M'sian authorities looking for police officer who advised school to take down decorations in CNY festivities furore

SELANGOR — The police are conducting an internal investigation to identify the officer who allegedly advised a school in Puchong to take down its Chinese New Year decorations.

Serdang police chief Ismadi Borhan on Thursday (Jan 9) said the officer concerned has yet to be identified.

“We are conducting an internal probe into this matter. If it is true that the officer had advised the school to remove its decorations, action will be taken against him,” he said during a press conference in Serdang police headquarters.

The Chinese New Year decorations in SMK Pusat Bandar Puchong 1 in Selangor became an issue after a Malay political party said it was unconstitutional and an attempt to propagate a religion to students.

Following which, a police officer allegedly advised the school to remove the decorations to avoid further controversy.

On Wednesday, the cabinet sided with the school, urging detractors not to confuse religion with culture.

Deputy prime minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and a team of ministers also visited the school on Wednesday to lend their support, where the school was asked to re-erect its decorations.

Meanwhile, Mr Ismadi also said that the police have received two reports on the issue of festive decorations at the school.

“We have opened investigations under Section 505C of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act,” he said.

Section 505C refers to publication or circulation of any statement, rumour or report with intent to incite or is likely to incite anyone to commit any offence against others.

Meanwhile, Section 233 refers to improper use of network facilities or network service.

He added that Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) vice-president Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, and representatives of the school and the Parent-Teacher Association were asked to give their statements to the police on Thursday.

He also said the police reports were lodged by members of the public and not by the school. THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT