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Tiger Beer school donation sparks ethnic tensions in Malaysia
A Chinese language school has come under fire from the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) for accepting a RM3.2 million (£538,000) donation from Heineken Malaysia-owned brewery Tiger Beer.
The brewery’s sponsorship of a Chinese school charity event has sparked controversy in Malaysia, according to the South China Morning Post.
The far-right opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) has denounced two government lawmakers after they were pictured on stage accepting a donation from the brewery for a Chinese vernacular school in Sepang, near Kuala Lumpur.
The PN is an Islamist-led coalition, according to the South China Morning Post, composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party, Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Malaysian People’s Movement Party, Sabah Progressive Party, and Malaysian Indian People’s Party.
The PAS has criticised the donation arguing that it “normalises alcohol consumption”.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who leads the Chinese-dominated multicultural party Democratic Action Party, slammed the opposition over the matter, saying breweries have been organising fundraising concerts for Chinese schools for over 30 years without raising an eyebrow.
“Right now, the opposition wants to create an issue out of everything to create a polemic,” Loke reportedly told local news agency Malaysiakini.
However, the dispute has raised questions about alleged discrimination in educational funding for minority groups.
The schooling system in Malaysia is divided between national schools, which teach in the language of Malay, and vernacular schools, where Mandarin or Tamil are used.
Palanisamy Ramasamy, leader of the new Indian-centric Urimai party, said the dispute over the donation highlights the imbalance in government funding for vernacular schools compared to national ones.
“If the government provides the necessary funding for Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools, there is no necessity for schools to turn to breweries and tobacco companies for funding,” Ramasamy said in a statement on Thursday.
“If the government is fair and balanced in its approach to the funding of schools, especially the vernacular ones, the question of breweries funding schools might not arise,” Ramasamy said.