Maszlee: Media should not highlight negative news from just one school

KUALA LUMPUR: Media which highlight negative news from just one particular school are not helping racial relations, says Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik.

"When we highlight just one particular school, it seems as though it happens all over Malaysia.

"It will not have a good affect on racial ties," he told reporters when met at Parliament lobby on Monday (Nov 26).

He was asked to comment on an article published on Sunday (Nov 25) by an online news portal saying that SMK St Francis is operating a separate canteen offering halal food.

Dr Maszlee said he did not want to comment until he has details on the issue.

"I don't have information on hand and will comment later," he said.

When told by reporters that only one missionary school was involved, Dr Maszlee suggested that the media focus on the good found in other schools, instead of focusing on the negatives involving only one school.

"To me, when creating news, we cannot just sensationalise the negatives for the sake of it. It involves only one (school) and I hope the media publishes 1,000 good news (items) from other schools," he said.

Dr Maszlee said that SMK St Francis could see how other missionary schools and Chinese schools operate a single canteen without any problems.

Following the issue being highlighted, Melaka Education Department director Abu Bakar Shaari said the dual canteens have been there for some time and it was the schools' prerogative to decide whether to provide separate canteens.

Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong had also come to the school's defence, saying there was nothing wrong with separate canteens.

He said halal sections were made available some 15 years ago to cater to the rising number of Muslims students in missionary schools, purely to give an option for those students.