Ridhuan Tee: Chinese Temples Host Gambling And Illegal Concerts, Muslims Shouldn’t Attend Their Open House

No evidence was cited, no specific incidents named — just a broad brush painted across an entire community, by a man who was himself born into it.

Facebook: Felix Lam/Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah

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A Chinese temple association in Butterworth, Penang, planned a simple Hari Raya open house.

The food was halal, sourced from local Malay traders, local mosque leaders had been consulted, and the event was to be held in front of the temple, not inside it; neighbours were invited.

Then a Chinese-convert preacher told the internet that Chinese temples are full of alcohol parties, gambling dens, pork feasts and illegal concerts — and that no one should be surprised the event was shut down.

In a Facebook post dated Thursday (9 April) that drew over 22,000 likes and 2,400 shares, Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah criticised a mufti for giving what he called a “roundabout” answer on whether Muslims could attend a Hari Raya open house organised by the Thean Hock Keong Association in Bagan Ajam.

He did not stop at the religious question.

Tee, whose Chinese name is Tee Chuan Seng, claimed that Chinese temples routinely host alcohol parties, four-digit lottery gambling, pork-serving gatherings and illegal concerts — and on that basis, declared that temple associations simply could not be trusted to organise any event for Muslim attendance.

No evidence was cited, no specific incidents were named, and for a man who was himself born Chinese, the post landed hard.

It is not the first time — Tee recently called Chinese independent schools and the UEC “communist products”.

The pattern has drawn consistent criticism — a public figure who repeatedly singles out his birth community for his sharpest remarks, each time letting the accusations stand without supporting evidence.

The Confusion That Followed

The Penang Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JHEAIPP) cancelled it anyway on 31 March, citing confusion over the event poster and classifying it as an Islamic religious activity requiring approval from the Penang State Islamic Religious Council (MAINPP).

The temple complied, cancelling the programme entirely — while maintaining that its sole intention had been to promote unity.

In its statement, the temple pointedly noted that a similar event organised by a Buddhist group in Johor earlier this year drew no objections whatsoever.

The cancellation did not end cleanly.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mohamad Abdul Hamid said a “Majlis Jamuan Perpaduan” — a Unity Banquet — would still go ahead on Saturday (11 April), organised by the Zhao Zi Long Cultural and Arts Association and coordinated by the National Unity and Integration Department.

Thean Hock Keong flatly denied this.

Sejak bila tak boleh? Sejak bila rumah terbuka Hari Raya ekslusif untuk Muslim sahaja?
— Annoyed Malaysians 🇲🇾 (@annoyedmsian) April 8, 2026

Drawing the Line — or Crossing It?

Amid the confusion, Muslim lawyer Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, adviser to the Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association, publicly congratulated JHEAIPP and the Penang Mufti — and went further.

The event was inappropriate regardless of its content, he said, and non-Muslims simply should not organise Hari Raya events.

Let Muslims be the ones to organise it, and not within the grounds of a non-Islamic place of worship.

In other words, harmony among the races in this country is not a ticket to do everything.

Not everyone stayed quiet.

Goodwill Has Conditions

Activist and lawyer Siti Kasim criticised the ban, saying it cuts against Malaysia’s multiracial traditions and raises serious questions about whether religious authorities had overstepped their boundaries.

Zainul Rijal framed his position in religious terms, but telling a community they cannot extend goodwill, no matter how carefully they do it, is not a religious boundary – it is a social one.

Meanwhile, another Chinese-convert Muslim, activist Firdaus Wong Wai Hung, said non-Muslim groups have no business organising Hari Raya — but pointedly asked whether mosques and Islamic NGOs would be held to the same standard if they hosted non-Muslim celebrations.

And the nuances don’t stop at the institutional level — even among ordinary Malaysians, something as personal as what a colleague wears to an open house can quietly reveal just how loaded the unspoken rules around Raya still are.