A demonstration planned by several Malay groups to counter DAP's claim that the alleged compulsory recitation of doa selamat (thanksgiving prayer) by non-Muslim students in Penang's Convent Light Street primary school has been successfully thwarted.

Sources close to the government said that Gerakan and Umno officials attended several meetings to explain the issue to the organisers over the past few days.

The issue threatened to blow into a religious controversy when state DAP organising secretary Law Heng Kiang on Monday led a peaceful demonstration outside the school with members holding placards opposing the move as against the constitution.

On June 13, the matter became public when Penang DAP chairperson Chow Kon Yeow said there were complaints that the headmistress, who started duty on May 8, had implemented the doa selamat every morning through the PA system for Muslims students.