The state government has handed over the case of the Chinese Muslim teacher who was forced to remove her head scarf or “tudung” by the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Nan Ya, Teluk Sengat management recently, to the Education Ministry.

Johor Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said, such cases could invoke racial tensions among the people and added that the people should respect and exercise tolerance towards each other.

“Overall I find that the situation is under control but this incident can invoke a bad sentiment,” said Khaled during the Thaipusam celebration at the Seri Subramaniam Temple in Masai, Pasir Gudang, Johor.

Recently, the management of the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Nan Ya, Pang Ah Ngang who is in her 60s was reported to have threatened the safety of a Chinese Muslim teacher and urged her to to remove her “tudung”.

The teacher filed a police report following the incident at the Kota Tinggi district police headquarters and Pang was later called to provide her statement.