Although the increase in budget for Islamic affairs was true, Lim said Penang MCA chief Tan Teik Cheng’s statement was “regrettable” as it was racist.
He added that despite Tan’s statement, there had not been so much as a squeak from either Umno or PAS.
“If the increase in allocations was wrong, then action should be taken by Umno or PAS for MCA’s racist statement.
“We have been called anti-Islam by Umno and PAS all this while. If there is nothing wrong with our budget for Islam in the state, then why is Tan spared from their criticism?” he said in a press conference at Komtar today.
Tan recently said the allocation for Islamic affairs had increased year-on-year, with nothing for the Chinese in Penang.
Tan had said close to RM460 million was spent on Islamic affairs during Pakatan Rakyat/Pakatan Harapan’s governance from 2008 to 2016. By comparison, Barisan Nasional (BN) spent a total of RM249 million in Penang, from 1999 to 2007.
In this year’s budget, the state allocated RM49.37 million for Islamic affairs.
On Feb 7, Tan reportedly said that the Chinese, the majority race in Penang, were at the losing end as Malays received the majority of goodies from the state government.
He said Penang Malays received more state housing, the lion’s share of the state’s civil service jobs, funds for small-medium enterprises and a high budget for Islamic development.
He pointed to BN’s stint in Penang, during which the state government housing quota for Bumiputeras was 30%. Today, he said, it had increased to 42%.
He also claimed there were very few Chinese in the Penang civil service. From 2008 to 2014, he said, only 220 individuals out of 8,346 in the service were of Chinese descent.
“From 2008 to 2015, for 6,095 projects for small enterprise development, 94% was given to Malay companies.
“From 2009 to 2014, the DAP government gave RM450 million to the state Islamic Development Council.
“During BN’s time, we gave RM12 million to the same council, yearly,” Sin Chew Daily reported Tan as saying.
FMT has contacted Tan for his comments and is awaiting his reply.
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