Aug 23 2015, 05:15 PM, updated 11y ago
TLDR: Muslim parents and teachers of a Sabah school were unhappy with the placement of the cross on a new classroom building, facing the main entrance in the all boys primary school in Sandakan and wanted it removed.
KOTA KINABALU, June 26 ― The Sandakan mission school that was pressured by its Muslim-majority Parents and Teachers Association to remove a cross the façade of a new building has rebuffed attempts for it to move the religious icon to another location.
The SK St Mary Labuk school board chairman Alice Tan said they were not seeking to offend anyone and all mission schools in the country have the right according to the Education Ministry’s policies to stand by their ethos.
“We cannot take it down or move it just because they’re unhappy it is there. Whether or not they are satisfied with the outcome (not to remove it or place it elsewhere), they will have to learn to understand and accept it.
“It’s nothing personal against another religion; we have been a mission school even prior to independence,” said Tan when contacted by Malay Mail Online.
It was reported earlier this week that the Muslim parents and teachers of the school were unhappy with the placement of the cross on a new classroom building, facing the main entrance in the all boys primary school in Sandakan and wanted it removed.
On Wednesday, Deputy Education Minister I Datuk Mary Yap said that Christian mission schools in Malaysia are allowed to retain their ethos and characteristics according to a circular issued by the Education Ministry in January 2013.
Following the report, the Sandakan District Education Office met with school authorities to explain the circular to the teachers and parents concerned, but the latter group then requested for the cross to be placed somewhere less conspicuous.
Tan said another meeting was convened yesterday, this time with the Sandakan Catholic diocese’s Reverend Bishop Julius Gitom, the principal and the school board, during which it was that no changes will be made.
“We hope that people do not misunderstand us, we are not trying to provoke or offend any party. We considered a lot of factors when deciding on the cross, and we settled on a subtle cross on the building as opposed to on the roof,” said Tan.
She said that policy was clear that mission schools were allowed to display their religious symbols and the school had no malicious intent or doing something illegal to provoke negative sentiments.
“We hope that the objecting party will eventually accept and understand us, and put this behind us so we can move on peacefully,” she said.
The school is populated by a Muslim majority, both in students and teachers.
Sabah education director Datuk Jame Alip said that although he has not received a report on the issue yet, he considered the matter resolved with Yap’s statement.
Sandakan MP Stephen Wong, who was asked to intercede on the school’s behalf, said that it was disappointing that religious intolerance was starting to show in the usually harmonious state.
“I feel a lot of sorrow. Such issues are not common in Sabah and it should not happen, especially at school level. We should have learnt to be more tolerate and understanding of each other’s race and religion in this multicultural society,” he said when contacted.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia...h.923PQnhr.dpuf
Sabah mission school pressured to remove cross, Produk terlaris Peninsular kini di Sabah
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