Racist teacher relieved of invigilation duties

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 — Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong confirmed today that the schoolteacher who was accused of uttering racial slurs against the Chinese and Indian communities had been relieved of her invigilating duties for the SPM examination.

“I have already been informed that this person will not be carrying out her duties as an invigilator. She was suspended immediately after the incident,” he said when approached by reporters in Parliament today.

He added that a report on the incident had been forwarded by the state Education Department to the national Education Department’s secretary-general and was presently being reviewed in the ministry’s special committee.

“As I have mentioned before, this particular teacher has been relieved and no longer carries out out her duty as an invigilator. We will leave it to the committee to handle it according to the procedures.

“All this while, all complaints will be channelled to the committee and normally, the state department passes it to the secretary-general,” he explained.

Wee was responding to queries on the government’s action against the school teacher who had reportedly uttered racial slurs against the Indian and Chinese communities when invigilating for the SPM examinations at SMK Raja Jumaat in Lukut, Negeri Sembilan, on November 24.

The teacher, who is reportedly from a secondary school in Port Dickson, had purportedly censured the Indian and Chinese students when they arrived late to the examination hall by telling the Chinese to return to China and the Indians to India if they failed to understand her instructions in Bahasa Malaysia.

Wee however said that the committee was yet to make a decision on the incident and was still reviewing the details.

“It is premature for us to say anything. We do not want to tell you the findings before the committee takes any action or starts an investigation.

“For every case, we have a system. We lodge a report to the committee, hand it over to the committee and it will review it. So now, it is in the reviewing stage,” he said.

He added that the Malaysian Examinations Board had also received a report on the matter.

“The ministry will handle it according to the proper procedures,” he promised.

Wee also reminded that the all schools had been informed via a circular from the Education Department earlier to exercise caution and not utter racially-sensitive statements.

“It was a gentle reminder for all teachers to avoid any complications of this sort,” he said.

Earlier in Parliament today, Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia had rejected a motion by DAP MP Er Teck Hwa to debate the issue in the House as the ministry was already on the case.

Er, however, protested against the rejection and told a press conference later the government should enact a Race Relations Act to prevent the recurrence of more racially-charged incidents.

He added that the government had failed to take stern action against those guilty of making statements to disrupt national unity and racial tolerance.

He was referring to the slew of similar incidents that have been plaguing the Najib Administration throughout the year, beginning with the remarks made by Datuk Nasir Safar, the prime minister’s former special officer, who had allegedly said during a 1 Malaysia event that the “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese, especially the women, came to sell their bodies”.

Nasir was later asked to resign from his post but no further action was taken against him.

The Najib Administration later came under fire for failing to act quickly on two other incidents involving the school principals in Kedah and Johor whose remarks against the Chinese and Indian communities had sparked off a public uproar.

In the Johor incident, school principal Siti Inshah Mansor had reportedly made derogatory remarks during the launch of the school’s Merdeka celebrations.

“Chinese students are not needed here and can return to China or Foon Yew schools. For the Indian students the prayer strings tied around their neck and wrist makes them look like dogs because only dogs are tired like that,” she was quoted as saying in at least one of the over 20 police reports lodged against her.

Parents had also claimed that Siti Inshah had also made racist remarks in her previous school SMK Kelapa Sawit, where she had allegedly called Indians Nigerians.

Another student had alleged that Siti Inshah gave an example of owning a Proton Saga where a Chinese and Indian are passengers in the car and cannot claim any right to the car, likening it to Malaysia where non-Malay students are mere passengers.

In the Kedah incident, the school principal had allegedly told off several Chinese students and accused them of disrespecting the Muslims by eating in the school canteen during fasting month.

Shortly after the two incidents, another case involving a civil servant hit the headlines in September.

BTN assistant director Hamim Husain had allegedly uttered racial slurs during a closed-door Puteri Umno function when he referred to the Chinese and Indian communities as “Si Mata Sepet” and “Si Botol”.

Since then, the Kedah principal has been punished with a stern warning and a transfer while Hamim was suspended from his duties since October 6.