The Malaysian Insight

AS parents and education authorities argue over the question of religious practices in school, it has been observed that the multiracial pupils of Methodist Girls’ School (MGS) are getting along just fine.

The school canteen operator, who is arguably better placed than most to perceive what is really going on among the pupils, said there has been no hint of the racial divisions among the youngsters as spoken about by politicians. 

Che Su Abdul Rahman, who has run the canteen for six years, told The Malaysian Insight the the girls of various races appear to be friends with one another, and are not split along racial or religious lines as claimed by Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy.

Che Su said he does not see Malay pupils boycotting non-Muslim stalls as some have alleged.

“In my half-dozen years here, there have been no issues. The Malay students buy from the Chinese stalls. The non-Muslims buy from the Muslim stalls.

“There are no problems, especially to the point that they don’t get along. The students also don’t group themselves according to race. They mingle freely among themselves.”

He said the controversial Buy Muslim First campaign never took off at MGS.

The school canteen has four stalls run by Malays, and two by by non-Malays. They sell drinks, bread and noodles.

One of them, Ang Gaik Looi, said pupils buy what they wish, and do not discriminate between the Malay and non-Malay stalls.

She sells noodles, which she said are halal.

“It’s only noodles. It’s all made from halal ingredients. We need to follow the guidelines set by the Education Ministry.

MGS is at the centre of a storm after 35-year-old Muslim activist Muhsin Abdul Latheef lodged a police report over the alleged recitation of Christian prayers at the school’s prize-giving ceremony. The prayers were allegedly part of a school board member’s speech on the topic of unity.

It was reported that the speech urging racial harmony had been prompted by some Muslim pupils’ refusal to buy from the school’s non-Muslim food sellers. The boycott claim was repeated by Ramasamy.

Muhsin, in his report, accused the school of proselytising to its Muslim pupils, which he said outnumber the non-Muslim pupils. He said there are 347 Muslim pupils and only 161 non-Muslims, and 26 Muslim teachers and 14 non-Muslim teachers.

Police have opened an investigation into his allegations, and will call up the complainant and school authorities for their statements.

Muhsin’s claims also caused Director-General of Education Dr Amin Senin to send MGS a warning letter, saying it faces the possibility of disciplinary action for flouting protocol.

Che Su declined to comment on the actions of the people in charge.

“I don’t really care what Ramasamy says. I only care about the teachers and students of the school, and I can see they have no problems (in interracial relations).”

He said the school’s religious programmes are continuing as usual and doing well.

“I sometimes have to provide food for pupils taking part in religious programmes. Like today, they have Jawi, prayer and calligraphy programmes.”

MGS was established by Christian missionaries in 1891. Like other mission schools in the country, it was taken over by the government in the 1970s.

Teachers are considered government servants, whose appointments and deployments are determined by the Teachers’ Service Commission.

Yesterday, the Federation of Councils of Christian Mission Schools Malaysia said it is seeking a meeting with the education minister to talk about the recent events at MGS and clear the air. – October 4, 2019.