Loke calls for calm over beer company sponsorship of school fund raising event

Controversy surrounding the fund raising event by a beer company in support of the Chinese school needs to stop as it is highly politicised, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

“These fundraising programmes have been conducted for vernacular schools to raise funds without any issue for years. There is no need to create controversy over this matter, which has been practised without any problems for a long time.

“Unfortunately, some parties are trying to politicise it and turn this into an issue,” he said at a press conference after checking the status of the LRT 3 development at the Pasar Jawa station, here, today.

“This means that school sponsorships can continue as long as they do not involve Muslim students. In primary schools, while the programmes can proceed, the brand logos of companies cannot be displayed.

“Outside school premises, there are no restrictions on logos and most of these events occur in places like restaurants,” he said.

He also reminded all that the event organised involved parents and members of the public.

“The purpose of such events is to support school funding, and this has been practised for a long time without any issue among non-Muslim communities.

“The guidelines clearly clarify that the organisers should be more cautious and the fundraising events can continue without any issue,” he said, adding that there were no grey areas in the guidelines.

The issue came under the spotlight when a photo of Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Aiman Athirah Sabu receiving a mock cheque for RM3 million with Tiger Beer logo at a Chinese school was politicised by Pas.