SDNU: Don’t convert Dayak children

KUCHING: Sarawak Dayak National Union which is the biggest Dayak organisation with a membership of well over 100,000 calls on the government to look into allegations of rural Dayak children being converted into Islam.

“We want the government to put a stop to it, because it is not healthy for the country where one religion is trying to patronise each other,” said Dr. John Brian Anthony, Deputy President of the Union.

Brian was reacting to statements made by Baru Bian, Ba’Kelalan assemblyman and Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau made during the debate on the state budget on the alleged attempt to impart Islamic teaching and practices to non-Muslim children in some Kemas and government pre-schools in the rural areas.

Bian had received complaints from parents that their children in Kemas and government pre-schools in the rural areas have been receiving Islamic teachings and practice.

And there was a real attempt at imparting the Islamic teachings and practice in such schools and wanted the government to investigate, he said.

The BN assemblyman for Telang Usan told the members of the state assembly that he too received similar complaints from parents.

He agreed with Bian that the government should seriously look into the complaints.

Brian said: “We have heard that Muslims teachers including Ustaz have been sent to the rural areas where they are Dayak children.

“As there are no Malay children, who are going to learn, if it is not with the intention of converting the poor Dayak children to become Muslims,” he said, pointing out that in Sarawak, there is no official religion.

“Yes in Malaysia we have Islam as the official religion, but in Sarawak we don’t have. So we have to respect each other.

“Once you have embraced Islam, dress like a Malay and speak the Malay Language, you are Malay. I think this is a political reason.

“We Dayaks in Sarawak must resist this attempt. It interferes with our rights.

“We want the government to look into the matter and put a stop to it.

“It is not going to be healthy for the country,” Brian said.

Meanwhile, in May this year, several quarters have voiced concern over religious teachers from Peninsular Malaysia being imported to Sarawak.

Among those who expressed such concern was the President of Parti Rakyat Malaysia James Masing who said that thousands of teachers including ‘religious counsellors’ would be transferred to Sarawak especially to the rural areas.

Sharing Masing’s concern was Sarawak DAP Secretary Chong Chieng Jen who said that Sarawak must oppose these teachers from being imported to the state, especially after what they saw happening in Peninsular Malaysia.

“We don’t need West Malaysian teachers who are extremists to influence our children,” he had said.

Islamic teaching in rural schools, Bian expresses concern

16 Nov 2011

KUCHING: Sarawak parents are concerned over subtle attempts at imparting Islamic teachings and practices to children in pre-schools in the rural areas, said Baru Bian, Ba’Kelalan state assemblyman.

Debating the 2012 budget, Bian, who is Sarawak PKR chief said: “Many rural areas are predominantly Christian, and there is a very real problem of subtle attempts at imparting Islamic teachings and practices in pre-schools.

“There are reports from parents of school children that their children come home from school and recite the Islamic ways of praying at home.

“From my own constituency of Ba’Kelalan, I have personally received reports of such incidents that happened to children from two families,” he said.

According to news reports, the KEMAS director general Datuk Abdul Puhat Mat Nayan said that beginning 2010, KEMAS established 539 new pre-school classes and will open another 2,000 new ones.

Last year, KEMAS opened 150 kindergartens in the state and for this year, they have set up 300 more to increase the accessibility to early childhood education.

Bian said that the people are concerned that these pre-schools are staffed by teachers from outside the local community and worst if they come from Peninsular Malaysia, the majority of whom are Muslims.

“Added to this concern is the news that KEMAS schools will be taking on the PERMATA syllabus, as announced in Sabah in July this year by National PERMATA programme patron Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

“I was informed that one of the subjects in the PERMATA curriculum is Islamic teachings in class.

“Can we be guaranteed that all non-Muslim children be exempted from these classes or lessons?

“What are the steps taken by the state government to ensure that teachers of different faiths do not impart or teach their beliefs to the children of different faiths or beliefs in these Tadika or Pra-Sekolah in the state?” asked Bian.

He said: “I propose that local teachers from the local community be recruited to teach in these Tadika or pra-sekolah to avoid any conflict of religious beliefs.

“Secondly, I propose that allocations should be made to NGOs and religious organisations to start or support their own Tadika or pre-schools to reflect our support of imparting knowledge to all notwithstanding their racial or religious backgrounds,” Bian said.

On the teaching of mother tongue, Bian asked the government that there be an official budget every year allocated for the teaching of languages of all the different races in Sarawak from pre-school to Primary Six level.

“The loss of our people’s mother tongue is a serious threat and the precursor to the loss of our culture and identity. The preservation of our languages must be given priority or our people will slowly lose their unique and distinct cultures.

“With the common incidences of inter-marriage between different races in Sarawak, this request needs immediate implementation, “ said Bian, pointing out that it is viable that funds, which are allocated to KEMAS or Permata, can be used to train teachers to teach their local languages or dialects.