KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Hashim Adnan said today the supposed joke by a teacher in Kedah and his instruction to non-Muslim pupils not to drink in class are both inappropriate.
Malaysiakini reported today that Hashim said teachers should know their audience before cracking jokes, while non-Muslim pupils should have the right to drink wherever they want since they are not the ones fasting.
“Why create problems? We live in a world where we have all these different ethnic groups in the classes. So please respect others while teaching and working in the classroom.
“Every teacher should respect other races, because we wouldn’t want to be saying something that sounds like a joke, but means a lot to the people listening to it,” Malaysiakini reported Hashim saying.
According to a report by The Star Online, Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan was quoted as saying that although the remark was intended as a joke, it nevertheless was unacceptable, especially as students were involved.
Kamalanathan voiced his dissatisfaction on his official Facebook page on Monday saying: “I was informed that the teacher used those words in jest with no intention of hurting the feelings of the students. However, when dealing with students, the use of such statements is NOT ACCEPTABLE.”
“The teacher should be well aware of the consequences of such bad judgement, especially so with students,” he added.
Yesterday, the school held a special assembly to “correct” the teacher’s statement about “drinking urine”.
The teacher involved has also apparently received threats over the phone and has lodged a police report.
A letter circulating online and addressed to the Kedah state education director had alleged that a senior teacher at the Sungai Petani primary school told non-Muslim students to drink water in the school toilets during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and if they do not have water, “they can drink from the tap or their own urine”.
The letter, purportedly from an unnamed group of non-Muslim students, claimed the teacher had uttered the words during the school’s assembly.
