Malaysia PAS slams brewery’s donation to Chinese school, exposing ethnic divide

A brewery’s sponsorship of a Chinese school charity event has sparked controversy in Malaysia, as analysts say the incident highlights alleged discrimination in educational funding for minority groups and tensions over Islamist influence on non-Muslim communities.

The uproar began after the Islamist-led opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) denounced two government lawmakers – one of whom is Muslim – who were photographed on stage accepting a donation from a brewery for a Chinese vernacular school in Sepang, south of Kuala Lumpur. The Heineken Malaysia-owned brewery Tiger Beer donated a sum of 3.2 million Malaysian ringgit (US$683,000) to the school, according to media reports.

The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), a member of the PN coalition, has slammed the donation, saying it “normalises alcohol consumption” and that Malaysia has long banned sponsorships and advertisements from alcohol and tobacco companies.

P Ramasamy, leader of the new Indian-centric Urimai party, said the key issue was not about vernacular schools accepting the brewery’s donation but how the government has treated them.

“If the government provides the necessary funding for Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools, there is no necessity for schools to turn to breweries and tobacco companies for funding,” Ramasamy said in a statement on Thursday.

Unlike national schools that use Malay as their medium of instruction, vernacular schools often rely on community and parental donations due to inadequate government funding. The disparity in support has forced many of these schools to turn to alternative funding sources, including breweries.

“If the government is fair and balanced in its approach to the funding of schools, especially the vernacular ones, the