Unimas investigates claim of ultra-conservatism group

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Fadillah (centre) joins in the making of ‘bubur lambuk’.

KUCHING: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) is investigating claims made by an Internet news portal regarding an ultra-conservatism movement among its students.

The university’s mentor minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof said yesterday the probe began after the news was published on the Internet and the results could be known as early as today.

“It is still early for me to comment further on this matter. Let us wait until the report has been received by Unimas. Once we get the result, we will make it known (to the public),” he told reporters after presenting ‘bubur lambuk’ at Kampung Paroh, Batu Kawa, yesterday.

Yesterday, The Malaysian Insider published news under the heading ‘Sarawak starts feeling the heat of Malay peninsula feud over religion’. The article claimed that at Unimas, students believed to be from Muslim youth groups caught the attention of officials with their ultra-conservatism.

It reported that in March, these students tried to get Unimas to ban a seminar by prominent former Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia sociologist and activist Professor Noraini Othman.

A Unimas official with knowledge of the protest was quoted as saying the seminar went on but members of the group tried to disrupt it by haranguing Noraini and calling her names.

“Instead of debating on the points she presented, they just labelled her un-Islamic and deviant. This type of protest has never happened before,” said the official, who requested anonymity.

The report also quoted another Unimas official, Dr Faisal Syam Hazis, as saying he noticed that more and more young Sarawakian Muslims were becoming more conservative than their parents, as they are more exposed to the ideas and beliefs of Muslims from the peninsula, possibly because of the social media.

The report, which tried to depict a creeping extremism infecting Sarawak’s Muslim community, had been panned by some Facebook users from Sarawak for being ill-intended and trying to undermine the multi-religious and multi-racial harmony that have been long existing in the state.

Meanwhile, Fadillah, who is also Works Minister and Petra Jaya MP, was in Kampung Paroh to officiate the programme organised by Pertubuhan Seni Digital Generasi Baharu (NGDAS).

NGDAS president Dr Kamil Salem said 15 kilogrammes of rice were used to prepare the ‘bubur lambuk’ for the people in Kampung Paroh, which had 600 people from 86 doors.

Similar programmes were held in Kampung Buso and Kampung Pelandok Laut, he added.