PETALING JAYA: The management and development of Islamic affairs continue to be prioritised with a RM1.5bil allocation under Budget 2022.

       Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said a special one-off payment of RM500 would also be disbursed to 70,000 mosque officials including imam, bilal (muezzins), siak (mosque caretakers), as well as guru takmir (religious teachers), and Fardhu Ain and Kifayah (Kafa) teachers.

       “Under the umbrella of Islamic education, the government will also undertake initiatives such as building a religious secondary school in Labuan at a cost of RM65mil.

       “An additional 1,000 guru takmir will be hired to widen the scope of Islamic teachings under the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) to government agencies such as the Prisons Department, the National Anti-Drug Agency and the Welfare Department,” he said.

       The government will also roll out a fund of RM10mil to kick-start the SME (small and medium enterprise) Halal Wakaf (endowment fund), Agricultural Wakaf and Wakaf for Disasters to produce more farmers and halal industry entrepreneurs, as well as to aid them in the event of a disaster.

       A total of RM145mil has been earmarked for socioeconomic programmes to uplift the ethnic Indian community.

       This allocation will be channelled to the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) and the Indian Community Entrepreneur Development Scheme (Spumi) under the National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund (Tekun), among others.

       The Chinese community will receive a special allocation of RM200mil to, among others, upgrade Chinese new villages and financing schemes for SMEs.

       Tengku Zafrul also announced that RM10mil would be allocated to encourage the children of Sabah and Sarawak to deepen their knowledge of their culture and heritage.

       For the Orang Asli community, RM274mil has been allocated for, among others, subsidies and school aid as well as welfare aid that will benefit nearly 200,000 people.

       “Next year, the government will also increase the pocket money rate for secondary school students to RM4 a day,” he added.

       To support the unity agenda and culture of community volunteering, the government has provided a grant of RM6,000 for each Rukun Tetangga (KRT), with more than 8,000 KRT to benefit from this grant with a total allocation of RM50mil.

       The government has also set aside RM50mil for repairs, maintenance and development of houses of worship under the areas of local authorities.

       “This provision also covers community activities organised by local residents in collaboration with houses of worship,” said Tengku Zafrul.