Rekindling the dying flame over the SK Seri Pristana shower room canteen controversy, Education Minister II Idris Jusoh today pinned the blame on outsiders.
Following a surprise visit to the school, he claimed that the parents had no qualms with the matter and understood the real scenario.
However, Idris added that outsiders with vested interests had acted as "batu api" (instigators) and blew the issue out of proportion.
"Actually the parents of the pupils involved understood (the situation) and have no problems with the matter. The problem is outsiders who failed to understand what happened.
"The incident was then magnified to the point of becoming a racial issue," he was quoted as saying by Utusan Online.
He said the incident occurred because the school’s canteen could not accommodate all the students and therefore some had their meals in the shower room, which had been turned into a makeshift eating area.
The school landed in the limelight after a parent posted photographs of non-Muslim students eating in the shower room during the Muslim fasting month on Facebook.
Following this, numerous quarters, including those from MCA and MIC, called for an investigation, while there were also those who wanted action to be taken against the headmaster.
The mother who highlighted the photographs had since transferred her daughter to another school.
She had claimed that her daughter was being mistreated by teachers following the exposure and that she herself had received threats, including one to kidnap her daughter.
Following a surprise visit to the school, he claimed that the parents had no qualms with the matter and understood the real scenario.
However, Idris added that outsiders with vested interests had acted as "batu api" (instigators) and blew the issue out of proportion.
"Actually the parents of the pupils involved understood (the situation) and have no problems with the matter. The problem is outsiders who failed to understand what happened.
"The incident was then magnified to the point of becoming a racial issue," he was quoted as saying by Utusan Online.
He said the incident occurred because the school’s canteen could not accommodate all the students and therefore some had their meals in the shower room, which had been turned into a makeshift eating area.
The school landed in the limelight after a parent posted photographs of non-Muslim students eating in the shower room during the Muslim fasting month on Facebook.
Following this, numerous quarters, including those from MCA and MIC, called for an investigation, while there were also those who wanted action to be taken against the headmaster.
The mother who highlighted the photographs had since transferred her daughter to another school.
She had claimed that her daughter was being mistreated by teachers following the exposure and that she herself had received threats, including one to kidnap her daughter.
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