Parents of surau vandals apologise

The parents of four teenagers who allegedly threw paint at surau in Seremban have apologised to the surau committee and all Muslims over the incident.

The apology was tendered during a meeting organised by the Negeri Sembilan MCA, which saw the parents shaking hands with surau committee chairperson Mohd Hasbi Ismail.

According to Bernama, the parents apologised to all Muslims, particularly those in Taman Pulai Impian, a Sikamat residential area.

Mohd Hasbi said he appreciated the apology and thanked MCA for organising the meet, which he said would serve to sooth simmering ethnic tensions.

"I hope that after this, the parents can shape the attitudes of their children so that this does not recur. Advise them on what is right, especially on sensitive matters such as religion," he said.

"This should not happen to any place of worship. This is a sensitive issue which can affect the feelings of all Muslims in the country," he added.

MCA: Lesson for all of us

Negeri Sembilan MCA chairperson Dr Yeow Chai Thiam said that he hoped the incident would serve as a lesson that Malaysians need to be extremely vigilant in order to maintain social harmony.

"For the sake of unity, I organised this meeting for those involved to apologise. This happened because the four suspects did not understand what they were doing," he said.

He said MCA would be organising a buka puasa event tomorrow (Friday) at the same venue, where a multi-ethnic crowd of 500 is expected.

According to the police, the surau was vandalised during the wee hours of Aug 23, involving several teenagers who were earlier chided by the mosque committee members for playing with fireworks.

They were arrested the following day and their remand expires tomorrow.

Prior to the revelation that the four teenagers were of Chinese origin, an MCA central committee member had called for the government to strip the citizenship of those responsible for the incident.

courtesy of Malaysiakini