Ex-judge: Give converts special rights as Malays

 

Former Court of Appeal judge Mohd Noor Abdullah has proposed that mualaf or new Muslim converts be given the same special rights as Malays.

Mohd Noor, who is also the adviser to the Darus Sa'adah Association, Negri Sembilan, said the special rights include buying reserve land, purchasing Amanah Saham Bumiputera shares as well as the quota to enter tertiary institutions.

"However, at the moment many of the recent Muslim converts have not been receiving such benefits by certain government officers who consider them as non-Bumiputera.

"They are special Malays which is a product of the constitution," he was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia.

The former judge was speaking at the launch of the Darus Sa'adah Association's annual general meeting yesterday.

Mohd Noor said the opportunity given to the mualaf is not towards seizing the rights of the Malays but directed at increasing the economic cake and social status of Muslims in the country.