Online petition to scrap 'Anak Angkat' scheme for students
Published on: Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Confusion surrounds a case which went viral on social media purportedly showing the corpse of a Sarawak girl being claimed by representatives of an Islamic agency after she had been prepared for a Christian burial. It was initially believed that the girl had converted to Islam without her parent's knowledge while being under the care of foster Muslim parents in Malacca. Word had it that she was sent to a school in Malacca through a Yayasan (Foundation), and was adopted by a Malay family, and subsequently became a Muslim. However, there has been a counter claim that she was not a student and had opted to convert due to marriage.
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Nevertheless, this did not stop a group of concerned citizens from initiating an online petition to Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, his Deputy, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching (pic) and one other named Alexander Nanta Linggi to end the "anak angkat" programme for Sabah & Sarawak natives in MY public tertiary institutions. Yap, when contacted, said she had forwarded the matter to the Director-General of the Department of Higher Education (JPT) under the Ministry."We need to investigate the allegation before we can issue an official statement," she said. According to one posting (dated Feb. 20), the student, reportedly the daughter of a SIB Church leader in Miri, had a heart attack and died last Friday.
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It was only when the girl's parents went to collect the body that they learnt she had converted to Islam without their knowledge after Christmas. Muslim officials came to the house of the deceased to collect the body for burial at the Muslim Cemetery at Lambir. The father wanted his daughter to be buried at the Christian cemetery on grounds that there was no proper document to prove she had converted.
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Parents place their trust in government staff assigned to schools, matriculation colleges, foundation colleges and universities to take care of their children. One programme that has often been adopted by schools and universities is "anak angkat" (adoption). Children from Sabah and Sarawak are taken care of by keluarga angkat (adopted families), most of whom are concerned enough to assist. However, there are reportedly cases where some of these children are converted to Islam without the knowledge of their parents. Hence, the aim of the petition was to urge the Ministry of Higher Education and Mara (under the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development) to stop the "anak angkat" (adoption) programme because the parents are unable to monitor the programme.- The petition in Bahasa Malaysia to be delivered to the trio reads as follows in English :- The main function of schools and education institutions is to upgrade a person's knowledge.- All civil servants should manage any government programme with discipline without any other intention, apart from respecting the trust accorded to them (civil servants).- There is an increase in the number of cases of Islamising students from Sabah and Sarawak in the Peninsula. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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