Dad of converted minor says not against Islam, religion his right as parent

PKR's Penampang MP Darell Leiking is awaiting a reply from the Sabah school attended by a 16-year-old student who had been converted from Christianity to Islam, without her parents' consent. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 2, 2015.Only 11km separated rubber tapper Jilius Yapoo from his daughter at her boarding school in Kinarut, Sabah, but it was a long way on rough roads which made the journey difficult, so he entrusted the school with her safety and well-being.

He never expected that four years later, he would see the 16-year-old wearing a "tudung" (Muslim head scarf) and hear her say she had converted to Islam. 

Penampang MP Darell Leiking, speaking on behalf of the father of eight, told The Malaysian Insider that Yapoo, 46, was not against his children leaving the family's religion, but only after they turned 18 and when he was certain that they could decide for themselves without undue influence.

Leiking, who is acting as the family's counsel, said Yapoo was "shocked beyond words" to find out about his daughter’s conversion and that it had been hidden from him.

Equally frustrating was the fact that the school and his home in Kampung Kaiduan were not that far apart, but the poor infrastructure in Sabah's interior villages had widened the distance and made him feel out of touch with his daughter.

"Imagine, it’s just 11km but he cannot afford the daily commute to school. Any other parent staying in Petaling Jaya (Selangor), for example, would be able to send their children to school and back in comfort despite that distance.

"But for this rubber tapper, there is no proper road to his home, 11km is a long way, so he entrusted his daughter to the school and look what has happened," said Leiking.

Leiking said Yapoo has made it clear that when his daughter turns 18, he would leave it to her to decide which faith she wants to follow, but not until then and while she is under the care of her Christian parents.

"Her father has been very consistent from day one. When she turns 18, she can choose what faith she wants to follow.

"This is not about him being against Islam, but about the rights of parents over their child," Leiking added.

According to Leiking, the girl told her parents she was now a Muslim and that she had recited the syahadah, which is the profession of faith in Islam.

"So we take her word for it, but we still need to hear officially from the school. They are duty-bound to reply unless they have been advised not to," he said.

The lawyer wrote to the school on Wednesday, asking for an explanation of what transpired that resulted in the minor being converted, and gave them seven days to reply.

He also asked the school to identify the person or persons involved in her conversion.

Leiking said Yapoo planned to seek a court declaration that the 16-year old is not a Muslim, after the school furnishes the facts of what had really transpired.

The lawyer said it was believed that more such conversions were taking place covertly among students without their parents' knowledge, and also among adults in interior parts of the state.
"The government needs to step in and stop overzealous people from converting minors.

"And if they are adults, they must be made fully aware of the facts when asked to convert," he said, adding that there have been cases of mass conversions taking place in the interior of Sabah.

Two sets of rules

Leiking also brought up the anti-Christian seminar held at Universiti Teknologi Mara in May last year, saying he had raised the issue in Parliament, and was given a reply that the seminar was purely for academic purposes.

"But my question is, what if Bumiputera Christians held a seminar on Christianity and said it was for academic purposes, would it be accepted?

"We know we cannot propagate other faiths to Muslims, but there can't be two sets of rules on this for students if the reasoning is that the anti-Christian seminar was purely academic," he said.

Kaiduan Village development and security committee chairman Michael Frederick who visited Yapoo on Saturday, told The Malaysian Insider that they had a new problem to deal with after the 16-year-old teenager went on a camping trip with her school a few days ago.

This occurred after the minor returned to stay at home following her conversion, and agreed to her father's suggestion that she transfer to another school.

She was then asked to go on a camping trip by the school, which did not seek her parents' permission.

Yapoo did not want to deny his daughter the camping trip, so he allowed her to go, on condition that she came straight home from the camp.

But according to Frederick, after the camping trip, not only did the girl not return straight home as promised, she called from the hostel to tell her father that she did not want to move to a new school.

"When her father asked why, she said because it was a Christian school, so we do not know what happened at the camp because earlier, she agreed to go to a new school,” said Frederick, adding that the girl eventually returned to her parents’ home on Saturday evening.

"For now we will wait for an official response from the school on the incident and take it from there," added Frederick.

- TMI