Insisting that it is a Muslim charity organisation, Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah Se-Malaysia, or Pekida, has denied that it is in any way connected to organised crime in the country, despite a claim of affiliation by an illegal society and negative depictions in popular movies.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Star Online‘s Rahmah Ghazali, Federal Territories Pekida chief Roslan Dahaman said the group known as Tiga Line had co-opted Pekida’s identity by using a similar logo and haivng its members claim that they are from Pekida.
Tiga Line was one of 49 groups declared illegal last year under the Secret Societies Act.
Pekida was founded in the 1970s and focuses on charity works and Islamic outreach.
“We are judged unfairly as people choose to label us gangsters when we have no links whatsoever with the underworld.
“Despite our direct involvement with various charity programmes, people still mistake us for Tiga Line, which was set up by people who claimed to be part of us,” Roslan said.
He further denounced Tiga Line and accused the group of using Pekida’s name to justify its illegal activities.
Roslan – also known as Ayahanda Lan Gajah – conceded that Tiga Line might have been founded by some of Pekida’s 50,000 members, but countered that with so many members, the actions of a few were beyond his control.
“I can’t be monitoring the movement of each and everyone of them. There may be lawbreakers but I can’t be responsible for what they do. That is not what we taught them to be,” he said.
Roslan also lamented the misleading portrayal of Pekida in popular culture, particularly the blockbuster movie KL Gangster which supposedly was a dramatisation of Pekida’s way of life.
The movie, directed by Shamsul Yusof, son of influential director/producer/actor Yusof Haslam, was lambasted by Pekida for depicting the organisation negatively.
Pekida had to clear its name after criminal characters in KL Gangster used the terms “Ayahanda” and “Abang Long” (“Godfather” and “Big Brother” respectively) to refer to gang warlords – terms Pekida has long used to in reference to its own senior members.
“We used the term because we consider ourselves to be in one big family, and found it strange that the movie had to use the same terms,” Ayahanda Lan Gajah said.
