By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — Pakatan Rakyat is not letting the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) go even though the government seems set to reform the civics course. Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang (right) today issued an open challenge to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to “invite” him to head an investigation into BTN.
“Let me ask Muhyiddin... why not invite me to head an investigation into whether the BTN course has poisoned the minds of a generation of leaders, civil servants and university students with its divisive, racist and seditious indoctrination programmes?” said the DAP stalwart.
Lim was responding to the deputy premier’s earlier statement asking him to join the BTN course to accertain whether the course was racist in nature.
“If Muhyiddin and the top Cabinet Ministers have nothing to hide, they should welcome an opportunity to get to the bottom of whether the BTN course has been guilty of being racist and the harm it has done to the entire nation-building process?”
He questioned Muhyiddin’s continued defence of the course, and also scoffed at Minister in the Prime Minister’s department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz’s statement that the Cabinet would revamp BTN, saying that there are doubts as to whether there would be any significant change as other top Umno ministers have continued to speak out in BTN’s defence.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein had commented that he was perplexed as to why the BTN issue was being raised as the course had been going on for some time. He also blamed the opposition for diverting attention and running out of other issues to talk about.
“Hishamuddin is only showing his denial complex, as the issue of the divisive, racist and seditious BTN indoctrination courses had been raised again and again, both in Parliament and outside. All he needs to do is to check the Parliament Hansard and the press,” quipped the DAP parlimentary leader.
Lim cited a case last year where he had read out in Parliament the letter of an outraged parent at the trauma his daughter underwent in a BTN course which is compulsory for all government scholars.
A firestorm of complaints and protests about the rank racism of BTN ensued soon after.
Another case happened in UITM Shah Alam on July 6, 2008 where a BTN speaker, under the pretext of talking about “pendidikan”, launched into a racist verbal assault criticising the Bar Council forum on social contract, accusing one of the forum speakers Farish A. Noor of being a traitor to the Malay race as well as making disparaging remarks against Karpal Singh.
Among the remarks made by this speaker was “kalau ular dengan India depan mata, ketuk India dulu.”
Lim explained that an investigation would be able to verify whether the serious allegations at the various BTN courses throughout the country over the past years were in fact true.
“Is Muhyiddin and all Cabinet ministers prepared to support a full investigation to establish whether the truth or otherwise of the serious allegations against the BTN courses?”
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Najib ordered NOT to revamp BTN but to only upgrade it!!
Many Umno warlords also dislike the idea of revamping BTN.
so BTN is here to stay.