(AFP) Singapore today accused a senior Malaysian official of interfering in the city-state's internal affairs.

This is after the official commented on the threatened suspension of four Muslim schoolgirls for wearing Islamic headscarves in class.

"We are surprised at the remarks which deputy education minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Samsuddin is reported to have made," the republic's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement late today.

"This is an interference in Singapore's internal affairs," it said.

"Both Malaysia and Singapore are multi-racial and multi-religious countries. However, as separate, sovereign and independent nations, we have adopted different approaches towards racial integration."

The ministry said that Singapore respects the choices Malaysia has made and "expect in turn that Malaysia will also respect our choices".

Abdul Aziz in an interview with a Chinese newspaper had reportedly criticised Singapore's policy of banning Muslim students from wearing headscarves in school.

The city-state's education ministry has warned four Muslim Singaporean schoolgirls they would face suspension if they continued to wear their Islamic headscarves, called tudong, to class in defiance of a government ban.

Grace period

Education officials have given the girls until Friday to stop wearing the headgear.

The case of the students, all in their first year of primary school, has become a major issue in multi-ethnic Singapore, which imposes a strict uniform code to promote racial integration in its schools.

Muslim girls are allowed to don the scarves once they step out of school.

Parents of the children have insisted that wearing headscarves is a requirement under Islamic tradition to protect the girls' modesty.