KUCHING: The Sarawak government and Sarawakians will ‘fight tooth and nail’ against any attempt to abolish the state’s Immigration autonomy, warned Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing.
Masing, who is Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president, was commenting on a statement by Minister of Housing and Local Government Zuraida Kamaruddin who said the PH government will amend the Sarawak Immigration Ordinance as it is ridiculous to ban people from entering Sarawak.
“This was an understanding we had when we formed Malaysia in 1963. It’s an agreement that Malaysia’s founding fathers had agreed on, signed and sealed.
“You break that understanding, you can kiss Malaysia good bye,” added Masing.
On another issue, the state infrastructure and ports development minister said he was curious that the media haven’t sought federal Works Minister Baru Bian’s stand on the Ministry of Education telling off Penang Methodist Girls’ School for reciting Christian prayer prior to its function recently.
Masing said the issue is of interest to Christian community and that Baru should voice his stand on the issue.
“What would a so-called staunched Christian Baru say when freedom of religion is clearly breached by the very government he is in?” asked Masing.
Recently, the education ministry issued a stern warning to Methodist Girls’ School in Penang following reports that the school had recited a Christian prayer during an awards ceremony.
A separate warning was given to a school in Perak which is believed to have conducted an art seminar in Chinese instead of the national language.
The director-general of education, Amin Senin was reported as saying that the ministry is considering further disciplinary action against the Methodist girls’ school for contravening national education regulations.
According to a media report, a Muslim group had lodged a police report, accusing the school of trying to propagate Christianity to Muslims.
In Kuala Lumpur, it was also reported that police have questioned five people in its probe into a claim that a school in Penang barred Muslim prayer during a recent awards ceremony.
Bukit Aman CID prosecution and legal division principal assistant director Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said the five included parents, the complainant and attendees at the school function where the Muslim prayer was allegedly prohibited.
