ALL Malaysians are free to practise their own faith but people must not compete with each other, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“There are many religions here. The people have a right to practise their faith, but we must not try to compete with each other… like who is taller, who is bigger and all that,” he said after launching the Tenaga Nasional Bhd Balai Islam Complex in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

He said this when asked to comment on the Education Ministry’s circular banning Muslims from celebrating the Ponggal festival. 

In a circular dated January 13 that was issued to state education department directors ahead of the festival, the ministry said it is “haram” (forbidden) for Muslims to participate in Ponggal as it is celebrated by Hindus.

The circular was signed by ministry deputy director-general Adzman Talib, who said the decision was based on advice from the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim).

Yesterday, National Unity and Social Wellbeing in the Prime Minister’s Department, P. Waytha Moorthy said the cabinet decided that cultural celebrations should be participated and celebrated by all Malaysians as a united society.

He said the decision was made at a meeting chaired by Dr Mahathir after concerns were raised regarding the participation of Muslims in the cultural festivals of non-Muslims.

The Islamic Development Department (Jakim) does not stop non-Muslims from celebrating their festivals but Muslims attending them must observe some rules consistent with their faith, said Islamic affairs minister Mujahid Yusuf Rawa.

Mujahid said Jakim had written a letter to the Education Ministry outlining the protocols to be observed by Muslims when attending the Ponggal celebrations.

 “I want to stress that Jakim has never banned anyone’s festival. But there are procedures for Muslims attending these events to observe.

“In the letter to the Education Ministry, we (Jakim) only stated what Muslims should do at the event.” – January 16, 2020.