Voon: Putra’s demand ‘rude and ridiculous’
KUCHING: National Vice Women chief of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Voon Shiak Ni, lashes out against Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) for coming up with ridiculous demands asking authorities to take down all Chinese New Year decorations at SMK Bandar Puchong 1, Selangor.
She said Putra’s demand was ‘rude and ridiculous’, and the party was ignorant of the fact that Chinese New Year is a new year celebration for the Chinese based on the lunar calendar, and definitely nothing to do with religion.
“The incident at SMK Bandar Puchong 1, where Putra vicepresident and lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz has urged the school authority to take down all the Chinese New Year decoration at the school claiming that they received complaints from Muslim parents, is ridiculous and a joke.
“The putting up of Chinese New Year decorations is something which is done to welcome the festivity, and it is an occasion celebrated by the Chinese together with all races in the country, the same as for Hari Raya and Gawai Dayak in Sarawak.
“The seasonal and festive decorations for all the celebrations observed in Malaysia can be seen at all private and public offices and shopping malls.
“It is never a problem. What is your problem?” Voon asked Putra in a statement yesterday.
She said Putra needs to be reminded that if they want to create racial tension in the country, then Malaysia cannot accommodate such parties, who make use of the elements of extremism and race-based agendas. Mohd Khairul on Tuesday threatened to report a public school in Puchong recently over its supposedly ‘religious’ Chinese New Year decoration.
He said the decoration was ‘unconstitutional’, and claimed that Muslim parents had complained against what they saw as an attempt to propagate a non-Islam religion to students at
SMK Pusat Bandar Puchong 1 in Pusat Bandar Puchong.
“The complaints we’ve received show unease at the excessive Chinese New Year 2020 decorations in your school. Some parents say the school looks like a Chinese-owned market with religious elements on display, that are other than Islam.
“This is distressing for the Muslim students and is also against Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution,” Mohd Khairul said in the letter, and shared on his Twitter account.