KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 -- The Kelantan Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (Maik) has an ambitious plan to convert all the Orang Asli within its state borders to Islam by 2049, Utusan Malaysia reported.

In a report on its website today, the Malay daily cited Maik deputy chairman Nik Mohd Azlan Abd Hadi saying the council has over 100 preachers, including personnel from the federal Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim), and is working with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) on the proselytisation mission.

"We plan that if we can preach to 500 people about Islam, then God willing, in 30 years more, we can convert all the Orang Asli in this state to Islam.

"We have a comprehensive preaching network for the Orang Asli...