Interlok to be scrapped next year?

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to make an announcement soon.

PETALING JAYA: The government is expected to be pull out Interlok, the Form Five Malay literature textbook which ignited a firestorm of controversy, from schools altogether.

FMT understands that Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will be making an announcement to that effect soon.

It was learnt that MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam had raised the matter at the last cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Subramaniam said: “I requested the deputy prime minister to ensure that the novel is not used as a textbook in schools next year.

“He responded favourably and was quite positive about it. I hope this would quell the unhappy feeling still felt in the Indian community,” said Subramaniam when contacted today.

Asked if he could confirm that the book would no longer be used in schools, the Human Resources Minister said Muhyiddin would make a formal announcement as soon as possible.

The novel is compulsory reading for Form Five students as part of the Malay Literature subject in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negri Sembilan and Putrajaya.

Racially insensitive

Penned by national laureate Abdullah Hussain, the novel, set in pre-independence Malaya, chronicled the daily lives and struggles of three families – a Malay, Chinese, Indian and how each of them contributed to the formation of the country.

It sparked an outrage, especially from the Indian community, as several portions of the text were deemed racially insensitive.

Among several examples, the novel contained “offensive” words such as ‘India Pariah’, ‘Melayu Malas’, ‘Cina Kuai’, ‘perempuan totok’, ‘babi’ and ‘syaitan putih’.

The book was also criticised for portraying “unhealthy elements” such as “pre-marital cohabitation, infidelity, spirit worship, trading in humans”.

Several quarters, including MIC, Gerakan and Pakatan Rakyat, and many NGOs had urged Muhyiddin to, either review, censor or ban the book entirely.

The education ministry subsequently agreed to withdraw the books from schools, and reprint an amended version despite repeated calls for a total ban.

Among others, Muhyiddin announced that the word ‘kasta Paria’ (Pariah caste) was deleted, replaced with “golongan yang sama” (same group).

Muhyiddin had said with the reprint, the government was satisfied that the Interlok issue has been settled amicably, though the limited amendments did not go down well with many quarters.

However the latest development now appears as though the government has decided to remove the book totally from the syllabus.