CC Pung, Justice of Peace , Tokoh Wartawan Sabah and Labuan, dose of philosophical musings.
I thought we have laws governing collecting donations.
But looking at this assembly of donation boxes and reused food containers, it appears that it’s a free-for-all situation.
The information on these boxes show no permit. The collection is for orphans and islamic religious schools.
Islam is Malaysia’s official religion but other beliefs are free to be propagated and practised.
Some state governments give token ad hoc grants to non Islamic religious organisations.
But overall Islam gets the bulk of whatever funds there are from the govt for everything from propagation, administration, wages of officials, ulamaks, sponsoring haj, quran recitation competitions, religious celebrations, etc.
Officially, the govt has a department under the Prime Minister’s Deartment, but it looks after only Islamic affairs.
It receives annual grants and has clout many other ministries are envious of.
This Ðepartment of Islamic Affairs is a so influential that drew the attention of, for example, the Sultan of Johor, who felt that it was encroaching into spheres exclusive to the royal houses who, as per the Constittio, are the custodian of Islam in the country.
In some forum, this department has been questioned for its tendency to be aligned with Islamic groups from East Asia like Pakistan, Bangladesh and India who are considered as more radically fundamental.
A common denominator of this grouping is their alliance with Egypt’s famous Al Azhar University known worldwide for a variety of reasons, scholarly and otherwise.
Given that there’s much money and resources available for Islam’s development, I’m amused with the need for informal Islamic groups to solicit meagre public donations with pathetic-looking boxes like those in the photo.
Editor l: The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of Talantang.
