KOTA KINABALU - With the dust having barely settled in a religious controversy involving the Labuan Matriculation College concerning Christian students, it appears that a school in Keningau has gone a step further by banning Christian students from wearing the Crucifix to school. The regulation imposed by the Sekolah Menengah Ken Wah is causing confusion, anger and uneasiness to shocked parents and students there. Students who defy would be given counselling and if they still refuse to abide they can be subjected to caning and ultimately suspension.
The regulation that came under Kebersihan Diri (personal cleanliness) stated that students are not allowed to wear jewellery and "tanda keagamaan" (religious symbols such as the crucifix for Christians especially).
Non-Muslim students, especially Christians, are required to obtain permission first from the school's disciplinary board if they wish to wear the Crucifix.
This was confirmed by a senior teacher who said students who want to wear such religious symbols must get approval from the school, following which they will be issued with a Pas Kebenaran (pass) that they must bring along with them to school.
"We don't want the students to abuse this privilege by wearing jewellry to school instead of the religious symbols," she said. She claimed that the school regulation is in line with the guidelines issued by the Education Ministry.
Warning & punishment including caning
A parent, who alerted this to Daily Express, said he became aware of the regulation after attending the briefing for parents who recently enrolled their children to the school concerned.
"I would have missed it if I didn't attend the briefing on Nov. 7 this year, which was the new students' orientation programme.
"Her explanation about make-up, jewellery and hair was normal for any school but I was taken aback when she said that students are also not permitted to wear the Crucifix without getting prior approval from the disciplinary board," he said.
The punishment for not adhering to the regulation, he said, comes under kesalahan ringan (light offence) in the form of counselling from the disciplinary board and caning either on the palm or on the buttocks (for boys only). The offender would also be given a warning.
"The students who broke the regulations are also subjected to temporary suspension from school, normally between one or two weeks, depending on the discretion of the disciplinary board while the item is seized," he said.
The regulations have supposedly been in effect since 2009.
How can this be happening - irate Christian parents demand explanation
He said that he read the regulation many times just to make sure that he did not misinterpret it. "What I am concerned about is why religious symbols are put under the personal cleanliness heading.
"Is the crucifix that Christians wear proudly to profess their belief considered dirty that Christian students are not allowed to wear in the school unless they get permission to do so?" he asked, and demanded that the State Education Director Datuk Jame Alip provide an explanation.
"Maybe he is not aware but how can the school say that it is an Education Ministry guideline?"
He said he also failed to understand how a sacred religious symbol could be considered an object of annoyance to other religions when the main objective of wearing it is to profess the person(s) love of his or her God.
Creeping Islamization
He said that there is nothing under the Education Act or under the Malaysian law that says students can be punished for wearing their respective religious symbols in schools.
"Under Article 11 (1) of the Constitution, the people's freedom of religion is assured. Even under the 20 Points, the basis for Sabah's inclusion into the Federation of Malaysia, freedom of religion was assured in Sabah," he said.
He also reminded the Education authorities of the original Oath Stone in Keningau, whereby the Malaysian Government gave an assurance of freedom of religion in Sabah.
"The circular from the Director-General of the Ministry of Education, he said, also gave no mention that students are prohibited from wearing their respective religious symbols in schools.
"So why is this school taking matters into its own hands?" The parent urged other Christian parents who sent their children to the school and other schools with similar requirement not to sign the Aku Janji (I Pledge) letter unless the school removes the discriminatory regulation of religious symbols from its regulations.
'Forced' conversion to Islam?
Last week, the Labuan Matriculation College – which in 2012 grabbed headlines over the alleged conversion of several Christian students to another faith – was in the news again, this time for asking Christian students who want to pray the Rosary to do so under the trees in the compound.
It was reported that three students allegedly converted to another faith that year and it was alleged that another three students did the same this year.
The College also supposedly imposed a condition that non-Muslim students intending to participate in the Student's Parliament must don the Songkok and Tudung (veil).
With the alleged incidents that were once heard only in the peninsula, it appears that only Sarawak is free from any perceived or real persecution and/or discrimination of Christian students.
In a much celebrated case in Sarawak a few years ago, current Governor Tun Patinggi Haji Taib Mahmud ordered a teacher from the peninsula who refused to teach in a Mission school in Miri to be deported within 24 hours for refusing to teach unless the school removed the Crucifix in the classroom that he was supposed to teach.
Taib, who was then the Chief Minister, said the action should serve as a warning to teachers who wished to introduce unhealthy peninsula practices into the State that could disrupt the harmony, adding that he and members of the Sarawak Cabinet were eternally grateful for the education they received from the Mission schools. - Daily Express
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