No cow slaughtering during school hours

I would like to urge the education department and all other politicians to respect the sanctity of schools and not to turn any school into a slaughter house.

Saravanan (PETA Asia Pasific Network activist)

Muslims are about to celebrate their holy festival on 3rd or 4th October 2014. The festival comes from the story of Nabi Ibrahim and his son Ismael. Instead of sacrificing Ibrahim’s son, Allah instructed him to sacrifice a sheep according to the story. This particular festival will be celebrated as Eid Al-Adha.

Last year, my conversation with SK Puchong school’s headmaster heated up Malaysia with the cow slaughtering issue in the school. I would like to urge the education department and all other politicians to respect the sanctity of schools and not to turn any school into a slaughter house. The incident of Nabi Ibrahim happened on a particular day in an open area and did not take place in any school.

Many UMNO politicians and Netizens commented that this is a Muslim country that they will do what they like. Some said if you don’t like it, go back to India. Papagomo commented he should kill me and many other negative comments.

I would like to remind everyone that in our education syllabus, there is no special instruction to slaughter cows or any other animal in schools. It is not a religious issue but all parties should respect the school where we gain education. The law is equal to all citizens according to the Federal Constitution. Hindus cannot celebrate Thaipusam in National schools and Chinese cannot celebrate their ghost festivals in the school. So the Education department and school headmasters should not not create double standards.

I did some research after last year’s issue. Malaysian Muslims didn’t slaughter cows during school hours 15 years back since British colonization. I have collected information from Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, and Qatar, they never slaughter animals in the school during school hours. This shows Malaysia is practicing a different Islam than other Arabic countries.

Qurban festival was celebrated in mosques, suraus, residential halls and other places where it is convenient. We do not oppose that. But as a human rights and animal rights activist I will watch closely what will be your real intention to celebrate this festival by slaughtering cows during school hours.

The cow slaughtering act doesn’t align with the education syllabus or school co-curriculum in any part of the world.

Celebrating cow slaughtering in the school will make kids psychologically traumatized. Even if the teachers and students were asked not to “see” the slaughter, fine, but one can always “hear” the slaughter being carried out.

Any country’s parliament would never approve such an inhumane act of slaughtering animals in the schools. It is a great disgrace for the country. All schools should follow world educational guidelines which is approved by the UN. Definitely animal slaughter will not be part of the system. Malaysian parliament should come to a decision to respect non violence.

Cow slaughtering in schools can cause POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. PTSD develops after a terrifying ordeal witnessing a harmful event that happened to animals or humans. War soldiers and victims have faced this syndrome or even people working in slaughter houses.

Racial discrimination under 1Malaysia slogan

Recently an Indian police officer went to my house during an investigation over the cow slaughtering issue. I had clearly told the headmaster (HM) of the school concerned that I am living overseas, so why were the police looking for me? When the time comes, I will inform the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and let us meet each other. Till then be patient.

If at all the police are eager to investigate me, they should first investigate Perkasa, blogger Papagomo and the school HMs around Malaysia who agreed with animal cruelty in schools.

Lately, the Second Education Minister, Idris Jusoh, had said that there is a circular issued in 1976 which states that religious programmes can be held in schools. We would like to read the circular itself, and my question in the video was very clear, from whom did the school HM get permission and I asked him to send me the proof, but till today the whole Malaysian Education Ministry has failed to produce the letter.

I urge the prime minister to answer my questions. Where does it state in the constitution that cow slaughtering in schools is permitted? If this can’t be answered, please stop the cruelty. To my knowledge even moderate Turkey will not slaughter cows in schools. I had been in schools for 13 years and I never heard of cow slaughtering in the schools where I had studied. Do not make schools as suraus.

The Education Department should respect other races who are studying in schools.

The government should cancel the registration of Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) and take action against Umno ministers who are stirring racial sentiments in Malaysia regarding the cow slaughtering issue and other issues, too.

Last week Minister Shahidan Kassim said there are no Public Services Commission (PSC) scholarships for the Indian community because Indians are prominent as lawyers and doctors. This kind of minister should be charged with causing racial tension, but due to double standards in Malaysia, the Umno-led government will hide the issue under the carpet.

