PONTIAN: A total of 15 senior citizens from the Tanjung Piai parliamentary constituency will finally be able to perform their umrah pilgrimage next month.

       Tanjung Piai MP Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng (pic) said the 10 men and five women from low-income families were selected by a special committee set up for the umrah programme which he introduced for his constituents.

       “It has been a long time coming as they were supposed to go for their umrah travel much earlier but was restricted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

       “We have set a new date on March 21 for the 15 recipients to go for their pilgrimage to the holy land.

       “However, there are voices out there who are using the travel delay to try and defame (fitnah) me - umrah travel is not up to me alone, as the Covid-19 in the past two years posed challenges and the government also did not allow for such travel,” he said on Sunday (Feb 20).

       He was attending the groundbreaking ceremony for a project to replace the damaged Surau An-Nur in Kampung Seri Bukit Panjang here.

       Wee said he has been closely monitoring the situation as it was his responsibility as the MP to ensure that the recipients could leave for their pilgrimage and return to the country safely.

       A special fund was also set up for this purpose where each recipient would receive about RM7,000 to RM8,000 to allow them to perform their umrah pilgrimage, he added.

       During the 2019 Tanjung Piai by-election, Wee promised to continue the umrah programme in his parliamentary constituency if he emerged victorious.

       He later enjoyed a landslide victory with 25,466 votes, beating Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s Karmaine Sardini and Wendy Subramanian from Gerakan.