Sarawak DAP wants halt to religious teachers from p'sula

PETALING JAYA: DAP is standing firm in its demand that Putrajaya stop recruiting Islamic religious teachers from Peninsular Malaysia for Sarawak.Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen said the party did not want Muslims from the peninsula bringing their philosophies and ways of life to the state, adding that it would change the thinking of Sarawak Muslims and undermine racial harmony there.

"I raised the issue in Parliament two days ago, touching on the differences in lifestyle, philosophy and culture between Muslims in Peninsular Malaysia and those in Sarawak," Chong said in a statement.

The Bandar Kuching MP also listed the differences he had given in his parliamentary debate.

"Firstly, Muslims from Sarawak are able to eat halal food at the same table as non-Muslims who were eating their non-halal food – something that rarely happens on the peninsula. Additionally, people in Sarawak are used to having a church next to a mosque, whereas many Muslims in Peninsular Malaysia object even to seeing a cross on a building," Chong said.

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He also highlighted the use of the term "Allah" by Christians being accepted by Muslims in Sarawak but not across the South China Sea.

"We in Sarawak want to maintain our racial harmony and do not want our society to be like Peninsular Malaysia where religious bigotry and extremism is prevalent."

Chong also criticised PAS for calling him "anti-Islam" following the debate.

Chong said PAS leaders and MPs knew there were valid reasons in his argument, which was why none of them had confronted him during the parliamentary debate.

He said likewise, none of the BN MPs present that day had objected, adding that many of them actually agreed with what he had said. Getting back to the subject about teachers, Chong said there was no reason to import teachers from elsewhere as there were already many Sarawak Muslims capable of teaching religion.

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He gave numbers from the Sarawak Islamic Religious Department (Jais) which in January had advertised for two teaching posts and received over 4,000 applications.

"Instead of approaching and recruiting local Muslims, the education ministry decided to recruit 433 Islamic teachers from other states to come to teach in Sarawak. This is clearly not a policy that is fair to Sarawak."

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