CONTRIBUTIONS FROM HINDUS FOR TEMPLES, ETC. AND MONIES FROM MUSLIMS FOR MOSQUES, ETC.

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Acting Minister for Social Affairs (a) following the recent call made by the Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs to Hindus to contribute to a central fund for the building of temples and other projects, will the Ministry of Social Affairs consider making arrangements for donations to be collected through the Central Provident Fund Board, as is done in the case of contributions made by Muslims for the building of mosques, which will be more convenient for those wishing to contribute rather than through the Post Office Savings Bank; and (b) whether accounts have been published of all monies collected through the Central Provident Fund Board from Muslims for the construction of mosques and of other monies collected directly by the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura for various purposes and, if not, why not.

Dr Ahmad Mattar: (a) Contributions from Muslims towards the Mosque Building Fund are collected through the Central Provident Fund Board pursuant to the provisions of sections 75A to 75F of the Administration of Muslim Law Act (Chapter 42) and the Administration of Muslim Law (Mosque Building Fund) Rules, 1975. When these provisions were introduced, it was clearly intended that the concession was a special one and will not be a precedent for other religious or ethnic groups. It would be no less convenient for Hindus to make their regular contributions to the Hindu Endowments Board through the POSB. Leaders of the Hindu community are confident that they can raise the money they need for their projects by means of voluntary contributions made through the POSB. It will not be necessary therefore to introduce legislation to allow these donations to be collected through the Central Provident Fund Board. (b) The Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura does publish the accounts of all monies collected through the Central Provident Fund Board from Muslims for the construction of mosques and of monies collected for other purposes. These accounts are included in the Annual Report of the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura. The report for the year 1981 has already been published and presented to Parliament.

Appendix I