SNAPSHOT | No record of student accused of desecrating Quran converting to Islam

KINI SNAPSHOT | What’s going on in the news today, with updates at 9am, 2pm, 6pm and 9pm.

9pm

Quran-stepping case

• There is no record that the student who is accused of desecrating the Quran by stepping on it, S Vikneswaran, is a Muslim convert, according to Pahang Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MUIP) deputy chief executive officer (Baitulmal and Operations) Asmadi Abdul Rahman.

  Berita Harian quoted him as saying that the council also checked with religious authorities in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Negeri Sembilan, but to no avail. In addition, the council has contacted Islamic preacher Firdaus Wong for more information, but did not receive a response.

  The report came after Wong made a series of social media posts since yesterday, claiming Vikneswaran had converted to Islam last year and took up the Muslim name Muhammad Zain.

  He shared purported screenshots of WhatsApp conversations with Vikneswaran since June 19, 2024, including a screenshot of a video call where Firdaus supposedly witnessed Vikneswaran pronounce the syahadah (proclamation of faith) on April 20, 2025.

  However, he conceded that he does not know whether Vikneswaran had formally registered his conversion to Islam. Asmadi, who is also the Pahang chief registrar of Muslim converts, said all converts in the state must attend a three-day intensive course guided by a senior convert.

6pm

Muhyiddin vs Hamzah

• Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin has admitted that his recent absence from parliamentary proceedings was due to an “awkward” feeling of sitting next to his sacked deputy, Hamzah Zainudin, in the Dewan Rakyat.

  The Pagoh MP had been absent since Parliament resumed on Feb 23 after the Chinese New Year holidays, while Hamzah continued to attend the sitting as an Independent Larut MP following his expulsion from Bersatu.

  "I didn't go to Parliament (this week), at first, because I wasn't feeling well.

  "Secondly, when I heard that I would have to sit beside Hamzah (in the Dewan Rakyat), I didn't want to. To be frank, it's not that I wanted to be absent, but it's awkward," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.

  On Feb 14, a day after his sacking, Hamzah had declared Muhyiddin as his “number one enemy”.

Local government

• The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) mayor’s power to directly approve contributions has been limited to funds worth RM3,000 and below, with a committee set to review any amount exceeding the threshold.

  Noting that the measure is part of broader governance reforms following concerns raised by the MACC last month, mayor Fadlun Mak Ujud also said the mayor will no longer chair DBKL’s internal audit committee.

  Two additional external advisory board members will also be appointed, with the appointees expected to be professionals or certified individuals in audit-related fields, Fadlun told a press conference today.

  Also present at the event was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh, who said the reforms were implemented on the mayor’s own initiative.

2pm

Court

• The Federal Court has unanimously dismissed Rosmah Mansor’s bid to recuse the judge who had convicted her for corruption over the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid energy project in 2022.

  She had alleged that Zaini Mazlan, who was a High Court judge at the time, was biased, following the alleged leak of a judgment that pronounced her guilty.

  However, Bernama reported that the three-member panel led by Nordin Hassan found no appealable error in the Court of Appeal decision warranting the Federal Court’s intervention.

  

  The court also held that Zaini did not breach the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009.

  The decision paves the way for the Court of Appeal to hear Rosmah’s appeal against her 10-year jail term and RM970 million fine.

PM term-limit vote

• BN’s Libaran MP Suhaimi Nasir said he missed yesterday’s term-limit vote because he was ill.

  “I was not well. I suddenly had headaches and felt nauseous. I went home at 1.30pm,” he told Malaysiakini.

  

  He said a doctor later made a house call and found his blood pressure elevated, possibly due to lack of sleep and rest.

  Reporting by Alyaa Alhadjri

• Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari claimed yesterday’s failed constitutional amendment vote was not a total loss.

  The Gombak MP said that since no MPs voted against the bill, it showed there was no rejection.

  This is despite Perikatan Nasional previously expressing reservations that the term limit might be unconstitutional and interfere with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s prerogative to appoint a premier.

  

  Regardless, Amirudin said the vote showed that MPs can’t take things for granted and such a failure should never happen again.

• Meanwhile, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin said it was the government’s job to ensure they had the numbers.

  “I would like to teach the government a lesson. If they want to pass a law requiring a two-thirds majority, they have to call each and every government MP to ensure their attendance.

  “If one of them said they were stuck in traffic, slip a note to the minister (winding-up) to extend their speech,” said the Larut MP during a press conference in Parliament.

  

  Hamzah reiterated that the opposition bench had abstained from the vote, taking into consideration the needed improvements to the proposed amendments.

9am

PM term-limit vote

• “It wasn’t me,” said Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli in a Facebook post last night amid rife speculation about who the eight government MPs absent from the prime minister term-limit vote were.

  The constitutional amendment was just two votes short of being passed.

  

  Rafizi’s ally Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung also denied that the two and eight other PKR MPs who have threatened to withhold support from the attorney-general separation bill - if there are no amendments - were the ones who didn’t vote for the term-limits.

  Deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker Alice Lau, who is from DAP, said 100 percent of all Pakatan Harapan MPs had voted for the bill.

• Independent Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal said he intentionally skipped the term-limit vote because he wanted Anwar Ibrahim to remain as prime minister longer.

  He told Free Malaysia Today that he left the Dewan Rakyat at about 3pm.

  Julau MP Larry Sng said he missed the vote because he was stuck in traffic on the way back from an outside engagement.

  According to MPs, the other six absent backbenchers were Hishammuddin Hussein (Sembrong), M Saravanan (Tapah), Suhaimi Nasir (Libaran), Henry Sum Agong (Lawas), Riduan Rubin (Tenom), and Jeffrey Kitingan (Keningau).

• When contacted this morning, Saravanan briefly told Malaysiakini he was not at Parliament because he was attending important prayers in Pangkor.

Reporting by Alyaa Alhadjri

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