A family member holding up Cheng Cheng's MyKad yesterday as proof that she was not a Muslim, as the MyKad did not have the words Islam. - The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, June 10, 2014.The family of Teoh Cheng Cheng, who supposedly converted to Islam, is seeking legal redress to prevent her from being buried a Muslim.
It was initially said that the family had accepted that she would be given a Muslim burial when they consented to let the Penang Islamic Religious Department (Jaipp) take away her body yesterday.
Today, however, the family said they wanted her body back to proceed with a Taoist funeral for her and sought help from the state government.
Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Lau Keng Ee said Cheng Cheng's mother Tan Mah Suan met with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng this afternoon and he, together with several exco members, agreed to offer her legal assistance.
"The legal team helping Tan will comprise lawyers Gobind Singh Deo (Puchong MP), Ramkarpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor MP) and S. Raveentharan (former Batu Uban assemblyman).
"They are preparing the legal documents to be filed at the Penang High Court tomorrow," he said in a statement.
Lau said Tan insisted that Cheng Cheng was never a Muslim, but a Buddhist all this while.
He said Tan showed her daughter's MyKad and the birth certificates of Cheng Cheng's children as evidence.
Meanwhile, the deceased's cousin Teoh Chew Choo said it is also the wish of Cheng Cheng's boyfriend, who is a Muslim, that she be allowed a Taoist funeral.
"It was his decision. We need to respect her boyfriend's decision too," he told The Malaysian Insider over the phone.
It was reported that Cheng Cheng, who was also known by her Muslim name Nora Teoh Abdullah, converted 17 years ago.
She has four children, aged between 17 and 20. The eldest is a child born of her previous relationship with a Chinese man.
Cheng Cheng, a 38-year-old waitress, reportedly died last Saturday after she hanged herself at home in Lebuh Macallum following an argument with her boyfriend.
Her funeral yesterday afternoon was stopped by Jaipp officers who arrived to claim the body. After negotiations, the family gave Jaipp its consent to take Cheng Cheng's body away.
Penang religious exco Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim said yesterday that the matter was resolved amicably, with the family of the deceased accepting that she was a Muslim.
When contacted today, he said he was not aware why the family had changed their minds today as they had not resisted the actions of the department yesterday.
"The body is still in the Penang mortuary. We cannot proceed with the burial.
"We will have to wait until the matter is resolved legally if it goes to court... we will try to resolve this quickly," he said.
Abdul Malik said he had not met Cheng Cheng's family personally, as he is currently in Kuala Lumpur.
- TMI
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