Saving Tabung Haji caused me sleepless nights, but worth it - Mujahid
INTERVIEW | To de facto Islamic Affairs Minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa, his biggest challenge over the past year has emerged as one of his proudest achievements.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, Mujahid said that he does not mind if his efforts to salvage Lembaga Tabung Haji had cost Pakatan Harapan several points in the eyes of the rakyat.
"Tabung Haji has been the biggest challenge. It was a tough decision we had to make, and there were tough explanations we had to make...
INTERVIEW | To de facto Islamic Affairs Minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa, his biggest challenge over the past year has emerged as one of his proudest achievements.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, Mujahid said that he does not mind if his efforts to salvage Lembaga Tabung Haji had cost Pakatan Harapan several points in the eyes of the rakyat.
"Tabung Haji has been the biggest challenge. It was a tough decision we had to make, and there were tough explanations we had to make.
"We have become unpopular, but we know that by making such an unpopular move, it was in the best interests of Tabung Haji and of Muslims in general.
"There were nights when I did not sleep or slept late because I had to meet so often with the Tabung Haji CEO and chairperson to give them our explanation and input,” he said when met at his office in Putrajaya yesterday.
In deficit
Mujahid previously revealed that in 2017, under the Najib Abdul Razak administration, Tabung Haji continued to pay dividends (hibah) to its shareholders despite being RM4.1 billion in deficit, in contravention of its own constitution.
Auditors also found that the fund paid dividends using the savings of its depositors, but concealed the move through other deals and creative accounting.
Tabung Haji was later placed under Bank Negara’s supervision, and a turnaround plan – which involved the transfer of Tabung Haji’s RM10 billion assets to Putrajaya at an increased price of RM19.9 billion – was implemented.
The plan also included a 'rescue package' amounting to RM17.8 billion.
Read more: 'I held to my principles' - Mujahid denies U-turn claims
Turnaround plan
During the interview, Mujahid stressed that the turnaround plan had to be done without causing too big a burden to the government or affecting Malaysia’s credit rating.
"We eventually decided on that package to rehabilitate and restructure Tabung Haji. This took a lot of my time and the time of my Tabung Haji friends.
"But after our hard work over the past few months, we are now more at ease because Tabhung Haji is on the right track and we can focus on other things," he said.
Earlier this month, the Amanah politician came under fire when he announced Tabung Haji’s 2018 dividend to be 1.25 percent or RM913 million in total, its lowest ever payout.
Rather than view the move as a setback, Mujahid heralded the payout as proof that they had managed to turn the fund around.
“It wasn’t much, but with a RM1 billlion profit, we were able to pay RM913 million in dividends, at 1.25 percent.
“People can say whatever they want, that it was low or whatever. But we succeeded in restoring Tabung Haji to function in accordance with its own act,” he said.
With Harapan soon to hit its one-year mark, Mujahid said he was proud of his ministry’s work in reforming how Islam is managed in the country through his “compassionate state” (negara rahmah) concept, which has three main thrusts – rahmatan lil alamin, maqasid syariah and the Malaysian model.
He is also proud of how he had managed to do away with the previous practice of ministers having a stake in the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP).
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