KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — The Singaporean resort operator who allowed Buddhists to use a Muslim prayer room could lose his permanent residence over the incident, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said yesterday.

“PR will be revoked once investigations are complete,” the minister was quoted as saying by Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia yesterday.

On Monday, the resort owner was arrested after police reports were lodged over a video uploaded to YouTube that appeared to show a group of Buddhist tourists meditating in a surau at the Johor resort last week. He will be remanded until tomorrow for police investigations.

The 45-year-old man with permanent resident status in Malaysia is being probed under section 295 of the Penal Code, which comes under the heading of “injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class”.

In a Monday report, Berita Harian quoted the resort owner as saying he did not expect the offer to lead to the controversy now.

“I do not think the action of giving permission to believers of other religions to use the surau is wrong. This is because they only wanted to use the surau for meditation.

“I have no intention of hurting anyone’s feelings. My intention is to show that Islam is universal and tolerant,” said the Singapore-born Muslim.

On Tuesday, the Buddhist Maha Vihara — a group representing Malaysian Buddhists — apologised over the prayer session in the surau.

In a brief statement, Chief High Priest of Malaysia Datuk K. Srï Dhammaratana expressed his group’s regret while urging followers of the religion to be mindful of others in their worship.

“We would like to apologise to our Muslim brothers and sisters for the actions of a certain Buddhist group from Singapore in having their meditation session at the surau of a resort in Kota Tinggi.

“I advise Buddhists in Malaysia and Singapore to respect the religious sensitivities of other religionists while carrying out our own religious obligations and responsibilities,” Dhammaratana said.