OCTOBER 25 — Budget 2016 was just tabled by Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday, with the usual raft of goodies.

Behind the glittery promises, however, there are the less sexy government revenue and expenditure details that usually get buried.

Did you know, for example, that out of the RM267.2 billion budgeted for spending in 2016, over RM20 billion will be spent on the Prime Minister’s Department alone? (That is roughly 10 per cent).

And did you know that out of that RM20 billion, around RM724.6 million will be allocated in 2016 for this agency called the Malaysian Islamic Religious Development Department?

You might know it by its acronym: Jakim.

In the past year, you might remember Jakim by its many actions as the sole gatekeeper of Islam in the country.

You might remember its guidelines for Shariah-compliant entertainment, which among others stipulated gender segregation in concerts, and cautioned against jokes that “lead to excessive laughter.”

You might remember its Malaysian Shariah Index, which among others surveyed whether the government has succeeded in preventing the spread of Christianisation.

You might remember its effort to elevate the Shariah courts to the same level as the civil courts.

You might also remember it for its weekly Friday sermons distributed to mosques nationwide, which had in the past year vilified among others liberals and K-pop, while praising the Budget speech last year.

But in the Budget, Jakim was identified as an agency whose objectives include “ensuring Islamic teachings is spread to every part of the society.”

Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

So, how will Jakim spend RM724.6 million of your money? Let us break it down, based on the federal expenditure estimates for 2016.

RM94.6 million: Management.

RM486.8 million: This whopping amount will go into formulating its policies. Besides enforcing state Shariah laws, it is also tasked to “control deviation of faith” that “threatens the country’s safety.”

RM15.7 million: Human development, to produce Islamic preachers and scholars.

RM8.1 million: Darul Quran — an education institution to teach school-leavers how to memorise the Quran.

RM89.7 million: Federal Territories Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi). You might remember this agency for its relentless attempt to prosecute Borders bookstore manager Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz for years. There was also that sermon it wrote which compared uncovered women to uncovered food.

RM7.6 million: Malaysian Islamic Training Institute (Ilim) — to train civil servants tasked with Islamic affairs.

RM11.6 million: Jakim Sabah — its branch in Sabah.

RM10.6 million: Jakim Sarawak — ditto in Sarawak.

Your money, ladies and gentlemen. Do not forget.

If there is one heartening thing to note here, the RM724.6 million allocation for 2016 is slightly less than what was estimated in 2015, which was RM819 million.

But it is still a far cry from just over RM582 million in 2011. And ever since, the estimated spending has ballooned to roughly RM800 million a year:

2011: RM582 million

2012: RM714 million

2013: RM770 million

2014: RM806 million

2015: RM819 million

2016: RM764 million

Still, it is RM764 million too much. And the estimated expenditure for a year always ends up being bigger when it is documented the year after.

Despite Jakim’s record, Minister Jamil Khir Baharom gets to keep his portfolio of religious affairs.

Not only that, the portfolio was also rewarded with a deputy minister in the surprise Cabinet reshuffle in August: missionary and Umno senator Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

As always, I am reminded of Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi, an emeritus professor of law at Universiti Teknologi Mara, who theorised why it is so hard for Islamic authorities in the country to reform itself.

“Institutionalisation is not simply a religious issue. There are economic implications. These people will never give up power because of the tremendous economic benefit that they receive.

“Don’t expect them to give that up. What is regarded as a religious struggle is basically actually an economic struggle,” Shad said, in a roundtable discussion on Islam and human rights back in June.

“Taking care of Islam” is no longer just a religious obligation for these people. It is also to keep their KPIs (key performance indicators), so they can continue to get the same amount of money year after year.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.