Main image via suakeris / Twitter
Malaysia is full of festive seasons and for every festival, beautiful decorations and music are often seen and heard throughout the nation! One school in Malaysia unfortunately, was recently forced to take down their decorations.
As Chinese New Year approaches, SMK Pusat Bandar Puchong 1 decided to put up the yearly CNY decorations, but this year they were forced to take it all down after a complaint was filed against the display of the decorations.
The complaint states that the “excessive” decorations (that looks like it took a lot of time and effort to put up) has “religious elements on display” and that it was making some Muslim parents feel “uncomfortable and uneasy.”
It also states that some parents think that the school is decorated “like a Chinese-owned market that has religious elements that are other than Islam” and see it as an attempt to propagate a non-Islam religion at the school.
“This is distressing for the Muslim students and is also against Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution,” said Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) vice-president and lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz in the letter.
Image via Malay Mail
“Your actions in allowing these excessive decorations for celebrating a Chinese religious festival in a public school is also against Article 12(3) of the Federal Constitution which states ‘no person shall be required to receive instruction in or to take part in any ceremony or act of worship of a religion other than his own’.”
He had sent out the complaint letter to the school and gave them three days to remove all CNY decorations or they will report it to the authority to take action.
The school had since removed all the CNY decorations, with some of the ex-students that have graduated from the school returning to help.
Image via AnDy Ng / Facebook
After the incident, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail showed up to support the Puchong school along with six other cabinet members and even brought 20 extra red laterns to be hung with the existing CNY decorations.
“Why this was made an issue I have no idea,” Dr Wan Azizah said to the reporters at the school. “This is a cultural celebration.”
What are your thoughts on the whole incident? Let us know!
Info via Today Online , Malay Mail
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