Govt-Run Islamic Charity Boss Warned Staff To Not Vote For PH In Pre-GE14 Speech
The Federal Islamic charity recently has been in the news for financial misconduct.
By Sadho Ram — 18 May 2019, 12:47 PM
A Federal Islamic charity's boss warned employees not to vote for Pakatan Harapan in the run-up to the 14th general election (GE14)
This was revealed after a two-minute video surfaced showing the Malaysia Islamic Economic Development Foundation's (YAPEIM) current director-general (D-G) Abibullah Samsudin making a pre-GE14 speech at a company event in a hotel.
In the video, Abibullah warns staff not to support PH, the coalition which ended BN's rule, telling YAPEIM employees that he will check their votes "one by one".
Malaysiakini reported that when the YAPEIM D-G tells the crowd that he knows "there are those among you who choose Pakatan Harapan", the crowd laughed with some of them could be heard saying "Undi itu rahsia" (Our votes are secret).
"Yes, it is secret, but I will check one by one.
"I will go to the Election Commission (EC), all Yapeim staff, and I will check one by one where you vote and who you voted for," Abibullah warns the crowd.
Abibullah, clad in a blue batik shirt, standing behind a podium, warning staff against voting for PH.
Image via FMTAccording to FMT, which confirmed the YAPEIM D-G's identity from the Islamic charity's chairman Mohd Daud Bakar, Abibullah then warns that PH supporters are not welcome at the foundation
"If there are those who vote for Pakatan Harapan, you are not fit to work in YAPEIM. Go find work with DAP," FMT reported the government-run Islamic charity's boss as saying, at which point, the crowd, which had been laughing earlier, fell silent.
Abibullah then could be heard saying that if the government were to change, those including him in YAPEIM would also be axed.
"I am confirmed to be gone if the government changes. Those in front of you right now will all be gone. Balik kampung, tanam kangkung (Go back to your village and plant kangkung)," he told the crowd, as reported by Malaysiakini.
Following the revelation of the video, FMT reported Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Fuziah Salleh as saying that the PH Government will not be taking any action against the director-general of YAPEIM over his political loyalty
"We have to be fair to them and give them a chance to prove themselves in terms of performance. We cannot punish them for not being loyal to PH before," Fuziah said, adding that under the PH government, civil servants are free to support any political party.
"We do not expect people to campaign for us, but at work, we expect them to be professionals," Fuziah said, as reported by FMT on Thursday, 16 May.