Racist Umno-friendly NGOs are causing unwanted problems in Malaysia but the law is lenient for them. I urge the PM to throw out his racist ministers before I come back to face the police. The cow slaughtering issue is a simple issue where multiracial schools became slaughterhouses and the Education Department and their ministers should respect other races.

Do not misuse the percentage in the larger population. We Malaysian do not see the real meaning of PM Najib Abdul Razak’s 1Malaysia. Please explain the meaning to us.

The cow slaughtering act is not in line with the education syllabus or school co-curriculum in any part of the world.

Celebrating cow slaughtering in the school will make kids psychologically traumatised. Even if the teachers and students were asked not to “see” the slaughter, fine, but one can always “hear” the slaughter being carried out.

Any country’s parliament in the world would never approve such an inhumane act as slaughtering animals in schools. It’s a great disgrace for the country. All schools should follow worldwide educational guidelines, and definitely animal slaughtering will not be part of the system. The Malaysian parliament should come to a decision to respect non-violence.

Cow slaughtering in schools can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which develops after a terrifying ordeal such as witnessing a harmful event that happened to animals or humans. War soldiers and victims have faced this syndrome and even people who work in slaughterhouses.

 http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/247849

'1976 circular allows religious activities in schools'

PARLIAMENT A Professional Circular issued in 1976 states that religious programmes can be held in schools, Second Education Minister Idris Jusoh said today.

The circular also stressed that such programmes should be carried out with consideration to the sensitivities of the various races, Idris said.

"For me, the issue here is not about the question of circular. It is whether we have been sensitive or not with one another.

"Whether we sent a circular or not, it will still happen if we do not respect one another," he said when winding debate on the 2014 Supply Bill for the Education Ministry at the Dewan Rakyat today.

Idris (left) was clarifying on the issue of the cow sacrifice rituals carried out in several schools that raised uneasiness among several parties during the last Hari Raya Haji.

On another issue, Idris admitted that the ministry faced an imbalance between existing teacher posts at state level and the number of applicants who wanted to teach in their state of origin.

Taking the example of Kelantan, he said there were only 24,800 teacher posts in the state but the teachers originating Kelantan were more than 53,000 while in Kedah, there were 29,809 posts while teachers originating from that state was 40,298.

Idris said the ministry would also improve the Caring Teacher programme, where teachers would take problematic students as their adopted children as an effort to curb social ills among school students.

On another matter, he said there were 82,710 foreign students in the country and this showed local higher institutions of learning were of quality.

He said Malaysia was placed ninth among countries with the highest number of foreign students in the world.

- Bernama

Sacrificial ritual begs respect

The issue is not that the non-Muslims are against the practice of Hari Raya Korban; the problem is when discretion is thrown out of the window in the excitement over the korban.

COMMENT by Jeswan Kaur


We are a nation divided, mostly owing to the unscrupulous politicians and bigots who never tire of instigating Malaysians of different faiths.

With the country now split between ‘what’s right’ and ‘what’s wrong’, harmony and unity between the people have become endangered, making it impossible to bridge the racial gap that threatens to drown Malaysia’s cherished asset – her diversity.

While the nation suffers an ‘identity crisis’ due to the never-ending racial slurs and ‘misrepresentation’, chaos over respect for the respective faiths continues to reverberate.

Barely two weeks after the Court of Appeal dismissed the Catholic Church’s fight over the use of the word ‘Allah’ in its weekly publication, a new racial row has erupted.

This time, the issue revolves around the Hari Raya Korban/Hari Raya Aidiladha/ Hari Raya Haji slaughtering of cows, a practice which in this country is done in full view of the public, in any space available.

To say that the ‘open air’ ritual leaves many people aghast is an understatement. The situation is made worse when the television stations showcase the slaughtering process time and again.

This year’s Hari Raya Korban turned controversial when several non-Muslim parents took umbrage over the slaughtering of cows in schools in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

The parents complained that sacrificing cattle in schools was an insensitive move and inappropriate to schoolchildren.

This well-meaning concern however did not sit well with the Malay zealots of this country, who then raised the issue of the Hindus’s carrying the kavadi openly during the Thaipusam festival.

