State executive councillor for Islamic affairs Abdul Malik Kassim ticked off the State Islamic Affairs Department (JAIPP) for being "insensitive" to the culture, religion and feelings of the family of alleged Muslim convert Teoh Cheng Cheng.
The body of Teoh, whose Muslim name is allegedly Nora Teoh Abdullah, was seized by religious officers during her funeral wake at Lebuh Maccalum on Monday.
Abdul Malik apologised for JAIPP's action, and offered his condolences over Teoh's death, saying Jaipp had offended her mother and family members when they were in the midst of grieving.
"JAIPP officers should consider the feelings of the family and get the views of the Jaipp director, its enforcement unit, the mufti department and the state district religious officer before acting," Abdul Malik said in a press conference today.
Abdul Malik
"This has been JAIPP's normal and considerate practice all this while," he added.
Abdul Malik said he regretted the incident as he was only informed about the matter at 5pm on Monday while he was in Kuala Lumpur.
Teoh's body was seized at about 3.50pm and brought back to the mortuary when her family was shown documents that she had converted 17 years ago.
Her family denied knowledge she was a Muslim, and insisted she had always been a Buddhist.
Incident regretted
Abdul Malik added that it was further regretted that JAIPP officers he contacted were also not aware of the incident.
He also revealed it was the police who contacted Jaipp to obtain Teoh's body from the family.
"We will do what we did before, our approach has been always to consider the sensitivities of the family involved in such cases and all officers have to adhere to this," Abdul Malik said.
He promised that these kind of incidents won’t recur.
Abdul Malik welcomed the family's decision to file a case at the Penang High Court this afternoon, saying the state government would help to resolve the matter.
One of Teoh's daughters had told the Penang Syariah Court this morning that her mother, 38, a waitress, had not been a practising Muslim.
Meanwhile, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has condemned the State Islamic Affairs Department’s act of seizing Teoh’s body on Monday.
Lim said the act lacks sensitivity to Muslims and non-Muslims as it was badly managed.
“The act has embarrassed the state government and has a negative impact on the state’s multi-racial society,” Lim said at the same press conference today.
“In a multi-racial society, there should be respect for each other’s cultures and religions,” he added.
Lim expressed the Penang state executive council’s disappointment over the incident, saying such cases had been managed well in the past.
He added that the family had the right to seek compensation from JAIPP for what has happened to them.
It is learnt that the family has spent nearly RM20,000 for Teoh’s body to be cremated according to Taoist rites at the United Hokkien Cemetery in Batu Gantung on Monday.
'Right to seek compensation'
“The family has right the right to seek compensation according to law and we must respect the decision of the court,” Lim said.
The Penang government has offered to aid Teoh’s family as they will be filing a case at the Penang High Court today to determine her religious status.
Lim Guan Eng
Teoh’s mother, Tan Mah Suan, 64, insists that her daughter, who has three children by a Muslim man, has always been a Buddhist.
According to JAIPP officers, Teoh has converted to Islam about 17 years ago, however, she did not marry her Muslim partner.
JAIPP officers claimed they were pressured by the police on Monday to act on the matter, which led to their decision to seize Teoh’s body. -Malaysiakini
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