PUTTING up festive decorations is not something new at SM Pusat Bandar Puchong 1 in Selangor as the school has been putting them up for major festivals for the past 11 years, said the school’s parent-teacher association head Kuan Chee Heng.

Kuan told The Malaysian Insight this year’s Chinese New Year decorations, which included lanterns, are also part of a state-wide calligraphy contest which the school will host on Saturday.

“There are attempts to link our decorations with religion when it is not the case. The Selangor Education Department has allowed the calligraphy contest.

“The school initially wanted to organise a district-level contest but the state education department told us to make it state-wide.

“So, as the host, we decorated the school,” Kuan told The Malaysian Insight.

The school has been running the Jalinan Kasih programmes since 2009 to celebrate Chinese New Year, Aidilfitri and Deepavali, when the school is decorated for each festival, he said.

The school received the backing from the cabinet yesterday with Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail leading a battalion of ministers and Selangor exco member to the school.

Wan Azizah said it’s not wrong for the school to put up CNY decorations and lanterns.

“It’s okay to have lanterns. We all have many similarities. The cabinet unanimously wants to protect our harmony,” she said.

The school was in the news in recent days after right-wing Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia’s (Putra) vice-president and lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz threatened to report the school over the “religious” Chinese New Year decoration, which he said was “unconstitutional”.

Muslim parents complained about the decorations, which they deemed as an attempt to propagate a religion, said Khairul.

“The complaints we’ve received showed unease at the excessive Chinese New Year 2020 decorations in your school. Some parents say the school looks like a Chinese-owned market with religious elements on display that are other than Islam.

“This is distressing for the Muslim pupils and is also against Article 3(1) of the federal constitution,” Khairul said in a letter sent to the school’s principal Rohani Mohd Nor and shared on his Twitter account.

Article 3(1) states that “Islam is the religion of the federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the federation”.

Earlier yesterday, the school decided to remove its lanterns following the pressure but they went up again after the visit of Wan Azizah and ministers.

Kuan said the lanterns were a gift from Seri Serdang assemblyman Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud last year.

“My suggestion is that we should not be worried about people making noise. If he wants to do anything, let him come to the school,” he said, referring to Khairul.

“I will do the best for the school. Khairul Azam does not represent the Malay community. He is seeking cheap publicity.

“We have been doing this for 11 years. The lanterns were gifts from Dr Siti Mariah last year. She gave, so we put them up.”

Kuan, also popularly known as Uncle Kentang for his charity work, said the Chinese New Year celebration is not a religious event, but welcoming of a new year according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

He said the decorations in the school during Aidilfitri were much bigger and merrier than this.

He assured parents that the decorations have no religious connotation and not an attempt to promote a particular religion.

“Parents need not get worried. There is nothing religious in these decorations.”

He also wants the police to investigate Khairul for causing tension. – January 9, 2020.