Following a recent controversy involving a beer brand sponsoring a school charity event, another issue arose with a Pahang school-level ping pong tournament being held in a hall featuring beer advertisements.

In response, the Ministry of Education (KPM) reiterated that schools are prohibited from accepting donations from industries associated with gambling, cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, and similar sectors.

“These contributions can negatively impact the development of students’ intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and physical potential,” the ministry stated.

The National Sports Council (MSN) has also been in the spotlight after former Health Minister and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin admitted that some of MSN’s funding came from a gambling company. He discussed this on an episode of his Keluar Sekejap podcast with politician Shahril Hamdan, expressing uncertainty about whether alcohol brands are allowed to donate to schools if their branding is not publicly displayed.

Shahril questioned, “If there’s no promotion of the brand, then why should the brand donate?”

Khairy responded, “That’s a good point. For example, many are unaware that part of the allocations for the National Sports Council, where I was the Minister of Youth and Sports, comes from Sports Toto. It’s noted in Sports Toto’s financial statements, but there was never a public cheque ceremony.”

He emphasized that while there was no formal handover ceremony, MSN accepted the money as it would benefit the health of the people and athletes through sports activities.