Umno’s young ulama say they reject any entertainment hub mooted by the prime minister if it goes against Islamic teachings, but stress that such resistance must be conducted “behind closed doors”.

Fathul Bari Mat Jahya, chairperson of Umno’s fledgling Young Ulama Secretariat of Umno (Ilmu), said that they will not hesitate to criticise the government if the latter errs, including Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s planned nightlife hub under the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP).

“In principle, any entertainment hub - no matter wherever it is located or whoever it is who builds it - as long as it is contrary to Allah’s law, it remains fundamentally wrong,” Fathul told Malaysiakini yesterday.

young ulama join umno 250610 02 “But the question of reprimanding (the government), that is between us and the government and should not be exposed (to the public),” said the young alim (religious scholar), who was invited to join Umno this June for the purpose of “advising” the party leadership.

He added that those opposed to the plan should oppose based on the principles of Islam and this should not be politicised.

Yesterday, a host of NGOs joined the chorus of dissent over the plans, amongst them the Islamic Consumers Association Malaysia (PPIM), Angkatan Beliau Islam Malaysia (Abim), Muslim Lawyers Association of Malaysia (PPPM) and the Ulama Association of Malaysia (PUM).

Hub an ‘opiate’ against corruption

PAS Youth meanwhile criticised the premier’s plans to boost Malaysia’s economy through the hub as shortsighted and warned that the social costs created by the hub will far outweigh the proposal’s benefits.

pas umno pemuda talks parliment 010709 nasrudin hassan “A brief jump in the level of gross national revenue through the entertainment hub will be followed by it plunging to the depths, in incurring more costs to deal with the direct and indirect effects of this ‘industry of pleasure’, whereas such a situation can be avoided from the very start,” said PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan ( right ).

“The cost of rebuilding our human capital that is demolished (by the entertainment  industry) would go up too. In the end, the government only does stupid and useless things, just like digging a hole and covering it up again,” said Nasrudin.

Meanwhile, PAS information chief Ahmad Idris called the plan an “entertainment opiate” meant to distract the public from the scourge of corruption that is causing Malaysia to slide in Transparency International’s world corruption rankings.

“The ranking is evidence that the country has failed to achieve the goals of the National Key Result Areas (NKRA),” said Ahmad in a statement.