PETALING JAYA: Only 11km separated rubber tapper Jilius Yapoo from his daughter at her boarding school in Kinarut, Sabah. But it was a long way on rough roads which made the journey difficult, so he entrusted the school with her safety and well-being.

He had never expected that four years later, he saw the 16-year-old wearing a “tudung” (Muslim head scarf) who said she had converted to Islam.

Penampang MP Darell Leiking, speaking on behalf of the father of eight, told The Malaysian Insider that Yapoo, 46, was not against his children leaving the family’s religion, but only after they turned 18 and when he was certain that they can decide for themselves without undue influence.

Leiking, who is acting as the family’s counsel, said Yapoo was “shocked beyond words” to find out about his daughter’s conversion and that it had been hidden from him.

Equally frustrating was the fact that the school and his home in Kampung Kaiduan were not that far apart, but the poor infrastructure in Sabah’s interior villages had widened the distance and made him feel out of touch with his daughter.

“Imagine, it’s just 11km but he cannot afford the daily commute to school. Any other parent staying in Petaling Jaya, for example, would be able to send their children to school and back in comfort despite that distance.

“But for this rubber tapper, there is no proper road to his home and 11km is a long way. So he entrusted his daughter to the school and look what has happened,” said Leiking.

Leiking said Yapoo had made it clear that when his daughter turns 18, he would leave it to her to decide which faith to follow, but not until then and while she is under the care of her Christian parents.

According to Leiking, the girl told her parents she was now a Muslim and that she had recited the syahadah, which is the profession of faith in Islam.

“So we take her word for it, but we still need to hear officially from the school,” he said.

Leiking said Yapoo planned to seek a court declaration that the 16-year-old is not a Muslim after the school furnishes the facts of what had really transpired. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 3, 2015.