Unlike the killing of cows, the kavadis or decorated carriers are not brandished just about any place the devotee pleases. Still, attacking one another’s faiths and demeaning cultures simply to prove a point leaves the country in a very vulnerable position.

Scary revelations

When Deputy Education Minister (II) P Kamalanathan said the Education Ministry has never allowed the slaughter of cows in schools, why did the truth upset Malay supremacist group Perkasa?

Perkasa Youth chief Irwan Fahmi Ideris via his blog unleashed his anger and launched a personal attack on Kamalanathan.

“The parliamentarian P Kamalanathan’s statement that the korban ceremony cannot be carried out in schools is an act that insults the Malays and all Muslims,” Irwan wrote.

It is worrying to note the myopic approach groups like Perkasa continue to use in defending Islam and Malays.

How is stating a fact downgrading the country’s official religion or hurting the sensitivities of Muslims?

Going by the conundrum that as erupted as a result of the cow-slaughtering in school, it brings to light some very frightening revelations:

Does a dominant race have the exclusivity to do as they please, wherever and whenever, even if there is no authorisation to do so?

Why was the deputy education minister’s statement viewed as a threat by defenders of the Islam like Perkasa, to the point that it threatened to turn the tables against Kamalanathan in the 14th general election?

Was butchering cows in places of learning a ‘wholesome’ affair?

Did Perkasa forget about the sentiments of the young non-Malay pupils who would have been terrified watching the butchering of these animals?

Sacrificial ritual begs respect

Muslims take the Hari Raya Korban very seriously; and they should, going by the message that the day brings.

But what is both an irony and a paradox is that this very act of remembering the willingness of prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his young first-born son Ismail as an act of submission to Allah’s command and the young boy’s acceptance to being sacrificed is now being turned into a ‘temasya’ or a state sanctioned ‘fun fair’ with tents pitched at the least decent of places to carry out the slaughterings.

The issue is not that the non-Muslims are against the practice of Hari Raya Korban; the problem is when discretion is thrown out of the window in the excitement over the korban (sacrifice).

To justify putting the cows down on school grounds as a way of educating Muslim students as was done by a BN MP was the worst insult to a sane person’s intelligence.

Shabudin Yahaya (BN-Tasek Gelugor) desperately tried to outdo Kamalanathan and portrayed the slaughter as a practical lesson for the Islamic Studies subject.

“The cow slaughtering is not a regular slaughter, it is part of the (school’s) subject and korban is in the Islamic studies subject taught in schools as part of Fiqh (jurisprudence).

“It is a practical lessons on how to properly conduct a slaughter and it should be done,” said Shabudin.

In this regard, does Jakim or the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia not have any ‘enlightening’ words to share?

Trying to take digs at the other races is not going to soothe the country’s fuming racial fires. Nor is scaring children through the butchering of cows in broad daylight going to make them empathise with what Hari Raya Korban is all about.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.

'For the sake of Islam, stop helping other religions'

NGO Ikatan Musliman Malaysia (Isma) has accused the government of promoting other religions for the sake of drawing more tourists into the country and undermining its Islamic credentials overseas as well.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the ministers for tourism and housing and local government, Isma president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman said he was irked by the prominence given to Hindu temples recently.

This went against the federal constitution, which upholds Islam as the official religion of the country, Zaik (left) said.

"The government must be careful about making temples a tourism draw because it will make Muslim tourists cringe, particularly those form Middle East, who look up to Malaysia as a modern Islamic country," he added in a statement.

Zaik was referred to the Sri Sundararaja Perumal Temple in Klang, which is being renovated with RM10 million budget so that it can be an icon and a tourism draw.

"The prime minister has vowed to uphold the laws and to promote Islam... Therefore, the aim to build holy houses of other religions beyond the need, for the sake of tourism draw, violates that promise," he said.

In a veiled threat, Zaik said that the Najib administration must be mindful of maintaining religious harmony in all its actions.

Isma then went on to urge the government to take urgent action before Malaysia's esteemed reputation overseas as a model Islamic country is ruined.

