Lawyers say Putrajaya hasty in revoking resort operator’s PR over surau issue

Lawyers have said that Putrajaya had “prematurely punished” a Singaporean resort operator when it revoked the permanent resident (PR) status of the resort operator in Johor who had allowed a group of Buddhist to meditate in the resort's surau.

They said though Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had the power to revoke the PR status of Singaporean he should have done it after giving him a chance to explain himself.

Ahmad Zahid said the revocation was done in accordance with provisions of the law as the resort operator was "insensitive to Muslims and Islam".

He also said the operator was notified of the revocation while under police remand.

Amer Hamzah Arshad said the minister had the power to revoke the PR but felt his action was perhaps rash.

"This was an isolated incident and the act was not a threat to national security and public order," he said.

Amer said it appeared that Zahid succumbed to pressure from certain quarters and made the decision to appease them.

Karpal Singh said what transpired was insufficient to constitute grounds to deprive the operator of the resort of his PR status.

"The authorities should have written to him and issued a show cause. He has been prematurely punished," he said.

Karpal said the operator had a legitimate expectation to be heard before he was deprived of his PR.

He said the operator had much at stake because of the consequences of the government's action.

Lawyers for Liberty adviser Eric Paulsen said the Minister's reaction was “overkill”.

He said the man was still innocent until proven guilty.

"It is not known whether the public prosecutor will frame charges against him. It is for the court to decide his guilt or innocence," Paulsen said, adding that he viewed the action as punishment through the back door.

He said the revocation had certainly made life difficult for the operator and the livelihood of those working at the resort.

“This decision has a serious repercussion in terms of economic interests, investments, tourism and how the world sees Malaysia.

“I urge the authorities to not overreact and act emotionally, and to look through the rules and regulation to provide justice,” he said.

Edmund Bon said the operator could appeal to the minister to reinstate his PR.

"Failing which he could file an action against the minister and the government," he said.

The operator had earlier defended his action, saying that he did not think allowing believers of other religions to use the surau was wrong.

He was arrested last week after a 63-second video – "Chinese Buddhists pray in surau: surau becomes temple" – depicting a Buddhist group using the surau at the resort for meditation was uploaded on YouTube on August 10.

The 45-year-old operator was arrested and remanded for four days and freed yesterday.

The operator's decision to allow the Buddhist to use the surau had reportedly caused a furore among the fishing community in Sedili Besar, Kota Tinggi, after a resort visitor who wanted to perform his Asar prayers at the surau last Saturday discovered it.