Kamalanathan comes under fire for quick closure on Sg Buloh school issue

Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan was taken to task today for appearing to be in a hurry to close the "eating in the shower room" case at SK Seri Pristana in Sungai Buloh without apportioning any blame on the school.

Leading the attack on the deputy minister was the MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong who stressed the matter cannot be put to rest simply with a visit to the school.

"Not especially when they school admitted that they have been doing it since March," he told The Malaysian Insider.

"An apology from the school is not enough. The headmaster should be suspended."

Wee, a former deputy education minister, claimed it was also not enough for Kamalanathan to say: "..okay, this is all resolved so let's forget it.."

"This is ridiculous as the matter is severe. To treat pupils this way is unacceptable.

"It is also insulting and humiliating to the non-Muslim pupils and their parents."

Wee also took a dig at a photograph which had been circulating in social media today which showed the school staff also breaking fast in the shower room.

The MCA youth chief said the school cannot justify what they did to the pupils by showing that their staff also broke fast in the shower room.

He pointed out that while the headmaster and school staff had the option to break fast wherever they wanted to, the pupils could not do the same as they were forced into the shower room during the short recess period.

Parent Action Group for Education (Page) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said that Kamalanathan should have engaged the parents of the affected pupils before coming out with his statement that the matter has been resolved.

Kamalanathan had reportedly said he had met the school authorities and the parent teachers association (PTA) during his visit there this afternoon.

"More often than not, PTAs are forced to act in the interest of the school and they really do not represent all parents," she said.

"Using the shower room to have their meals is totally unacceptable. A meeting with the parents should have been arranged to gauge both sides of the story on the incident," she said, adding that the school had handled the entire issue wrongly.

Former MIC Central Working Committee (CWC) member S. Vell Paari also agreed that the headmaster was committing "mistake after mistake" in trying to close the matter.

"It does not matter if the shower room was a temporary measure. It should not have been used at all."

Vell Paari also commented on the photograph which showed school staff and pupils breaking fast in the same shower room.

"What are they trying to prove? They don't seem to understand the issue.

"What everyone is angry about is the fact that children are told to eat in the shower room. This is wrong from any point of view.

"It does not make sense to put the pupils in a small shower room when there were other open spaces in the school grounds.

Vell Paari said the headmaster's action were "baseless and inhumane" and stern action must be taken against him immediately.