‘What’s the delay, Muhyiddin?’

The Malaysian Indian Students Association, unhappy with the the Education Ministry's lack of urgency in amending the derogatory content of the Interlok novel, now wants the novel removed altogether.

KUALA LUMPUR: A non-governmental organisation has urged Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to explain the reason behind the delays in amending the controversial novel Interlok.

President of Malaysian Indian Student Association (MISA), G Kishur said that Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, must explain why the novel is still being used in schools.

A check by MISA confirmed that the un-edited version of the compulsory reading material for Form Five students was still part of the syllabus.

In fact, recently the Gombak district education department used questions from the controversial novel during the mid-term examination.

“We found that the book is still being used in secondary schools in Selangor and Federal Territories despite the assurance from Muhyiddin that the novel would be removed from schools until amendments are done,” he told FMT.

Interlok, a Malay novel, was authored by Malaysian national laureate Abdullah Hussain. The novel was made a compulsory reading material for Malay literature for Form Five students.

But the novel was found to contain phrases derogatory to the Malaysian Indian community.

In the ensuing controversy, MIC had initially urged the Education Ministry to remove the book altogether from school, but it later relented after meeting with Muhyiddin.

Kishur said that on Mar 16, the Education Ministry had agreed to a proposal, by an eight-member panel, for some 100 amendments to be made to the book.

“Three months have past and I believe the Education Ministry has still not taken any further action to amend the book,” he said.

Remove Interlok

He said that MISA, which is a grouping under National Interlok Action Team (NIAT), will only be happy if the ministry banned the book.

“We (MISA) is clear with our stand. We want the novel removed altogether.

“Having said that, we are also monitoring the Education Ministry’s efforts in relation to the bok,” he said.

Meanwhile an official from the Selangor Education Department said the ministry had already directed all the schools to return the un-edited version of the novel which is currently in circulation in schools.

Requesting anonymity, the official said all schools have been directed to return the books to the department by the end of June .

The official said Education Ministry was unlikely to re-print a new version of the book.

“I believe the department will just stick the amended versions onto the pages of the book.

“It will save the cost of printing,” the official said.