A deafening silence

It is amazing that the country’s top civil servant cannot give a simple answer to a simple question.

Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan said today the government will follow proper procedure in dealing with two school principals and a Biro Tata Negara (BTN) official for making racist remarks.

But the Chief Secretary did not say whether the three had been found guilty or whether they had already been disciplined.

Although Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin claimed yesterday that action had already been taken against the principals when he refused to allow a debate in Parliament over the alleged racial slurs made by the duo.

Pandikar did not, however, provide any details on the supposed action taken against the headmistresses.

The silence is deafening in this case.

The way the two principals are being wrapped in cotton wool by Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who claimed he had no power to punish them, let alone hasten the probe into the matter, and the Chief Secretary, one would think that two educationists were national treasures.

What they have done is to reveal the hollowness of the government’s anti-racism message.

It’s pointless for Datuk Seri Najib Razak to make a speech at the MCA meeting last weekend to eschew communalism when government agencies and ministers and civil servants indulge in foot dragging and semantics.

It has been two months since the school principals made their comments but nothing has been seen to be done.

How long does it take to establish that they said what they said.

If they didn’t, the government should dismiss all allegations and move on. The same with the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) contract officer.

Sweeping it under the carpet is not good for all parties.

Private admonition is acceptable if the principals committed an offence in private but their racist comments were done in public domain.

The Chief Secretary has an important role to play here instead of just playing dumb.

“There are rules and regulations in which we have to follow and I will make sure that they are followed,” Mohd Sidek told reporters today.

Obviously his words are not being followed by his subordinates: That they cannot utter racist remarks and if they do, investigations will be swift and punishment made public.

Mohd Sidek and even the Cabinet must be clear that Najib’s 1 Malaysia is their mantra. Anything else will make a mockery of the prime minister’s efforts to unite a nation divided by the rise of racial and religious bigots. Malaysian Insider