Claims that Christian students at the Labuan Matriculation College in Sabah were forced to pray under a tree and to wear Muslim headgear are not a true depiction of Malaysia, the country’s Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said Monday.
"Only small issues are being highlighted, and if these are said to be representative of Malaysia as a whole, it is not right," he said at a press conference.
He said such episodes do not reflect Malaysia as a whole, and that there are many other positive things that the media should highlight.
Idris was responding to a report by a Sabah newspaper, the Daily Express, which on November 29 had reported claims that Christian students had been barred from holding their prayer groups within the campus building and were forced to pray outdoors under a tree.
The paper also reported that these students had to wear the Muslim headscarf or tudung for girls and the songkok for boys, if they wanted to participate in the college's Students' Parliament.
The media should promote racial harmony and not cause racial disintegration with "provocative" reports, Idris said on Monday.
He added that the incident at the Labuan college is being handled by Deputy Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching.
According to the Daily Express, however, this is not the first time the Labuan Matriculation College has been involved in claims of religious harassment.
The paper said it had been embroiled in controversy in July 2012 when Christian students from Sabah and Sarawak were pressured to convert to another faith.
It was said three students allegedly converted but it could not be confirmed although a probe into it was called.
The outcome to this episode is not clear, after a December 2012 meeting between the Education Ministry and representatives from the Sabah Catholic Diocesan Center over the matter.
The meeting was reportedly held after Sabah Catholic bishops jointly signed a letter of protest over the alleged conversion attempts and submitted it with a report from the diocesan center calling for a full probe into the allegations that such attempts to convert non-Muslim students were taking place in local institutions of higher learning.
Full Story: Claims of Christian students forced to pray under tree don’t represent Malaysia, says minister
Source:The Malaysian Insider