Controversial preacher Ridhuan Tee confirms removal from Forum Perdana

KUALA LUMPUR – Independent preacher Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah has confirmed that he has been removed as a speaker in a television talk show on Islam organised by Radio Televisyen Malaysia.

He told The Vibes’ Bahasa Malaysia sister portal Getaran that he received a message from the electronic media and broadcasting department of the Malaysian Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) regarding this matter yesterday.

He said the instruction was from Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil. 

Ridhuan admitted that he was aggrieved with the announcement and stated that it lacked any reasonable explanation.

“I’m a little disappointed, because I have been in the Forum Perdana programme since the 1990s, when it first started airing on TV. 

“So, when I got the notice, I wondered what the reason was,” he said,

Ridhuan claimed that the cancellation went against the government’s fight for freedom of speech.

“Before this, the same person often fought for freedom of speech, but when he had power, he did something else,” he said.

He stated that he refused to expand on the matter, but insisted that he had the right to seek an explanation regarding the action imposed on him.

Ridhuan said the cancellation notice was only sent to him, and that no other panel members were involved.

“The forum is still running, but I have been removed,” he said.

Ridhuan and another independent preacher, Datuk Mohd Kazim Elias, were to be featured in Forum Perdana Ehwal Islam tomorrow night at Angkasa Auditorium in Kelana Jaya, according to an earlier promotional poster. 

Incidentally, in January this year, a group of 62 non-governmental organisations had submitted a second memorandum to Jakim over the lack of enforcement against allegedly seditious remarks made by some Islamic preachers.

Characterising them as “rogue preachers”, the Global Human Rights Federation (GHRF), in submitting the note, singled out Ridhuan Tee as well Firdaus Wong, Zamri Vinoth Kalimithu, Ahmad Iqram Mohd Noor, Ustaz Syakir Nasoha, and Ustaz Idris Sulaiman.

“These Islamic preachers have been continuously attacking non-Islamic faiths and beliefs in the public domain and social media with their intentional insults, lies, mocking, interfering, manipulating, misinterpreting, and misquoting the true verses in the holy books of non-Islamic religions for their own ulterior motives and hidden agendas,” said GHRF’s S. Shashi Kumar had alleged.

“These Islamic preachers are clearly provoking and causing anger, tensions, and hatred between Muslims and non-Muslims, which are intentionally made to cause unrest between the multiracial Malaysian communities that have been coexisting peacefully and harmoniously.” – The Vibes, December 14, 2022