Students need to be taught to respect all religions

LETTER | Schools are supposed to be the seedbed for religious tolerance, where young children are taught to respect each other’s religion.

The recent case of the Methodist Girls School in Penang given a stern warning by the Education Ministry following reports that a Christian prayer was recited during an awards ceremony is uncalled for.

The Education Minister Maszlee Malik and his deputy, Teo Nie Ching should immediately retract the warning issued against the school, which was originally set up by missionaries.

We do not expect such religious bigotry and narrow-mindedness to prevail in our school system.

The non-Muslims are willing to tolerate the prayers by an ulama during official functions, and the mutual respect must remain on the fabrics of our society.

Such drastic actions undertaken by the Ministry’s Director-General Amin Senin is therefore unconstitutional, and going against the rights of non-Muslim religious groups that seek to thank God for the achievement of its students.

The principal of the school should be applauded for her willingness to take the rap and I urge her not to bow to pressure from the ministry.

Fellow Malaysians will stand by her in solidarity to protect the constitutional rights of all Malaysians in this country.

I also urge religious organisations to speak out against the blinkers of some ministry officials, which I believe was at the instruction of their superiors.

Malaysia, under its constitution and the Rukunegara, is a country that believes in religious freedom.

While we acknowledge that Islam is the official religion, there should not be any control over the expression of the faith of non-Muslims.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.