Catholics in peninsular Malaysia will be offering one weekend’s collection from all its parishes to Tabung Harapan Malaysia as a gesture of solidarity.

In a letter to the clergy sighted by The Malaysian Insight, the archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Julian Leow, said the bishops of Peninsular Malaysia had agreed to offer up one weekend’s collection from all parishes towards the fund to help pare down the nation’s RM1 trillion debt.

The collection by the parishes will be from the masses from June 22 to June 24, the fourth weekend of the month.

Leow asked that this information be announced in parish bulletins and upcoming masses this weekend, adding that this was also part of the church’s commitment to help rebuild Malaysia.

“There is to be only one collection at each mass during this fourth weekend.

“I thank you for your generosity and as one Malaysian church, let us continue to pray for our beloved country, Malaysia,” Leow said.

The Tabung Harapan Malaysia Fund was set up last Wednesday by the Finance Ministry to allow Malaysians to donate to help the new Pakatan Harapan government pay the huge national debt inherited from the previous Barisan Nasional administration.

The fund has since attracted a lot of enthusiasm from Malaysians who are still celebrating the change of government following the May 9 polls.

Last week, the Council of Churches Malaysia urged Christians to donate to the fund in a “special appeal” to member congregations to “play their part in this extraordinary effort”.

Malaysians in general have been supportive of this effort. Last weekend, a group of children and teenagers in Taman Yarl, Kuala Lumpur, organised a car wash to collect money for the fund. https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/51725

Launched last Wednesday, Tabung Harapan has so far collected RM31,440,410.13. – June 4, 2018.