THE PENANG Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB) chairman RSN Rayer is leaving it to the DAP leadership to decide over who should lead the statutory body and maintains he has not done anything wrong for him to step aside.
Jelutong MP R.S.N. Rayer, who has led the PHEB for a year, said that calls for him to step aside could be nothing more than politics and outright envy.
He was responding to a call for him to step aside during the debates at the Penang DAP convention last week.
Rayer said the top brass of DAP will decide if a change is needed, but he defended his role as the chairperson, citing that the Indian community as a whole, is satisfied with PHEB.
"Only those with a hidden agenda and driven by envy inside our circle are making noises or hiding behind others to sow a perception that all is not well," said Rayer when contacted.
Among the cost savings exercise Rayer has mooted, which may be uncomfortable for some quarters, are that all 10 commissioners would not be taking their meeting allowances of RM200 per session, including him.
Over RM100, 000 is saved, he stressed.
The post of executive director, which previously cost PHEB RM10,000 monthly, was also done away and the burden of duties of such a post, shared among him and the 10 commissioners.
If calculated, PHEB has saved RM120,000 yearly from its annual working expenses and the cost savings can be channelled towards welfare and temple maintenance works.
PHEB also resolved an issue when two temple committees, who had resented the takeover from the state board, with some form of autonomy accorded back to the two places of worship, he revealed.
PHEB has lobbied and secured funding to accord scholarship and welfare aid for the community, especially students who excelled in their public examinations, said Rayer.
In view of a call from the community, Rayer has also lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti - Corruption Commission (MACC) to probe its financial conduct in the name of competency, accountability and transparency.
As for grouses that the Indian community's issues were not promptly addressed, Rayer said that the national unity federal government had allocated a huge sum to address any misgivings.
He said former finance minister Lim Guan Eng allocated about RM700,000 for the community when he was in the ministry.
"Again the issues about the community may stem from excess politicking and the hunt for positions rather than just a clamouring from the community for attention."
Rayer said that the Penang Thaipusam celebrations are now held on the basis of unity among the Hindus with both the Golden and Silver chariots given the same prominence.
Rayer reminded the people that PHEB is intent on serving the community as well as it can.
It will constantly strive to improve the organisation, citing that his role as a parliamentarian is not a hindrance but rather a positive sign.
When former assemblyman Datuk A. Tanasekharan headed PHEB, there was no issue, while during Barisan Nasional's era in Penang, just ordinary ex-officios were leading it and yet there was no hassle about it, so Rayer does not see his involvement as an issue. - September 29, 2024.
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