KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 ― DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng was the protagonist who saved Tabung Haji for Malaysia’s greater good, Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu proclaimed during an online ceramah in Kelantan last night.

Popularly known as Mat Sabu, the former defence minister said it was Lim who convinced the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Cabinet in 2019 to "save” the Muslim pilgrims’ fund which had assets in excess of RM80 billion, news portal Malaysia Dateline reported today.

"If he did not work to save Tabung Haji, Malaysia’s rating would fall. That is why he argued to save the Muslim body.

"It is because of that, that the Cabinet at the time decided to save Tabung Haji and inject several billions into it,” the Kota Raja MP was quoted as saying during the one-hour programme titled "Santai Bersama Presiden Amanah”.

Mohamad noted that Lim was finance minister at that time and under fire from Umno and PAS detractors who accused the DAP leader and the PH government of having sold Tabung Haji to China.

The Amanah leader claimed many "ustaz” in Umno and PAS would persistently make unsubstantiated allegations about Tabung Haji and "attack” Lim, the DAP and PH during the by-election campaigns in Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Tanjung Piai, "saying the government has sold out to China, DAP now rules the government, Islam is at risk”.

Mohamad accused PAS leaders of being the most "savage” in the attacks against Lim and the DAP to create the impression that the Malays must band together to "save Malaysia from being threatened by the Chinese”.

In his talk, Mohamad said it was the democratic socialist DAP that stood up for Islamic values and pushed anti-gambling policies.

"That is why Penang said no to gambling, even though other states have said yes. Lim Guan Eng reduced the number of special lottery draws from 22 times to eight times,” he was quoted saying.

He claimed PAS leaders "didn’t care” about this however and continued portraying the PH government as anti-Islam and needed to be removed.

He said that since the change of government, the lottery draws has gone back to 22 times and labelled PAS leaders as hypocrites as they were now part of the new administration.

"That is why now PAS is ashamed,” Mohamad was quoted as saying.

He chided the Islamist party for using religion for its own benefit and said PAS should emulate the attitude of non-Muslim governments like those in Japan, Finland, New Zealand and Norway.

"The Quran was revealed in Mecca and Medina but most of its morals were implemented in Japan, not in Kelantan,” Mohamad was quoted as saying.