Selangor Umno has urged the authorities to investigate the parent responsible for highlighting the SK Seri Pristana ‘shower-room canteen’ controversy, and to apply provisions of the Sedition Act 1948 against her.

"I want the police to investigate the parent who raised this matter under the Sedition Act. I will write to the authorities in the near future," Selangor Umno liasion committee chairperson Noh Omar said in a Facebook post.

"If there was a problem, the parent should have raised the matter with the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) and not play up this issue."

At the same time, he also called on the state education department not to act against the school principal because he has “served well”.

NONE Earlier, according to Utusan Online , Noh (right) said the principal had received death threats because the issue was "twisted" and taken out of context.

The Umno leader also demanded an apology from the parent responsible for this controversy.

"The parent who uploaded these pictures ... does not know the history of the school. The room has been used by students of all races," Noh reportedly said.

He was speaking after a visit to the school in Sungai Buloh this morning, along with Kuala Selangor MP Irmohizam Ibrahim.

Irmohizam said that matters of education should not be politicised as this could lead to parents distrusting the education system.

He claimed that even foreign media had reported the issue "wrongly", as though the country's education system is "weak and lacking in quality".

Conflicting accounts

The issue came to light last week after Facebook photos were posted by a parent who claimed that non-Muslim students are being made to eat in the shower room during recess, in view of the fasting month.

NONE The school, however, claimed that the shower room has been used as a makeshift canteen since March, due to overcrowding in the canteen.

It also said the canteen is being renovated during Ramadan. As such, non-Muslim students have had to eat in the shower room, where tables and chairs have been set up.

Other parents, however, maintained that the shower room was only used three days into Ramadan.

Deputy Education Minister II P Kamalanathan visited the school last Thursday and quickly declared that the issue was resolved by closing the makeshift canteen and telling the school management to allow students to eat in the canteen again.

Sorry is the hardest word in school canteen row