Labuan school praised for peaceful prayers, donation drive for Palestine

KOTA KINABALU: A Labuan school has received praise from social media users for holding prayers and setting up a Palestine Fund for Peace.

SKK St Anne Labuan held a universal harmony programme on Friday (Oct 27) where Muslim pupils did a Yaseen reading and Solat Hajat while Catholic pupils recited the rosary together with their teachers, nuns and a priest.

Others took part in spiritual activities while a Palestine Humanitarian Fund was launched at the programme as well.

According to the school, the aim of this activity is to instill harmony and unity among children and adults, foster better relations amongst the local communities and the school, and make the values of tolerance, mutual respect and love a culture among pupils.

The school’s management said this in a post on its Facebook page and it has since received several thousand of shares and likes, with many also expressing their respect for the school

“This is how it should be done. This school is the best,” said one Callistus Robin.

Fazila Suhailee urged for all to share their moral support for peace and in condemning violence, war and cruelty, regardless of race.

“This is a way to teach children patriotism and in building good characters,” she said.

Recently, social media has been abuzz with concerns among parents when a school in peninsula Malaysia purportedly organised a Palestine solidarity programme that portrayed violence.

This comes after a 55-second video clip showing a man with a replica rifle in a school programme which went viral on X and TikTok, causing concern among Malaysians.

The Education Ministry has come out with a circular urging schools and all education institutions to observe the Palestine Solidarity Week from Oct 29 to Nov 3, earlier this week.

It has since issued another statement stating that it does not endorse any demonstration of support for Palestine that borders on the extreme, such as the waving of replica firearms or hoisting of banners inciting violence.

The ministry then said that permissible activities include the screening of shows that promote peace, poetry recitations, poster drawing contests, as well as donation collections for the Palestinians.

It also made clear that institutions under the ministry are asked to abide by the guidelines for organising such activities.

Higher education institutions, on the other hand, are free to express their solidarity with Palestine in accordance with their own rules and regulations, says Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

Meanwhile, Sabah Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe had said that the state is not obliged to observe the Palestine Solidarity Week, as confirmed by Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying.