Scholars and politicians speak out on make-shift changing room canteen

However the issue has been resolved and the canteen will be reopened on Wednesday.

"As far as we are concerned, the issue is resolved. The headmaster had good intentions but chose a poor location. He has apologised. I too apologise. It won't happen again," said Education and Higher Learning Deputy Minister P Kamalanathan.

He said that the Ministry had taken immediate action on the case and would be conducting spot checks on other schools.

Islamic scholars had insisted that an immediate investigation should be done on the allegations that non-Muslim pupils of SK Seri Pristana were forced to eat in the school changing room.

ILMU (Sekretariat Ulama Muda Umno) Chief Executive Officer, Dr Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya said he was shocked to see photographs showing pupils eating in the bathroom.

“Prophet Muhammad forbade people from eating inside toilets,” he said to The Star in a response to several photographs uploaded on Facebook.

Former Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said non-Muslim pupils should be allowed to eat in the canteen.

“ The canteen should be barred for Muslims, but not non-Muslims. The school should clear the air to avoid misunderstandings,”

He reiterated his point on Twitter as well saying “stern action will be taken if there is any basis.”

It has been reported that there are only 28 non-Muslim children attending the school.

However, the picture which caused national outrage, managed to get both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat politicians to express their mutual disgust over the issue on Twitter and Facebook.

“Everybody in this country must show mutual respect for each other. I do not see why pupils are not allowed to eat in the canteen which should be used by all pupils,” said MCA party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel said on his Facebook page that the the incident was totally” unacceptable” .

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Twitter said that whether it is a toilet or a changing room, both were not suitable as a place to eat- no matter what the excuse.

Meanwhile, The Star reported that the parent who posted the picture on Facebook said she chose to turn to social media because the complaints to the school fell on deaf ears.

“When I visited the school on Monday afternoon, a school administrator told me the canteen was closed because there were no cleaners to clean the place,”

When she asked the school administrator why parents were not informed of the closure, he replied it was “common sense” that the canteen would be closed during fasting month.

Headmaster of the Sg Buloh primary school, Mohd Nasir Mohd Noor, said that all the pupils have been using the school’s changing room since March to have their meals.

The room was also used for buka puasa yesterday and the photo has been circulated on social media today.

He adds this was due to an increase in enrolment and space shortage in the canteen.

For the past week, the canteen has been closed due to minor renovation and was completed over the weekend.

“The canteen was supposed to have been reopened on Monday. I did not know that it was being kept closed. I was away for a meeting that day,” Mohd Nasir said.

The headmaster stressed that he would never discriminate against his pupils. “I did not mean any harm to the pupils,” he said adding that he had not received any complaints previously.

The head of the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Hussein Mohd Ariff said that the PTA members were aware of the situation as it had been brought up at the AGM.

On the PTA’s official Facebook group, many members called on the school to apologise and explain how such a situation could happen. Others argued that the changing room was adequate and that the canteen was being renovated.