Nazri vague on BTN director's suspension, racial slurs by school heads "accidental"

Hamim, in black, with Perkasa official

Malaysia Chronicle

UPDATED Pakatan Rakyat leaders slammed the Najib administration for being deliberately ambiguous on the type of action taken against two school principals and the deputy director the National Civics Bureau, all of whom had all hurled racial slurs at the non-Malays.

"When it was the school heads, at the first the government said they had been suspended. When there was an outcry, they then said the teachers had been transferred. Now for the deputy director of BTN Hamim, they say he has been suspended since last month. But will he be transferred, demoted, sacked? Or just suspended, and by the way, is the suspension with pay?" PKR vice president Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.

Suspended

In reply to a question from Tanjong Piai MP Wee Jeck Seng, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz told Parliament that Hamin Husin, who had called the Chinese 'slit eyes' and the Indians 'drunkards' at a Puteri Umno function had been warned and punished.

Nazri

“As for the BTN official, a warning has been sent out and the official has been suspended from his duties as of October 6,” said Nazri.

Nazri added to the unhappiness over the government's perceived tepid punishment when he defended the school principals as having uttered the racial slurs "accidentally".

“These principals had no intention to incite (hatred), they said it accidentally. In order to (initiate a) probe under Section 504 of the Penal Code or Sedition Act, there must be intention to incite,” Malaysiakini reported Nazri as saying.

“We can study from their behaviour after making the statement - the teacher in Johor apologised four times to her non-Muslim colleagues and students in the assembly. The principal in Kedah also apologised - it clearly shows that it wasn't said on purpose but accidentally."

Wee had also asked the government to state the number of civil servants who faced disciplinary action for “being racist”. Nazri's response was that “three people had faced disciplinary action”. Apart from Hamim, he was referring to the two school principals in Kulaijaya, Johor and Bukit Selambau, Kedah.

Behind closed-doors is okay?

Hamim is the second most senior man in the BTN or National Civics Bureau, which has long been accused of deliberating promotion racial hatred to help the Umno government retain Malay loyalty.

Ngeh - Umno-BN has no defense

However, Nazri has defended the bureau and insisted that Hamim’s “racist” remarks did not reflect the courses conducted by the government agency.

In self-defence, Hamim has since said he was speaking at a closed-door function and lodged a police complaint against news portal The Malaysian Insider for reporting his commenys. He claimed his words had been “misinterpreted”.

"This appears to be the new trend. Whatever you say behind closed doors is okay - whether inciting racial hatred, murder, mass uprising - is it really okay just because it is behind closed doors?" Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham told Malaysia Chronicle.

"The fact is Umno-BN has no defense. They have reached the stage that they have to manufacture all sort of silly excuses. It is a shame and tantamount to teaching Malaysians to be dishonest, fork-tongued snakes who say one thing to one audience and another to another audience. For us in Pakatan, same rule for everybody - no racism indoors, behind doors or open doors for public people. If you do and you're caught, you must be punished."