Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Md Yunos has rejected calls for him to declare the source of his wealth, after he promised to give away RM1,000 to each of the 646 party delegates in his division.

He said the declaration was not necessary as there is no law that requires him to do so, adding that this was the fault of opposition parties, particularly DAP.

"Before the 13th general election, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had proposed that politicians be made to declare who their donors were.

"But unfortunately, the opposition, especially DAP, didn't agree to it... so there's no need for me to declare anything," Jamal told Malaysiakini.

He was responding to calls, including by DAP Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran, for him to declare the source of his wealth.

Najib last year blamed DAP for blocking reforms that would encourage better transparency in political funding.

DAP has denied this, saying Najib had never consulted the party on such reforms.

However, Seremban MP Anthony Loke admitted that DAP had, in the past, expressed concern about political funding rules as contributors to DAP feared a backlash from the government.

Jamal announced the cash handout during the Sungai Besar Umno delegates assembly on Wednesday.

The money, he said, was re-allocated from a cancelled study trip to Dubai that would have only benefited 81 branch leaders and division committee members.

Elaborating on the planned trip, Jamal said it was to expand the worldview of Sungai Besar Umno leaders so they would not be "katak di bawah tempurung" (a frog under a coconut shell) – an idiom that applies to those who remain ignorant inside their own bubble.

He said they chose Dubai because it was a developed Islamic country and they wanted to learn from it.

No one was upset that they did not get to go to Dubai, and he felt that rewarding the delegates was a better choice, Jamal added.