Maszlee Shoots Down Proposal For Subject On Different Religions

---

The Education Ministry has rejected a proposal from the Malaysian Youth Council (MBM) for a special subject to learn about other religions, apart from Islamic studies, in schools and higher education institutions
Minister Maszlee Malik said he was consistent with the ministry’s previous suggestion that every school and university should organise more cross-cultural programmes
He said sharing each other’s culture is more appropriate than learning about other religions, as it was feared would cause more negative than positive effects
“Recently when I was in Penang, I have seen a national type Tamil school collaborating with a national religious secondary school (SMKA), and in Johor, we have the Hidayah Islamic School, that is very active in organising activities with other vernacular schools
“Hence, we encourage these different schools to organise cross-cultural programmes, and usually these activities are more into celebrations, costumes and if possible, we should go further than that to understand each other’s cultures,” he added
Maszlee said this in a press conference after presenting the Hope Home assistance programme plaque at Kampung Parit Haji Hashim, in his constituency of Simpang Renggam
He also pointed out that the most important thing was for each student to appreciate interaction with each other through various co-curricular activities to strengthen unity, instead of studying other religions
Yesterday, MBM president Jufitri Joha was reported to have said that the Islamic studies currently being taught in schools are good, but it only focused on one religion without understanding others.
He said his proposal did not mean that the country would practice religious equality, but learning about various religions would “foster unity and promote religious sensitivity for cultures different from our own”
- Bernama

---