Mutual respect, not suppression of other party’s right

China Press, Editorial, June 24, 2015

A senior teacher in a national primary school in Kedah has angered parents and caused an outcry for asking non-Muslim students to drink their water or tap water in the toilet during the fasting month. If there is no water, drink your own urine, he reportedly said.

This incident can be viewed from both a religious and non-religious angle. From the non-religious angle, the person who uttered such a remark is a senior teacher and it is unthinkable that an educationist can say something so crude.

To ask students to drink in the toilet is a big issue because the toilet serves a different purpose and it is extremely unhygienic to drink in a toilet. Doesn’t the teacher know of this?

To ask the students to drink tap water can cause health problem. If the students followed his advice and got sick, who would be held responsible? And to ask students to drink urine, even though it might be said in jest, smacks of arrogance and disrespect.

Teachers should be careful in what they say because they educate the students. The teacher may think he is being humorous. Anyone told to drink urine would surely feel humiliated.

Of course, we cannot expect anything nice from the mouth of someone who disrespects others. We only pity those students affected by such inappropriate remark.

From a religious point of view, the senior teacher is a Muslim and he made things difficult for students during the fasting month. All Malaysians know that even though there is no hard ruling, non-Muslims are not supposed to eat or drink in front of Muslims to show respect.

We can believe that non-Muslim students have been reminded by teachers about respecting others’ religious belief. If non-Muslim intentionally eat or drink in front of Muslim students, they deserve to be reprimanded.

However, drinking water is a biological need and the school authority can always designate a corner for them. There is no need to make things difficult for these students.

While non-Muslims have to respect the rights of the Muslims to fast, Muslims must also respect the need of non-Muslims to eat and drink. Two years ago, there was an outcry when non-Muslims were asked to eat in a changing room in a national school in Sungai Buloh and now we have a similar incident. We are really worried how many schools are having such problems.

The Education Ministry must investigate such incident immediately to ensure that the right of non-Muslim students is not violated. There is a need to give proper guidelines to schools on how non-Muslim students can take their meals during fasting month to ensure they respect Muslims who are fasting while also protecting the right of non-Muslims to meet their need for food and water. There should be no suppression on either party.

Original Source: 互相尊重勿打壓權利