Respon kepada Dr Kua: Sekolah bukan pusat penyembelihan

Dari Umar Hakim Mohd Tajuddin,

Merujuk komentar Dr Kua Kia Soong yang bertajuk ‘Schools are not abattoirs’ yang disiarkan semalam, ternyata benar terdapat banyak ruang-ruang pendidikan dan nilai setempat yang tidak dipertimbangkan oleh Kementerian Pendidikan dalam menangani isu berkaitan penyembelihan korban di kawasan sekolah.

Pendidikan yang holistik akan mampu membentuk pelajar yang mampu menyelesaikan konflik dengan aman, menggunakan pertimbangan tepat dalam keadaan kritikal dan teguh dalam menyatakan kebenaran. Elemen-elemen ini menjadi lebih penting sebagai pelajar yang membesar dalam sebuah negara majmuk yang bertunjangkan Islam seperti Malaysia.

Dalam membina elemen ini dalam konteks Malaysia, pemahaman awal kepada asas kenegaraan perlu diperkukuhkan melalui pengenalan kepada Perlembagaan Negara seawal mungkin. Penghayatan kepada Perkara 11 Perlembagaan Malaysia khususnya harus menyediakan semua rakyat tentang hakikat bahawa ajaran dan amalan Islam akan terlihat dan dipraktikkan di mana-mana sahaja secara meluas dan bebas, samada di ruang persendirian mahupun awam dan ini termasuklah institusi-institusi kerajaan seperti sekolah.

Dan ini adalah pemandangan lumrah di mana-mana negara di mana identiti dan imejnya akan dicorakkan secara semulajadi oleh komuniti majoriti.

Pembelajaran luar kelas

Pembelajaran di luar kelas merupakan satu pendekatan penting dalam memperkayakan para pelajar dengan pengalaman dan membantu pengaplikasian kurikulum secara amali. Terdapat banyak dapatan-dapatan kajian yang menunjukkan manfaat besar kepada pelajar yang didedahkan dengan pembelajaran luar kelas secara konsisten dan terpandu.

Perayaan Korban membuka ruang pembelajaran sebegini khususnya kepada pelajar Muslim untuk mendekati, memerhati dan melibatkan diri secara terpandu dalam keseluruhan proses amalan tersebut seperti yang mereka pelajari dalam silibus Pendidikan Islam. Oleh itu, wajar jika pihak kementerian menggalakkan para guru untuk membawa pelajar ke lokasi-lokasi korban untuk memanfaatkan peluang ‘experiential learning’ ini. Bukan itu sahaja, pengurusan sekolah patut mempelawa masyarakat setempat untuk melakukan korban di padang sekolah terutamanya di bandar-bandar besar yang sangat dimaklumi menghadapi masalah kekurangan tanah lapang yang sesuai.

Pendidikan yang baik ialah yang melibatkan penyampaian yang berterus terang, jujur dan berasaskan fakta. Mengkategorikan proses penyembelihan yang dilakukan dengan kaedah yang betul sebagai satu bentuk kezaliman sehingga boleh mencetus kecenderungan untuk membunuh merupakan satu cara mendidik yang cuai, tidak jujur dan boleh dikatakan sebagai berniat jahat.

Berdasarkan kajian yang diterbitkan, proses penyembelihan secara Islam didapati tidak menzalimi haiwan. Bahkan dalam satu laporan oleh seorang saintis haiwan dan pakar industri ternakan di AS, beliau mengesahkan bahawa kaedah sembelihan samada tanpa renjatan mahupupun dengan renjatan boleh digunapakai apabila dilakukan dengan betul. Keindahan pendidikan yang dilaksanakan dengan jujur dan berterus-terang terserlah apabila ia dapat menyemai sikap belas kasihan terhadap haiwan dan kesedaran untuk menjaga haiwan dengan tertib walaupun topiknya ialah penyembelihan.

Toleransi minoriti, kesopanan majoriti

Dalam konteks Malaysia, menguruskan perbezaan antara agama dan kaum sangat penting dalam mengekalkan keharmonian. Keharmonian ini telah lama dinikmati selama berdekad-dekad kerana wujudnya toleransi kelompok minoriti yang dibalas dengan kesopanan kelompok majoriti. Manifestasi hubungan baik ini dapat kita lihat melalui sikap guru besar sekolah yang menjadi tumpuan dalam isu ini dalam mengurus sensitiviti perkara tersebut.

