Where is our sense of responsibility towards our children?

A horrific fire kills 23 people yet Minister Noh Omar says action may not be taken against the authorities of the religious school for they have suffered enough.

COMMENT

A recent fire in a tahfiz school in Kuala Lumpur has further exposed the symptom called “The Malay denial”. The fire killed 23 people and even before the embers have died out, the blame game has begun.

The police were wrong to say they suspected an electrical short circuit before proper investigations were made. Now, the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department director Khirudin Drahman says it may have been arson, because traces of an accelerant were found outside the door of the dormitory.

They also found two cooking gas cylinders placed in front of the dormitory door. The dormitory is on the second floor. The gas cylinders should have been in the kitchen, on the ground floor.

Did no one see or hear the cylinders being lugged up the stairs? Were the cylinders used to forcibly keep the children in the dormitory as a form of punishment, by acting as a barricade to prevent the door from being opened? Someone must have heard or seen something.

Did the headmaster know that he had broken the law? According to the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, Noh Omar, the fire department had not approved the building for occupation.

Moreover, the plans submitted to obtain the approval appeared to be different from the architectural plans. Where is the weak link in the enforcement process? Did the school headmaster, or the school’s owner, dismiss the concerns of the fire department?

We live in uncertain times, where people have trouble distinguishing right from wrong, need from want, and the surreal from the superficial.

If a non-Malay were to write this article, the response would be predictable. He would receive a torrent of abuse, and be accused of inciting hatred. Comments like “How dare he criticise our religion?”, “He knows nothing as he is not Muslim” would be the norm.

If a Muslim were to write the article, the response would depend upon his authority and also upon the issue. An ordinary Muslim asking questions would be told, “What right have you to comment? You are not an Islamic scholar. You do not know what you are talking about.”

We live in a culture of fear, in which the authorities do not like to be questioned. There is no responsibility, accountability, or integrity.

This culture of fear means that anyone who dares to criticise will receive a warning. In the worst case scenario, the Muslim who dares to comment, will be given a hard time, and told that he is insulting Islam and humiliating his community. The critical Muslim woman is given a harder time. This may explain why few Muslims dare expose injustices or wrongdoings.

So, why are some Malays unable to acknowledge their shortcomings? They fail to apply the hadith, “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim”, or work to correct their sins, in an effort to improve themselves.

The majority fail to distinguish between culture and religion. Some confuse right with might. The more arrogant amongst the Malays think that the ‘special position’ mentioned in the constitution is synonymous with ‘special rights’.

In Islam, it is believed that children are a gift from God. If that is the case, why do parents, and those in authority treat the child’s life as a cheap, worthless commodity?

This incident is a serious matter. We have failed to make tahfiz schools accountable for the deaths of children who were beaten or “poisoned” by rat urine.

We close one eye to the abuses and neglect of these children, because we are more interested in the children “going to heaven”.

How could Noh Omar say that action may not be taken against the school authorities as they “have suffered enough”? Some parents and teachers have already claimed the children who lost their lives, were martyrs.

It appears that justice has taken a back seat, yet again.

Mariam Mokhtar is an FMT columnist.