Pagi tadi, Ketua DPPK Mersing menghantar SMS kepada saya tentang berita yang disiarkan dalam The Star pada hari ini berkaitan dengan berita Menteri Besar Kelantan bermain snooker. Hmm...saya memang menunggu saat seperti ini kerana saya nak buktikan keterbukaan Tuan Guru terhadap permainan yang diminati khususnya dikalangan anak-anak muda.
Mungkin dalam masa terdekat ini pemuda PAS Johor pula akan bersama dengan anak-anak muda di pusat permainan snooker untuk berdakwah.
Sporting: Nik Aziz getting ready to start off the inaugural
Kelantan Open Snooker and Billiard Championship
in Kota Baru on Saturday.
MB: It’s okay if there’s no gambling
By C.A. ZULKIFLE
By C.A. ZULKIFLE
newsdesk@thestar.com.my
KOTA BARU: Cue sports – snooker, pool and billiards – are healthy sports and acceptable to Muslims if they are free from elements of gambling and vice, said Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.
And as long as the game is not linked to vice or gambling, the state government will give its support, he added.
Recapping a trip he made to China in 1993, the Mentri Besar said he noticed many snooker parlours along the streets and felt that Kelantan could adopt the game as a recreational activity.
However, he said, it would be more comfortable and acceptable here if these places enforced regulations against vice and gambling.
Nik Aziz said this when opening the inaugural Kelantan Open Snooker and Billiard Championship at the KB Mall here yesterday.
His presence is seen as sanctioning cue sports and formally lifting the ban on snooker parlours, which was imposed in 1990.
He hoped operators of snooker parlours would manage their premises according to the terms and conditions imposed by the local authorities.
Besides the parlour here, there are two others at Tanah Merah and Pasir Mas.
They operate on the conditions that men and women be separated in different zones and they would need to observe strict opening hours and provide a prayer room for Muslim patrons.
However, women are allowed to only be there until 9pm while the men can play till 11pm.
When asked about this, Nik Aziz said the regulation benefited the women.
“Even the labour authorities do not allow women to work past 10pm.
“This guideline is to protect them from harm,” he added.
He warned illegal parlours to apply for a licence before the authorities clamped down on their operations.
The championship, organised by the Kelantan Snooker and Billiards Association that has 300 registered members, has drawn 64 participants from the host state and from Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Pahang.
Association committee member Kevin Poh said the Mentri Besar’s decision to open the event was a boost for the sport in the east coast.
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