Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter, or Telegram and WhatsApp channels for the latest stories and updates.
The court ordered PAS-led Kedah state government to pay; the public paid instead.
It took less than 24 hours.
Yayasan Kedah Sejahtera (YKS) closed the donation drive on Sunday (16 August) after the RM50,000 target — court costs ordered against the Kedah state government following a failed Federal Court application — was reached.
The fund had opened on Saturday (15 August), and by Sunday, it was full.
Zulkifli Yahaya, political secretary to the Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, announced the closure in a statement.
Rakyat Malaysia yang budiman, saya dimaklumkan oleh YKS bahawa Dana Sumbangan Rakyat Untuk Membiayai Kos Mahkamah Isu Pengharaman Judi telah mencapai sasaran yang diperlukan.
(Dear fellow Malaysians, I have been informed by YKS that the People’s Donation Fund to Cover Court Costs on the Gambling Ban Issue has reached the required target.)
The collection stopped immediately.
Three Courts, Three Losses, One Donation Page
The RM50,000 order was the final line of a three-court losing streak.
The High Court found Kedah’s directive — instructing local authorities not to issue or renew gambling business licences — unconstitutional.
The Court of Appeal upheld that finding 2-1.
The Federal Court, in a unanimous decision by a three-judge panel chaired by Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, rejected Kedah’s leave to appeal, finding the state had failed to meet the threshold under Section 96(a) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
Costs of RM50,000 were ordered against the state.
The donation page went up the same week.
Not The First Collection
Zulkifli said the office of the Menteri Besar had approved YKS to act as collection agent. Funds would be channelled through proper legal and financial procedures before being remitted to the relevant parties.
In an earlier post, he wrote: “Ramai yang bertanya, ‘ada tabung, kami nak sumbang?’ ALLAH, hebat rakyat Kedah.”
The funds will be verified and transferred in accordance with YKS financial procedures.
The drive follows a pattern familiar in PAS politics.
The party has on multiple occasions organised public and internal donation campaigns to cover court costs, defamation damages, and legal fees arising from cases its leaders or state governments have lost — framing the contributions as collective obligations, and in some instances as jihad donations to prevent leaders from facing bankruptcy or disqualification from office.
READ MORE: Kedah Spent Five Years And Three Courts Trying To Ban 4D, It Lost All Three
Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s Facebook, X, Instagram, or Threads.
