PAS Hasn’t Paid RM3mil Debt To Ex-Harakah Printers For Years

Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (affectionately known as PAS to most Malaysians) has gone under fire for allegedly not paying their debt to ex-printers of their news platform, Harakah. For those unaware, Harakah is basically PAS’s mouthpiece, whereby they publish news that uplifts the party’s reputation as well as messages that align with PAS’s core values.

Speaking of values, the Islamic party that aims to uphold religious values and morals has been slammed by NAJ Press Resources Sdn Bhd for having outstanding debt that spans up to 7 years. The last reported payment was made to the company on October 31 2017 for only RM23,518.34, which seems like a measly amount when you find out that PAS owes the printer RM600,000.

While the court is still deliberating on this case, the ex-Harakah printers dah tak tahan after 7 years of awaiting payments, leading to some spicy statements that imply a mismanagement of finances.

According to NAJ Press Resources (M) Sdn Bhd manager, Hussin Jan, 

“They use luxury cars, organise muktamar (conference) at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC), Shah Alam with a fee that is sure to reach tens of thousands of ringgit. But when it comes to debt, they don’t even bother to solve the issue.”

This issue even led to a recent faux PAS in parliament when Harakah’s unsettled debts were brought up during a Supply Bill 2024 debate. Instead of addressing the issue, PAS lawmaker, Mohd Misbahul Munir Masduki said,

“He keeps repeating it when what he says has nothing to do with the debate. It is hurtful. It hurts us, it hurts me. Why is this not an issue?”

As a response to this, Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Alice Lau clapped back with,

“I don’t think it’s an issue. Please sit down. Last warning please sit down. If you are unhappy, then file a motion.

“See a doctor if your heart is in pain.”

Ouch! Now that we’re on the topic of heartache, scorned exes will always seek retribution – tak kisahlah if its ex-boyfriend or ex-printer – so, let’s find out why NAJ Press Resources is throwing PAS under the BAS. But before we get into that…

NAJ Press Resources is not the only printer PAS owes money to…

Previously, the printing of Harakah was managed by Angkatan Edaran Enterprise Sdn Bhd and PAS owes this printer approximately RM3 million, which they have refused to pay since the company declared bankruptcy, causing NAJ Press Resources to take over.

Just so you don’t get confused, this is PAS’s history with printers:

1. Angkatan Edaran Enterprise Sdn Bhd: RM3,000,000 debt
2. NAJ Press Resources Sdn Bhd: RM600,000 debt
3. Galeri Media Serbanika Sdn Bhd: Current printer

The lawyer who is representing NAJ Press Resources said that they have filed a claim against PAS, the party’s secretary-general, Takiyuddin Hassan and Harakah’s publisher, Galeri Media Serbanika Sdn Bhd.

As a rebuttal, PAS secretary-general, Takiyuddin Hassan has denied that Harakah fled the previous company due to debt and cited other reasons for their switch to a different printer. He said,

“What happened was that the previous company had gone bankrupt, hence the change (to a new printer). I don’t want to say more, but the claim that we deliberately fled because we ran into debt is untrue.”

Surely when engaging with a printer, all costs would have been calculated for Harakah’s publication, however the sales generated were allegedly not used to pay what they owe the printer.

So, with all that said from PAS’s ex-Harakah printers, you might be wondering, how come they have a new one that isn’t afraid to get burned too? Well actually, it has something to do with the owner of the current printer, who we have mentioned before in this article…

The new printer for PAS is actually owned by…

We looked up Galeri Media Serbanika on Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM) and found that it named Takiyuddin bin Hassan as one of its directors in 2017. If you recall, the last made payment to NAJ Press Resources was also made in that same year.

Apart from Takiyuddin, the other director, who holds the same amount of shares in the company, is Raja Datuk Haji Idris Raja Kamarudin, the brother of Raja Petra Kamarudin (who actually owes Cilisos some big bucks). He was also appointed the chairman of the Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council (MREPC) in 2020 and he just so happens to be a corporate advisor to the PAS president, Abdul Hadi Awang.

Since Galeri Media Serbanika is oozing with PAS, it got us curious about the previous two companies that engaged with PAS and Harakah as printers. So, we looked them up too. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find anything on NAJ Press Resources, but we did find the board of directors for Angkatan Edaran Enterprise.

From what we can find on Google, there were no PAS members to be found, which is interesting to note since this company is down the gutter by RM3 million while the current printer’s revenue amounts to exactly that figure…

For a party that claims to be in touch with grassroots members of the community, some of their members are in desperate need to touch grass themselves. But faham lah, it’s kinda hard to touch grass when you’re being driven around in Benzs and Vellfires.

Chop! Before you get mad at me, let me explain…

PAS’s curious spending habits

In 2019, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) launched an investigation towards luxury cars, high-powered motorcycles and bungalows that allegedly belonged to PAS leaders.

According to a source from MACC, one former PAS leader was accused of owning luxury cars worth almost RM1.5 million and a bungalow in Bangi that costs RM3 million. The cars in question include a BMW525, Mini Cooper, Toyota Vellfire, Toyota Camry and Toyota Fortuner. Apparently, at least two PAS leaders spent RM100,000 each to buy these VIP license plates.

With all those big purchases, you would wonder where they received the money to afford them? Actually, the investigation started because of an allegation that PAS received RM90 million from UMNO during the 1MDB debacle.

Sarawak Report editor, Clare Rewcastle Brown, stated that PAS was transferred this money in cash, although she did not specify the actual amount. This was then used against her in a defamation suit lodged by Abdul Hadi Awang, who then reached a RM1.4 million settlement with Rewcastle Brown in 2017.

The Islamic party has firmly denied all accusations with Abdul Hadi Awang dismissing the issue by saying,

“With RM90 million, if it really existed, it would have been easier for PAS to destroy PH, which spends a lot of money on social media to spread lies far and wide without faith and principles due to the diversity of its members.

“PAS is also unable to organise social media in reply because it is too expensive, let alone to propagate slander, deceit and falsehoods. Even the excessive amount of RM90 million cannot pay for the multitude of sins.”

It’s not surprising that the Islamic party will find some way to distract us from the real issue by bringing it back to the judgment of God. At the end of the day, PAS will always champion Syariah Law and religious sentiments. Well, at least until they’re the ones under the microscope…

Fed up with the piousness that has been peddled by PAS over the years, scorned ex-printer himself, Hussin Jan, the manager of NAJ Press Resources, took a page out of the Islamic party’s book by saying,

“The PAS leaders so-called claim to follow the Quran, hadith, the ijma of scholars as guidance. But they use secular law and ignore Islamic law because they refuse to pay their debts.”

The man is not too far off considering the response from Deputy President of PAS, Ibrahim Tuan Man, is that they’ll let the courts decide. As in, secular law. As in, not Islamic law.

“This case has become a court case, he should have waited for the court’s decision.”

I guess man-made laws are useful after all, but just out of curiosity, since PAS is an Islamic party, let’s take a magnifying glass to the implications of not paying debts in the eyes of the religion.

What would Islam say about this?

According to a hadith by Abu Hurairah r.a, the prophet said “نفس المؤمن مُعَلّقة بدَيْنِه حتى يُقْضى عنه,” which essentially translates to, “The soul of a believer depends on his debt so that he repays it.” (Riwayat al-Tirmizi)

Basically, those who do not pay off their debts on Earth will be punished as thieves in the afterlife.