GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA, August 15, 2018 (Free Malaysia Today): Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy said a draft law to oversee interests of Hindus in the country will be presented to the country’s top leadership so that it can be enacted in Parliament. Ramasamy said the proposed federal law will see the creation of Hindu Endowment Boards (HEBs) in states with large Hindu communities. He said the drafting of the Hindu Endowments Act was being studied by a high-powered team in keeping with a Pakatan Harapan election promise to create HEBs throughout the country.
“Since the Federal Constitution does not allow the formation of HEBs at the state level, a body formed through an Act in Parliament would be the best way to do so. HEB will protect the existing temples, resolve temple-related problems, and take over Hindu properties that have been abandoned. “But more importantly, the HEB will work out the mechanism for the advancement of the socio-economic interest of Hindus in general,” Ramasamy said in Komtar today.