MIC slams ‘sinful Christians’ ustazah

The party is alarmed that a religious teacher could make such remarks instead of promoting respect and tolerance for other faiths

PETALING JAYA: MIC has expressed shock over the remarks of a religious teacher who claimed that it was the Christians who often indulged in vice.

“It’s alarming that a person of such standing holds such prejudice and bias against Christians. It shows her total lack of understanding about Christianity and its followers,” said party information chief S Murugesan.

Yesterday, FMT reported that the 47-year-old ustazah, Siti Nor Bahyah Mahmood, had warned Muslims against celebrating Valentine’s Day.

She had made the remarks during an Islamic educational programme aired on TV9, owned by the Umno-linked media conglomerate, Media Prima.

A video-clip of the programme, posted on YouTube, had sparked off a raging debate.

In the clip, Siti claimed that it was the Christians who normally indulged in vice, such as frequenting discos and dating.

“Selalunya buat maksiat, pergi disko… couple, couple, bersunyi-sunyian, ini adalah tradisi bagi masyarakat yang beragama Kristian bukan agama Islam…,” she had said.

Meanwhile, Murugesan said the problem of educators themselves becoming “blinkered and prejudiced” had become more apparent in recent years.

“It’s imperative that all our educators first understand and respect other religions. It’s laudable to promote the values of your own religion but don’t condemn others,” he added.

The MIC leader said if Malaysians were to move forward as a nation, it was imperative that educators had the right understanding, depth and compassion.

“Set our educators right as they will mold our youths,” he added. - FMT