The Chinese New Year celebratory spirit returned to SMK Pusat Bandar Puchong 1 today, with the arrival of decorations brought by seven cabinet ministers.
The school had previously taken down its decorations, following a complaint lodged by a lawyer who is a vice-president of a far-right party.
The cabinet delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, brought twenty Chinese lanterns with them, some of which they autographed.
De facto Islamic Affairs Minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa said that he signed his name in Jawi.
Other ministers present were Lim Guan Eng, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Gobind Singh Deo, Xavier Jayakumar, and Saifuddin Abdullah.
Also present were Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching, Selangor exco member Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud, Subang MP Wong Chen, and Selangor Education Director Mahanom Mat Sam.
"We are here to show that we want to defend racial unity," Wan Azizah told reporters, saying that cultural celebrations should not be dividing points for Malaysians.
Teo, meanwhile, explained that the school had previously taken down their decorations on the advice of police to avoid escalating tensions.
She said the government will also empower teachers and headmasters who promote unity and diversity.
However, she said the government is taking a stand that schools are free to mark any festive occasion.
Meanwhile, Lim rebuffed allegations that the complaint against school decorations was in retaliation for the Jawi issue, which DAP is perceived to be against.
"Who said we are against Jawi? When did we oppose Jawi? We don't oppose Jawi, just as we don't oppose Mandarin and Tamil.
"The issue now is because Chinese lanterns were taken down, that is why we came. Jawi was not removed," he said.
The complaint about the school's decorations had come from lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, who is a Putra vice-president.
Khairul claimed that he had received complaints from parents that the decorations were an attempt to propagate non-Islamic religions to Muslims.
The lawyer went on to claim that he wrote to the school’s principal, Rohani Mohd Noor, who then agreed to take down the decorations.
In the alleged email reply he posted on social media, Rohani said she was in the dark about the decorations. - Mkini
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