The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism said religious groups should be ethical when it comes to propagating one’s faith.

“You do not do things like what you see here,” its president, Tan Hoe Chieow, told FMT, referring to the video.

“Offering free Bible courses in front of a surau is a serious (breach of ethics).”

The 16-second video currently making its rounds on social media shows a small group of people sitting or standing near a book trolley with a sign saying “Free Bible Courses” next to the surau.

Tan expressed concern that the individuals involved could be from some deviant group and sought the help of the Christian community to identify them.

“I don’t think they are from any church (in Malaysia) because no church as far as we know will do such things,” he said, adding that the major religious bodies in the country were aware of the ethics involved when it came to propagation of religion.

While the Federal Constitution provides the right to profess and practise any religion, it is prohibited to propagate other religions to Muslims.

Tan said such incidents should not re-occur and encouraged the surau committee to “chase them away” if the group comes around again.

He also said the surau committee should lodge a police report.

“If they break the law, they should be charged so that such incidents won’t happen again and to serve as a deterrent,” he said.