MyAdhan Blog

Link: Malaysian firm suspends SMS contest on complains it resembles gambling

Malaysia’s second largest mobile phone company said Friday it has suspended a contest offering new cars to winners upon government orders following complaints that it resembles gambling. In a brief statement, Celcom Mobile Sdn. Bhd. said it would temporarily halt its “100 days, 100 cars” text messaging, or SMS, campaign “due to intervention by the regulatory authority.” The move came after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, a government agency in charge of the industry, directed Celcom to end the contest. A commission official told The Associated Press that some participants complained their phone bills had soared sharply since they were not aware of the high charge of the SMS for contest questions. Muslims also charged that the mechanism of the contest resembles gambling, which is forbidden under Islamic laws, said the official, who declined to be named citing protocol. “We found that it is a misleading promotion. We have told Celcom to end the contest and refund all participants,” the official said. Officials from Celcom, a unit of state-owned Telekom Malaysia, said they will wait for Tuesday’s ruling by Islamic authorities on whether the contest is permissible under Islam before making a final decision. Under the SMS contest running June 2 to Sept 9, subscribers who answer the most quiz questions correctly each day will win a new Toyota car. Each SMS costs 5 ringgit (US$1.56; €1.01) instead of the average 0.20 ringgit (US$0.06; €0.04). Celcom officials have defended the high cost, saying each SMS also comes with new mobile content such as ring tones for participants. “In Islam, we call this gambling. Such contests should be stopped because you pay (but you) buy nothing,” Mohamad Asri Zainul Abidin, the mufti of northern Perlis state, told The AP on Friday. Ethnic Malay Muslims make up about 60 percent of Malaysia’s 27 million people. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, a minister in charge of religious affairs, recently said companies should seek the advice of religious experts before launching such contests.