Malaysia to plead for wider Haj quota, says Najib

Malaysia will plead for additional haj quota from the Saudi Arabian government to allow more Muslims to perform the pilgrimage this year.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (pic) said the reduction in quota last year led to higher number of Tabung Haji (TH) depositors and a longer queue for  Muslims wanting to perform the haj.

He said until May, a total of 1.5 million Muslims had registered to perform haj via Tabung Haji with a large number comprising young people and children.

"The economy of Muslims in this country has improved and with it comes high awareness to perform haj. The list is getting longer and the limited quota means  a pilgrim has to wait 50 years for his turn to arrive.

"I consider this as a big challenge. I will personally plead with the Saudi government for additional haj quota," Najib said today at the launch of Tabung Haji Debit-i Mastercard and Tabung Haji Coffee Table Book.

Since 2009, the Saudi government had allocated 27,900 places per year for Malaysians to perform haj but declined by 20% last year due to development work at Masjidil Haram.

"As such, the new haj quota for Malaysia last year was 22,320."

Tabung Haji will maintain the haj fee at RM9,980 this year involving total cost of more than RM130 million.

Najib said the actual cost for each pilgrim to perform the haj is about  RM16,000.

"If calculated in terms of subsidy, it is the highest subsidy rate ever given to each individual in this country," he added. – Bernama

- TMI