Guru besar itu menunjukkan sikap sopannya dengan mengambil pandangan kakitangannya yang bukan Muslim lalu bersama-sama mengusahakan langkah kawalan bagi memisahkan murid yang tidak boleh terlibat dalam aktiviti itu walaupun beliau mempunyai kuasa pemutus sebagai ketua di sekolah itu. Nilai sebegini patut diberi penekanan di kelas-kelas untuk dihayati dan diamalkan. Keharmonian ini tidak patut dijadikan tebusan oleh sebilangan kecil mereka yang giat mempersoalkan hak-hak kelompok majoriti sehingga mahu mengheret komuniti minoriti yang kebanyakannya sangat mesra.

Kesimpulannya, amalan Korban yang berlangsung setahun sekali ini boleh diperhalusi untuk diterapkan dalam sistem pendidikan negara. Kementerian Pendidikan wajar mempertimbangkan untuk mengaplikasikannya kerana manfaatnya jika diolah dengan baik mampu merentas semua kelompok pelajar di samping menyumbang dalam mengekalkan keharmonian negara untuk jangka masa panjang.

Is not Islam being shamed?

By KJ John

As Christians, we often say, “do not follow other Christians”, just learn to follow Jesus Christ; which is the reason we are called Christian. In the book, ‘The Knights Templar & the Protestant Reformation’, it states that when Stanley Jones, a missionary, met Mahatma Gandhi he asked him:

Mr Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?

Gandhi replied: Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ.

Are we un-Islamic?
I am purposely and consciously reflecting on this issue through this question. It can be quite misunderstood as “me questioning the very essence of Islamic thought and life”. I do not mean to do that, but to really ask my good friends and neighbours to answer some questions I really cannot understand about Muslims in general and the practice of their faith; from my “outsider’s” point of view.

When a school principal decides to “slaughter a cow within the school compound” is that really promoting the cause of Islam or that of Malays?  How can then so many other extremists argue for it, when even the minister has gently said this is very insensitive?  I think it not just insensitive, but downright wrong! Why? I write as a Bangsa Malaysian!

What is purpose of a school?

What is the underlying and foundational purpose of any school? It would be to educate, inform, and help students mature to become good citizens, over a period of 12 years of foundational education. Now, what I do not understand is how “the slaughter of a cow has anything to do with any of this education and learning one is talking about?” Does the new Education Blueprint promote that?
Surely cow-slaughtering cannot be a subject or the content or curriculum for any national-type school; either primary or secondary. It cannot even be content for Moral or Religious Studies (for Islam), so why is the school practising such “unconventional ways of teaching and learning?” Or, is the principal being a zealot, like so many others who appear so irrational in their actions.
My only conclusion is that the school principal is not fit to be one. It is the similar to the other school principal who decided that a child eating in the school bathroom or toilet is not wrong. I would say reconsider for we have teaching in a Malay proverb, “that we cannot eat and pass motion in the same place?”

The corrupt cow business

The formal and proper slaughter of cows for meat is a thriving industry in many countries.  No Hindu objects to this process; even if within their faith the cow is considered a sacred animal. In fact, I understand that for any formal certification and accreditation process in this cow business, we send approved and authorised religious inspectors for verification, certification and accreditation of the process before we deem it ‘halal,’ or kosher.

But, from the time of the cow-head demonstration at the Shah Alam state secretariat, we moved into the corrupt and abusive cow investments by the federal government (also called ‘cowgate’). 
Now, I think the “animal abuse of cows has become endemic”. At the very least, this has happened in terms of ‘the reputation of cows’ in Malaysia. I do not pretend to be an animal lover either, but I think we need to get some cow sense into our thoughts, behaviour and speech.

Islam a revealed religion

Islam is a revealed religion. Muslims believe that Islam is last of the three revealed religions from the same roots of Father Abraham; with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Muslims scholars and leaders worldwide, after the 9/11 fiasco, issued a statement called the ‘Common Word.’ It was an invite by 138 leading Islamic scholars, thinkers, and teachers to the world’s Christian leadership of all persuasions arguing for the common grounds of faith, thought, and deed. That word was: To love God, and neighbour”.

