IPOH, Jan 8 — MCA publicity bureau deputy chairman Datuk Leong Kim Soon today described the vice-president of Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz as an extremist for demanding the removal of Chinese New Year decoration at SMK Pusat Bandar Puchong (1), Selangor.
Leong said that such extremist behaviour cannot be accepted and urged the authorities to take immediate action against Mohd Khairul.
“The festive decoration at the school actually highlight the spirit of racial harmony and diversity in our country.
“Furthermore, the Chinese New Year celebrations do not involve any ‘religious’ elements as alleged, nor do they intend to spread non-Muslim religion to the students,” he said in a statement.
Leong pointed out that such slanderous allegations incite racial hatred and said he feared this will affect religious harmony in the country.
“If police can stop the Dong Zong gathering for safety purposes, then action should also be taken against Mohd Khairul for the same reason,” he added.
Leong also said that displaying Chinese New Year decoration in schools has never been an issue before when Barisan Nasional was the government.
Yesterday, Mohd Khairul, who is a lawyer, threatened to file a police report against the school for its “religious” Chinese New Year decoration.
Mohd Khairul claimed the decoration to be “unconstitutional”. He further claimed that Muslim parents had complained about the decoration, which they see as an attempt to propagate a non-Islamic religion to students.
He later claimed the school principal, Rohani Mohd Noor, promised in an email reply to take down all the Chinese New Year decoration.
Leong said if the school principal did indeed removed the decoration, this will cause a negative perception of students and locals.
