People in the “asnaf” category are those who are underprivileged and are eligible to receive zakat contributions.

A guardian who only wanted to be known as Fahmi said he was surprised when parents of one of his son’s classmates shared a picture of a food item that would expire on April 29.

Fahmi said he was saddened by the school’s contribution, adding that it should be more sensitive to the needs of the underprivileged.

“It is supposed to be for Aidilfitri, but they were given instant noodles and dried food,” he told FMT.

The parent also seemingly took issue with the fact that the food items were from Indonesia.

“(The school) should have given ‘kuih raya’ or cash. That is more suitable.”

According to him, donations were collected from pupils by the school management to provide for other underprivileged children.

Meanwhile, a senior teacher at the school explained that the donation was from a person who declined to be identified, not from funds donated by the pupils.

The teacher said the donation was received last Saturday and it was only distributed to the underprivileged pupils during Nuzul al-Quran on Tuesday.

“Yes, I saw that the expiry date is near and it is true that the food items are from a neighbouring country (Indonesia) because the donor is from that country,” he told FMT.

He added that each underprivileged child also received 5kg of rice as well as other dry goods.

In the meantime, the teacher said the donations collected from pupils and guardians, which had now reached RM6,000, would be distributed to the underprivileged children on April 27.