 3.5 acres of land given to construct a building with RM33 million allocated by the federal government.

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  • Academic work of the Fatwa Committee - state government fund of RM115,000.00 (for trip to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in March this year), and RM25,000 (to Maipp for its southern Thailand trip in October 2011).

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