Arising from this proposition and then acceptance, many of these leaders of various schools of thought on both sides of the 9/11 divide signed what is now popularly called The Common Word.
Building Bridges

In 2007 Abdullah Ahmad Badawi withdrew at the last minute from the Building Bridges initiative of the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury designed to be hosted in Kuala Lumpur.

Idris Jala, the Minister in charge of Performance Management of Government-related agencies, once when invited to our National Congress on Integrity in 2009, gave his simple strategy for bridge-building and nation-growing. “It takes more than toleration,” he said. “One must move from toleration, towards acceptance of the other, and then towards the appreciation and celebration of the other.”

His three-step strategy for bridge-building is worth copying and modulating. We cannot teach toleration in schools to only mean that Islam is the only important religion; all other religions are therefore not considered important in schools. Instead, why not explain to all concerned the same reason why one need not slaughter either pigs or cows in schools; it is not a curricular priority.
Only when such rational acceptance is communicated and moderated, can we expect there to be mutual respect which will finally lead to begin our ability to celebrate with others of a different faith system.

Otherwise, whether we call it Raya Korban or Festival of Lights, light cannot be shed on ignorance and people will continue to live under the weight of their own ignorance; but not education. This is especially so when the ignorant ones in society speak up more than others do. We then run into the problem of the squeaky wheel; it is only that wheel which is oiled and fuelled to accelerate faster!
Way forward

Schools must become the domain and space for multiethnic collaboration and celebration; or, at least the space to understand how to tolerate, respect and honour others, and then to celebrate with others.
All religious systems preach consistency between thoughts, words, and deeds. This is also called integrity of life and living. Whither Malaysia without such integrity?

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KJ JOHN was in public service for 29 years. The views expressed here are his personal views and not those of any institution he is involved with. He will be taking a two-month break from writing with Malaysiakini and return, hopefully, in the new year. Write to him at kjjohn@ohmsi.net with any feedback or views. 

Ritual slaughter not to be questioned by non-Muslims, says Muslim NGO

Non-Muslims should not question the ritual slaughter of cattle on school grounds for Aidiladha if they do not understand the teachings of Islam, a Muslim non-governmental organisation (NGO) said.

People of other faiths were “unqualified" to question the slaughter ritual (“korban”), said Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiyah SeMalaysia (Pekida) president Jamaludin Yusof.

"They do not understand the teachings of Islam so (they) should not question (the ritual).

"The ritual is not carried out daily and is only for the Aidiladha celebrations. The ritual is a part of our beliefs," he told The Malaysian Insider today.

The slaughter of cows, which are considered sacred to Hindus and Buddhists, at SK Puchong Jaya in Selangor for Aidiladha earlier this month caused an outrage among non-Muslim communities who considered the act insensitive as it was carried out in a public school.

While Jamaludin said people should respect each other, he criticised those who raised the issue "on purpose" and reminded them that Islam was the official religion of the country, which should be respected and not questioned.

He said everyone should observe tolerance regardless of race, citing the example of how Muslims did not question rituals of other religions like the smashing of coconuts in the middle of the road, which was the practise during the Hindu festival of Thaipusam.

He also said Muslims should handle the slaughter issue calmly and resolve it amicably without provocation.

"We must take care of the sensitivities in this so that the matter does not escalate," he said

The issue has attracted various comments from politicians, Muslim leaders and NGOs.

When Deputy Education Minister II P Kamalanathan said the slaughter of cows was never permitted in schools and termed what happened as an oversight, he was lambasted by Malay NGO Perkasa. Kamalanathan was even told to bring up his unhappiness with the Council of Rulers.

Perlis mufti Dr Juanda Jaya has said the matter should not be turned into an issue as the people should continue to practise religious tolerance.

Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, meanwhile, said the ritual should be allowed to be conducted in Muslim-majority schools.

In a posting on his Facebook page, Idris said the ministry would not stop the ritual from being carried out in schools but added that all programmes should take into account the sensitivities of the various races and conducted with mutual respect.

Meanwhile, Tasek Gelugor MP Shabudin Yahaya said yesterday that the ritual was "educational" and "practical".

"The act was not carried out in front of non-Muslim students and they were not involved nor invited to attend such events.

