Deputy chief minister Mohamad Abdul Hamid said the Zhao Zi Long Cultural and Arts Association of Penang will co-organise the banquet with Bagan Ajam residents at Dewan Panorama Bagan Ajam in Butterworth on April 11.

“Following advice from the Penang national unity and integration department, the state Islamic religious department and council will leave coordination of this event to the unity department, under whose jurisdiction all unity-related activities fall,” Mohamad said in a statement today.

The department had prohibited the Butterworth-based Tean Hock Keong Association from hosting its Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house on grounds that the celebration is a Muslim religious activity.

The department’s director, Marzuki Hassan, said in a March 31 letter to the association that all Islamic religious activities, including celebrations related to Hari Raya Aidilfitri, required permission from the Penang Islamic religious council.

The association had explained in an April 5 letter that the open house aimed to “foster unity, strengthen ties of friendship, and reinforce harmony in the local community”.