This is not about race or religion, says deputy minister

Using the shower room as a makeshift canteen is not an issue related to race or religion, Deputy Education Minister II P Kamalanathan said today.

Speaking to reporters at the SK Seri Pristana canteen, Kamalanathan said the issue pertains to the location of the makeshift canteen, as it has been used since March this year.

"Let me make this clear. This is not about religion or race," he said, after initial reports suggested that only non-Muslim students were told to eat in the makeshift canteen during the Ramadan month.

"It happened to be that the canteen renovation started one to two weeks ago," he added.

Kamalanathan also said the school's Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) has been aware of the makeshift canteen since March as the matter was discussed in a meeting prior to its implementation.
"Yes, the renovation only involves a glass door at the teacher's canteen, but then these are small children. So the school was concerned that the children might be hurt when they run around," he said.
'Makeshift canteen done with good intention'

The school headmaster, he said, with "good intention" made the decision to have a makeshift canteen.

"The intention was good, but the location is wrong," he said.

The ministry would be supplying aid to the school so that the canteen could be expanded to accomodate more pupils.

Kamalanathan said the canteen was built to hold 500 to 600 pupils at any given time, and that there were 1,300 in the school in the morning and afternoon sessions.

Out of this, the school has 28 non-Muslim students spread across both sessions, with 23 of them being Indians and five Chinese students.

"For any inconvenience caused in this whole episode, I would also like to say sorry," he said.

Confronted by annoyed parents in the school compound later, Kamalanathan listened to their complaints and demands for action to be taken against the school headmaster, but did not give a conclusive answer.

"I'm here to solve the problem, and we have solved the problem. I will take care of this. This problem would not be repeated," he said.

Kamalanathan would only respond that the ministry would "investigate" the matter when parents claimed that the makeshift canteen had only been in place from the start of the fasting month