"The slaughter of cows is not a regular affair. It is part of the subject and 'korban' is in the Islamic studies subject that is being taught in schools as part of the Islamic faith,” he said in Parliament.

"It is also practical as it teaches the correct ways of slaughter and what should be done. As such, people should not be overly upset over it," he said. - October 30, 2013.

Row over Haji cow-slaughter grows: Not retracting statement, says MCCBCHST

Inter-faith group MCCBCHST has no plans to withdraw its call to the authorities to stop the slaughtering of cows in schools and public places despite growing anger from Muslim groups and authorities.

"We have no wish to add further comment either. We have said what we wanted to say and that's it. We see no reason to withdraw any part of our statement," Father Thomas Philips, vice president of the Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism told Malaysia Chronicle.

Every faith is supreme

MCCBCHST had issued its call just days before the Hari Raya Haji celebrated over the weekend, where Muslims ritually slaughtered cows and distributed the meat to other Muslims.

In a statement entitled Respect the Religious Sensitivities in Schools, the council had called on the authorities to halt the slaughter at schools and other public places accessible to all faiths.

"However, we are concerned that a ritualistic sacrificing of cows in conjunction with the Hari Raya Haji celebrations is proposed to be held in schools on a school day in the presence of students. We hold a dim view of this purported activity in front of our multi-racial and multi-cultural student population as it ignores the sensitivity of our school-going children and the larger mixed Malaysian society," it said in its statement of November 4.

"We call upon the relevant authorities to respect the sensitivities of our multi-religious society and implore them to halt this ritualistic ceremony in our schools,institutions of higher learning and other public places. We hold that the public places, especially schools, are not the right place for the performance of this ritual that pertains only to the Muslim community.It does not augur well for the promotion of harmony and peace among our varied peoples."

Nonetheless, the heated reaction from Muslim leaders in the country, especially those in the government, does not augur well for multiracial harmony. Saying they felt hurt by the response from these quarters, Christians said it underscored the scant respect shown to the non-Muslims and a growing religious arrogance that boded ill for the country's future.

"Islam is supreme to Muslims. But only as supreme as Christianity is to the Christians or Hinduism to the Hindus. This is sheer bad manners and shameful conduct on the part of Muslim authorities. As though they can do what they like without considering the sensitivities of others," S Peters, a Christian lay-leader at a large Catholic church in Petaling Jaya.

"This is especially difficult to accept when the non-Muslims are forced to abide by strict rules not to impinge on Islam. But it works both ways. Respect must be mutual or why should we respect you?"

Heated response from Muslims


Peters was referring to comments made by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mashitah Ibrahim, who accused the MCCBCHST of not respecting the rights of Muslims or the position of Islam as Malaysia's official religion.

"To me, the issue was purposely created to raise racial sentiment. The ritual of sacrifice has been practiced for a long time and has never been questioned by any party," Berita Harian had quoted Mashitah as saying.

"In a multi-racial society, other religions should respect the rights of Islam like how Muslims respect the rights and freedom of non-Muslims. This issue should not have arisen if all ethnic groups respect each other and understand the spirit of living in a multi-racial society."


While Mashitah spoke a lot about mutual respect, she did not deny or make any clarification as to whether schools and public places had indeed been used to slaughter the animals.
Meanwhile, Perlis Mufti Juanda Jaya is the latest to wade into the issue.

"I'm disappointed with MCCBCHST's official statement that directs Muslims not to make public sacrifice. This is clearly directing the rituals of other religions. It is better not to interfere. If there is any unhappiness or disturbance, it is better to resolve it behind closed doors. Malaysians have achieved independence and lived peacefully for so long, so don't make it an issue," Juanda said in a statement yesterday.

Like Mashitah, Juanda may have decided to play to the Muslim gallery at the expense of fairness and give-and-take. For example, he did not once mention the sensitivities of the Hindus and Buddhists.

The annual Qurban or slaughter is usually done on mosque grounds, but there have been plans for it to be held on the premises of at least two schools in Kuala Lumpur.

"Just as we do not serve pork or alcohol when we invite Muslims to our homes or events, we expect them to respect us back too and not serve meats that are not 'halal' to us. But nowadays everything is so racial and getting from bad to worse, it is a real shame," said Peters.

Malaysia Chronicle