Zero tolerance for racist teachers? Drop BTN first, then Utusan...

Malaysia Chronicle

Pakatan Rakyat leaders have challenged Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz to put his money where his mouth is when calling for “zero tolerance” for “racist educators”. If the BN government was really serious, it should straightaway abolish the BTN programs, take action against certain overtly racist Umno leaders, Perkasa, MPM and Utusan.

“Talk is cheap. The BN must walk its talk and take action against Utusan which is coming out everyday with more and more racist articles. Even Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin has been playing the racial card, just like Perkasa and MPM. Act against them and Malaysians will finally believe the BN can do what it says, not just talk,” Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham told Malaysia Chronicle.

PAS leaders were even more vocal, with vice-president Salahuddin Ayub urging the government to cancel the indoctrination programs conducted by Biro Tata Negara or National Civics Bureau that have been blamed for brainwashing the Malays into regarding their non-Malays counterparts with suspicion.

“We must also get to the root cause of the problem. In the case of the two principals, the BTN is also responsible for shaping their mentality. We must not only punish them but also cancel the BTN propaganda machine. We cannot bring race into education. That way, we will only end teaching our children racism which in the first place is against Islam,” Salahuddin told Malaysia Chronicle.

When the chief educator is less than neutral

The brouhaha came about after a school headmistress in Johor had likened Indian pupils to dogs and said the Chinese students could go back to China. Amid the public outcry that ensued, especially in the face of silence and lack of action from Muhyiddin, who is the deputy premier and Education minister, another headmistress in Kedah also told her Chinese pupils to go back to China.

The twin cases at two extreme points in the Malaysian peninsula exemplified the growing racism in the country despite 53 years of nation building. Although, Muhyiddin promised to probe the cases, few Malaysians have any confidence that the headmistresses will be punished.

“What a joke when the Education department tried to protect the Johor principal by saying the matter had been solved even though no punishment was meted out. When the chief educator in the country is himself the biggest racist, no wonder the mid-level kaki-tangan or staff will follow,” Bukit Gantang MP Nizar Jamaluddin told Malaysia Chronicle.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has also maintained a deafening silence on the subject. However, Nazri toldMalaysian Insider that severe action must be taken against racist educators regardless of their ethnicity.

“ It’s not about whether it is a minority — not even one person in the education service should be a racist. There should be zero tolerance for this. Who cares about their skin colour? So what if they are Malays? So, we protect them then? No way. It is what they said that should be our concern. When they cross the line, severe action must be taken,” said Nazri.