Members of parliament (MPs) were today personally invited by supporters of the controversial SJK(C) Damansara to visit the school which has been closed and its students relocated.

The school's 'Save Our School' (SOS) committee secretary Tommy Chin said that the committee handed out 30 letters of invitation to both Barisan Nasional and Barisan Alternatif MPs in Parliament this morning and hoped they would visit the school next Tuesday.

"We would be grateful if the MPs can visit the school and see for themselves that it is in good condition and has many facilities and as such there is no need to close it downl," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Students of the Damansara school were ordered to move to SJK Puay Chai II, another school a few kilometres away, in January while awaiting the completion of their new school building in Tropicana.

However, an initial 67 students, later joined by seven others, and their parents, rebelled against the decision as they were dissatisfied with the authorities' rationale for the relocation as well as the lack of information on the future of the 70-year-old school once it is abandoned.

They are presently continuing their schooling at a neighbourhood temple.

Top students

The SOS committee also handed over a report to the MPs on nine facts concerning the school which they claimed the Education Ministry had not informed the public.

One of the facts claimed that the school does not suffer from noise and environmental pollution due to the newly constructed Sprint highway nearby.

SOS also claimed that for 70 years, there had not been any serious cases of road accidents reported involving the schoolchildren and their parents.

Moreover, the report said, the solution for overcrowding was to build a new school and not close the old school.

The 70-year-old school has many up-to-date facilities and its students have produced the best UPSR results in the state of Selangor, the report added.

According to Chin, the relocation of SJK(C) Damansara was not the desire of the school's board of directors and Parents-Teachers Association.

"The board of directors had requested for another school since 1995 but their request was rejected by the education minister. Why?" queried Chin.

"It was only after the board was advised by a Selangor MCA executive member that they changed their mind and accepted the relocation of the old school without the agreement of the local community," he added.

Matter resolved

Meanwhile, Education Ministry parliamentary secretary Mahadzir Mohd Khir declined to accept the SOS committee invitation, saying that the matter had been resolved by the minister.

He told SOS representatives, who handed him the invitation, that all questions pertaining to the issue had already been answered in Parliament.

"We are not closing down the school. We are only transferring the students to a new school. The minister (of education) has answered all questions regarding this matter and I support what the minister said," said Mahadzir.

"Before we made a decision, we sought everyone's opinion. We have obliged the wishes of the majority of the parents who welcome the transfer. Otherwise, we wouldn't have taken any action," he added.

Tan Guat Ngoh, a resident, insisted that Mahadzir visit the school and pleaded with him to request the Education Ministry to reopen the old school.

She told Mahadzir that the residents who agreed to the relocation were those who had bought houses in Tropicana, not the residents who were still staying in the village.

"Why not allow each community to have their own school?" she asked.

"No one will benefit when school kids have to venture far away and contribute to the traffic jams," she added.