Bishop: Accusations hurled at Anglican Diocese over Quran event issue ‘unfair, baseless’

KUCHING (Jan 16): The Boards of Management of Anglican Mission Schools wants the Education Department (JPN) Sarawak to issue a public statement to ease public dissatisfaction over the issue of the holding of the Khatam Al-Quran at SK St Thomas’ hall here.

Board president the Right Reverend Datuk Danald Jute, also Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kuching and Brunei, says while the matter about the venue for the event has been resolved, the meeting acknowledges the need to ease public brouhaha connected with the situation.

“More so because many members of the public, including those in high places, have without basis labelled our school as being discriminatory and prejudiced, thereby causing divisions and disunity,” he said in a press statement today.

Danald said the accusations of prejudice and discrimination hurled at the school owner, the Anglican Diocese of Kuching and Brunei, were ‘unfair and baseless’.

“We categorically deny those accusations. We know who we are. We stand for unity, harmony, and understanding. It pains us to be painted as racist or anti-Islam because we are not,” he stressed.

He also expressed disappointment over the leakage of an internal letter about the church’s non-permission to the school authority to hold the programme at the hall, on social media.

“What is more disappointing and of grave concern is the fact that the internal memo between our officer and the ‘Guru Besar’ (headmaster) was leaked out without sanction.

“It was opened and shared out before the ‘Guru Besar’ had the opportunity to read and acknowledge it; hence, it lacked his signature or acknowledgement,” said Bishop Danald.

He said the most disconcerting part of such an irresponsible act was that those involved were civil servants within JPN Sarawak.

“What they did was against the ‘Etika Penggunaan Media Sosial oleh Penjawat Awam – Peraturan-Peraturan Pegawai Awam (Kelakuan Tatatertib) 1993 [P.U (A) 395/1993].

“For the record, we have no issue with activities that are part of the curriculum.

“Beyond that, we have also been supportive of extracurricular activities involving Muslim students and teachers such as ‘Ihya Ramadhan’, ‘Sinar Syawal’, ‘Quran Hour’, ‘Cinta Kalam’, ‘Kem Bestari Solat’, Surah Yasin reading, ‘iftar’ (break-of-fast during Ramadan), ‘Majlis Ramah Tamah’, ‘Solat Hajat, et  cetera.

“There is also a room dedicated as ‘Bilik Solat’ (for prayers by Muslims),” he pointed out.

Danald said like all other mission schools, SK St Thomas takes great pride in its long-standing tradition of giving the level best not just as an academic institution, but also in contributing towards a better, united, more harmonious, and cohesive nation, especially in Sarawak where understanding and respect for one another is the order of everyday living amongst all people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

“The church is proud to play its role in fostering acceptance, unity and harmony in Sarawak, and for the record, the church has been doing this for the last 175 years.

“And we are unwavering in our commitment of continuing this legacy of our founders and forefathers.

“Finally, to avoid any future misunderstanding, we wish to reiterate that SK St Thomas is a ‘sekolah kebangsaan’ (national school) and not a ‘sekolah kerajaan’ (government school).

“As a mission school or ‘Sekolah Mubaligh’, we have our own ethos and character. The Mission Authority, as the owner of the school, has the full rights under Education Act 1996 to manage and to decide what may or may not be held within the school premises,” he said.

“The school board of management has the right to refuse the use of school premises for any purpose deemed incompatible with the school ethos, character, ideals, traditions, and essential identity,” he added.

The Bishop’s press statement was issued following a meeting between senior officers from JPN Sarawak and Boards of Management of Anglican Mission Schools, together with Board of Management of St Thomas’s School, held on Jan 10 this year.

The meeting agreed that JPN Sarawak should issue a public statement to help ease the situation in view of the many inflammatory and malicious allegations labelled against the school, the Mission Authority, as well as their officers.

However, on Jan 12, JPN Sarawak deputy director conveyed a message from the director, asking the Mission Authority to release a statement, to be subsequently followed by the department.

JPN Sarawak officials understood and accepted why the school authority felt ‘uncomfortable’ about having the Khatam Al-Quran ceremony in the school – because the ill-equipped open air school hall was simply not conducive to the running of such programme.

The school did offer the event’s organising committee the use of ‘Bilik Solat’ at the school as an alternative.

Having accepted this offer, they later retracted and declined it, for reason of it being too small, said Danald.

With no suitable space within the school, and encouraged by the offers from several sources, including the school’s parent-teacher association, the organisers decided to hold the ceremony at the nearby Merdeka Palace Hotel and Suites here.