UMNO urged the Government to turn Tabung Haji into a national trust institution, administered by a board of trustee, to safeguard Muslims’ savings for their Hajj pilgrimage.
“Tabung Haji’s real problem is leadership, not regulation. We need trustworthy and competent leaders to manage the institution. It could be locals or even foreigners.
“It needs leaders who can unlock its potential as a trust fund and become productive to the community. Let us return Tabung Haji to its real reason of being established in the first place,” its deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said, in a Facebook post.
Tabung Haji has been embroiled with financial issues for years, with its former chairperson Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim being hauled up to court on three corruption charges, in addition to 10 other charges of money laundering.
On March 12, Azeez, who is also a Umno MP, failed in his bid to quash three corruption charges he was facing.
“I find the reason given by the applicant (Abdul Azeez) baseless. The applicant also failed to show that the charges made against him were mala fide (malicious).
“In my opinion, this case is not a suitable and appropriate case for the court to exercise its existing power to set aside and quash the charges against the applicant. Therefore, the applicant’s application is dismissed,” High Court Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin was reported saying.
Two days ago, Finance Ministry announced that Tabung Haji will now come under Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) purview, under Section 223 of the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013.
However, Mohamad Hasan was not keen to have Tabung Haji being placed under BNM’s jurisdiction.
Elaborating, the veteran banker opined that under BNM, Tabung Haji may get treated as a financial institution or savings fund.
With that, the establishment would lose sight of the purpose of its founding.
“It will stray away from its noble intention, which is to uplift the ummah,” the Rantau state assemblyman remarked. – July 18, 2021.
