I am heartened to know that the government will not remove the cross and other Christian images from mission schools. The deputy education minister was spot on when he said that the images were a part of the mission schools' tradition and there was no reason to change it. I am sure some of our cabinet ministers, past and present, were products of these mission schools themselves.

As a Christian, I am saddened and distraught by comments from a Parit Sulong parliamentarian calling for these images to be removed. He even made the preposterous claim that the Vatican controls missionary schools in Malaysia. What was his hidden agenda in making such comments in Parliament? Was he trying to remind his political masters that he is still relevant especially with the general elections just around the corner? I have never heard of this backbencher until now. All these while, he must have been a very quiet member of parliament.

Such sweeping statements about mission schools is indeed an insult to these prestigious schools that have existed in our country for years. Many of its former students have gone on to become corporate and political leaders. If the Parit Sulong member of parliament had any doubts as to how these mission schools were administered, he could have paid a visit to any one of them or consulted bodies like the Christian Federation of Malaysia who would be able to explain to him that mission schools are not administered by foreign churches, much less the Vatican.

With the general elections looming, I call upon my fellow Malaysians to exercise their votes carefully in view of the behaviour and unsavoury comments made by some of our highly "erudite" present parliamentarians. Those who make a mockery of parliamentary sittings must never be allowed to set foot into the august house again.