Sabah PKR leader urges Maszlee to apologise over ‘medan dakwah’
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah PKR Vice Chairman Kenny Chua has said Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik’s statement urging religious teachers from Peninsular Malaysia to turn Sabah and Sarawak into their ‘medan dakwah’ (proselytisation ground) contradicts the New Malaysia that Pakatan Harapan Government is striving to build.
Chua slammed Maszlee for his statement, saying the people in Sabah have now become allergic to leaders who have the habit of talking about a particular religion or race without thinking about how the rest of the population might feel.
He said the people in the state also do not want to see religion or race become an issue that can divide the society, as had been the case for decades when the previous administration was in power.
“His statement is totally against the New Malaysia that we all now embrace. Today, we have no place for leaders who like to make all kinds of statements about a particular religion or race that can offend others. And they make statements as if a particular religion or race is superior that the others. This is not right.
“The people have voted for leaders who they believe have what it takes to stand for justice and equality. They want leaders who speak up for all citizens regardless of their belief or race.
“I wish to stress that in this New Malaysia, no religion or race should be portrayed as superior than the others. This kind of thinking or brand of politics no longer have a place in our moderate society,” said Chua, commenting on Maszlee’s remarks on the matter in Parliament recently.
The Education Minister has come under fire for what he had said although few days ago he claimed his remarks had been misconstrued to mean promoting Islam to non-Muslims.
Maszlee had clarified that ‘dakwah’ did not necessarily mean to spread Islam. He had said in Parliament that religious teachers from Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah, who were teaching in Sabah and Sarawak, not to return home because of the shortage of religious teachers in the two states.
But Chua said instead of focusing on religion, which is a sensitive matter, Maszlee should have talked about how he would improve the education system in the country so that it can match the standards of other nations.
“We know for a fact that the Education Ministers and authorities in some countries who have excellent education system don’t talk about preaching religion.
“I’m not saying religious education is not important. It matters a lot for it teaches every human being to be good. But education is education while religion has its own place. We must draw a line between the two,” he suggested.
According to Chua, Maszlee must realise that many students in Sabah had a bad experience in the past when crucifixes in mission schools were forced to be taken down for fear of promoting the Christian faith to Muslims.
“In fact, there was no such intention.
Those people who took them down were only being paranoid for nothing. The crucifixes were there because the schools were started by missionaries who came to introduce our people to education. Aside from this, we in Sabah, also had other bad experiences when it comes to religion that hurt people of other faiths.
He also recalled that there was a time when Christian missionaries in Sabah were arrested and deported.
“That’s why Maszlee’s statement about ‘dakwah’ has upset a lot of people because we have a cruel history when it comes to matters like this. So I advise him to just retract his statement and apologise,” said Chua.
Meanwhile, Chua, who is also Inanam assemblyman, extended his Christmas greetings to all Christians in the state, particularly his constituents.