Some Christian communities in the villages of Sabah have resorted to setting up their own kindergartens out of fear that federal administrators would convert their children to Islam, according to sociologist Denison Jayasooria.

He urged the government to be more sensitive to the local demographics of the people they were working with, such as the fact that a higher percentage of the Sabah and Sarawak population are Christians compared to the rest of the country.

In contrast, large portions of the civil service came from a single ethnic and religious background.

“So, either the government - in its delivery system - must ensure multi-ethnic teams, or whoever the civil servant (responsible) must be very sensitive to religion, culture, language, and ethnicity of the dominant group in the district,” Denison told reporters in Petaling Jaya today.

The Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia academic was speaking on a panel together with Amanah strategy director Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad about freedom of religion.

The panel was held as part of the Malaysia Freedom Summit organised by the Institute for Leadership and Development Studies...