According to a minister, Yapeim’s marriage courses organised in Paris are among various efforts made by the federal government to stamp out the spread of LGBT culture in Malaysia. ― File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 ― The two marriage courses organised in Paris by Yayasan Pembangunan Ekonomi Islam Malaysia (Yapeim) were part of the federal charity organisation’s activities to stamp out the spread of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) culture in Malaysia, a deputy minister told Parliament last night.

Senator Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the marriage courses ― which purportedly cost RM290,000 to organise ― were among various efforts made by the federal government to address persistent criticism over its alleged lack of action in dealing with the spread of the LGBT culture.

“Over the past few years there has been a lot of criticism claiming that nothing has been done to address issues like LGBT culture, to the point that we have our students in the UK posting pictures of men kissing each other on the lips,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.

“We have been asked what we are doing about the LGBT... this is just one of the many activities we have organised to deal with the issue,” the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department with a background in Islamic finance when winding up points raised during the committee stage debate of Budget 2016.

On Monday, PKR-linked anti-graft group National Oversight and Whistleblowers (NOW) claimed that Yapeim paid RM290,000 to hold two marriage courses in Paris, France in December last year and early this year and questioned its purpose.

The group claimed that Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, in charge of Islamic affairs, had launched the two courses held under the “Paris Premier Symposium: Marital Issues, Family, Entrepreneurship and Management” banner.

NOW also claimed earlier that Jamil Khir, his wife and their entourage had allegedly used over RM400,000 in Yapeim funds meant for orphans to pay for an eight-day trip to the US to go on a shopping spree and play golf when they were supposed to be attend an official charity programme organised by the state-linked charity agency.

Asyraf last night denied the claims, stressing that Yapeim's operations generate sufficient revenue to pay for welfare activities the organisation takes up.

He explained that Yapeim's objectives are two-fold: to promote economic growth for Muslims and to help the poor and orphans using profits generated from its economic activities.

To this end, Asyraf said Yapeim has 16 profit-making subsidiaries that bring in a combined revenue of RM1.034 billion, part of which is used to pay for its various welfare initiatives.

He added that Yapeim's board of trustees has full control over how the funds are utilised, and that the charity group has been given a clean bill in the Auditor-General's 2014 report.