Tabung Haji's RCI - is long time coming and desperately needed

By Zaidi Isham Ismail
editor@dagangnews.com

LEMBAGA TABUNG HAJI (TH) is a well beloved Islamic institution among all Muslims in Malaysia. Aspiring Haj pilgrims will always endear TH close to their hearts because when they are in Mecca, they know that TH staff will take care of them during their pilgrimage in the holy land.

But it is not all hunky dory at the Haj pilgrim management fund.

Over the years, TH has been mired with a slew of controversies which shook the institution to its core.

They include insufficient funds to pay dividends to shareholders, "missing" money from depositors accounts and being linked in land deal involving 1MDB

So much so that to shake off all these connotations, the government has set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RIC) to restore TH's somewhat tarnished image and integrity.

"The RIC is long time coming and is needed to uncover all the discrepancies and inconsistencies in TH's books between 2014 and 2018.

"The RIC is all about finding out what ails TH and to redeem its former glory," a TH source told DagangNews.com.

So what went wrong with TH and its subsidiaries during the past few years?

The RIC should not be set up in the first place because TH has been doing well since its inception in 1963.

Other than managing pilgrims, TH is well diversified, earning its income in other businesses.

They include the stock market, TH Travel, TH Property and TH Plantations.

Logically, TH should be in a financially comfortable position but yet there are financial discrepancies in its books which warrant the need for the RCI.

As a consequence, TH continued to be under the microscope during the past few years.

Politicians should not be onboard TH

One of the reasons why TH is not performing at its optimum level is due to the involvement of politicians in its fold.

Quite often we hear, politicians being appointed as TH chairman and a member of its board of directors.

This should not happen in the first place because any politician helming a government linked company will not take the best interests of TH and its depositors.

Instead the politician will make decisions which best serve his political master rather than the depositors.

As an example, rising costs have added to high operational cost to TH.

Due to the high cost involved, TH has no choice but to increase haj fees.

Politicians have always used this as a political tool to win pilgrims hearts by keeping the haj fares low to score political brownies.

But as a consequence, TH's income suffers leading to losses which in the end will only hurt itself.

What's next - can TH be a bank?

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said over the weekend that the government's decision to park TH under Bank Negara Malaysia is due to its strategic importance to national security.

However, the concern now is will haj operations be affected?

Will the quality of its delivery system to manage pilgrims be compromised?

Now that TH is a bank, can it subsidise haj pilgrims?

A lot of questions linger over this move.

Let us hope that the RCI will be able to shed some answers on several issues on what ails TH all this while.

TH is a revered Islamic institution in this country and all efforts must be taken to uphold its integrity. -DagangNews.com