Malaysian rights body takes flak over teen conversion video

UCA News reporter

Hijab-clad Muslim girls take part in a religious ritual in Kuala Lumpur. Under Malaysian federal law, a minor cannot be converted to another faith without explicit parental permission. (Photo: AFP)

A Muslim lawmaker in Malaysia has slammed the nation's human rights body for its deafening silence after an Islamic preacher gave advice on dealing with the conversion of teenagers to Islam in a now-viral video.

Pasir Gudang lawmaker, Hassan Karim, said the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) should be responsible for voicing human rights issues and not become a political tool, the Free Malaysia Today (FMT) news portal reported on June 27.

Many police reports have been lodged over the act of [Firdaus Wong Wai Hung] converting non-Muslim children to Islam without the knowledge of their parents, Karim said, referring to the Islamic preacher.

I am a Muslim who takes this matter seriously for the sake of the harmony of our country. The actions of this individual has caused concern and annoyance to the non-Muslim community in Malaysia, Karim added.

On June 25, Malaysian police said they had launched an investigation into Hung's TikTok video in which he allegedly gave a man instructions on how to handle requests from minors wishing to secretly convert to Islam.

In a statement, lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh said the video also contained advice as to how children can pray in secret and hide the conversion from their parents.

Numerous police complaints were reportedly lodged against Hung after the video made the rounds on social media.

The police said they had opened an investigation against Hung under Section 505 (c) of the Malaysian Penal Code.

The section deals with intent to incite or which is likely to incite any >FMT reported.

Petaling Jaya police chief, Shahrulnizam Jaafar, said four police reports have been received so far and three individuals have recorded statements.

Earlier, the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism said it was appalled by the video, describing it as immoral, unconstitutional, and illegal, the FMT reported.

According to Malaysian federal law, a minor (under the age of 18) generally may not convert to another faith without explicit parental permission.

Hung has confirmed that the police have contacted him asking him to give his statement but said that he is yet to appear before the authorities due to a tight schedule and pending commitments, the Utusan Malaysia daily reported.

At the moment, my schedule is quite packed with various matters to settle before my departure to Europe in July for missionary work, Hung said, adding that he is willing to cooperate with the investigation.

According to Utusan Malaysia, Hung said in his video that a desire to convert by a minor should be welcomed and advised that their conversion should not be announced or registered.