Last week I went to Malaysia Hall in London for tarawikh (Ramadhan prayer). It was a beautiful experience meeting all the Malaysians there. The moreh (food) was excellent and the environment was very nice indeed. The crowd was quite a big one too. I think the surau committee must be praised for having done such a good effort.

The solat tarawikh experience was great. But there was another thing that struck me. I was talking to one of the Malaysia Hall officers at the reception counter after prayers when I saw Umno membership application forms at the reception desk.

I am talking about membership application form for Umno Malaysia (the political party) and not Kelab Umno UK (the deceptively 'social' club).

There was also a pile of booklets entitled 'Mengimbas Majlis Sambutan Ulang Tahun UMNO ke-57'.

I thought the Malaysia Hall is a place for all and is a government building. Since when is it acceptable for a government institution to be openly campaigning for a political party?

Why is only Umno's forms put there and not the forms of other parties? What ever happened to MIC, MCA, DAP, PAS, KeAdilan, etc? Will Malaysia Hall display PAS' Islamic state document? After all, at least be fair in this month of Ramadhan.

Oh...sorry. I seem to have forgotten that the director of the Malaysian Students Department, whose office is next door, has recently obtained a Datuk-ship from Umno. No wonder Malaysia Hall has now officially become a recruiting machinery for Umno.

The receptionist told me: "Datuk allowed the form to be distributed from here. Please feel free to take one home if you want to apply." I then left the building.