'So what if Anak is not registered with ROS?'

Anak, an NGO that represents second generation Felda settlers, was never registered with the Registrar of Societies, admitted its president Mazlan Aliman.

However, Mazlan (right) said, this does not mean that what the organisation is doing is wrong.

“We are fighting for the interests and future of Felda settlers' children, which is part of PAS' priorities,” he told Malay daily Sinar Harian in a report today.

He added that Anak was formed in November 2007 as an entity under PAS and adheres to the party’s constitution.

However, he said that Anak controls its own funds through a separate bank account under the organisation’s name.

He added that disputing Anak's legality was only a ploy to evade legitimate concerns the NGO has raised.

Amongst these, he said, was the fall in the share price of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV).

Excuse not to debate?

Mazlan, who is also PAS central committee member, was responding to the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Ahmad Maslan's claim that Anak is an illegal entity.

According to a separate Sinar report on the same page, the minister in charge of Felda said he refused to debate with Mazlan citing Anak was an organisation that was “not legitimate”.

“It’s not that I do not want to debate with him (Mazlan), but I don’t want to give him free publicity,” the minister (left) was quoted saying.

He said Anak should “know its limits” and should first register itself under the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

The government has been making an issue of NGOs critical of the establishment as not being legitimate for not being registered with ROS.

This is most prominently seen in the continued attacks against human rights NGO Suaram, that is being painted in the pro-BN mainstream media as “suspicious” because it is registered as a company rather than as a society, and because it has received foreign funding.