What does RM1.1b worth of BTN hate get you?

“When we don't know who to hate, we hate ourselves.”

- Chuck Palahniuk, ‘Invisible Monsters’

Okay, I will admit to being pretty bummed out that the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) was not axed. I mean think of all the money we would save and there would be less of a need for kids to break open their piggy banks.

But sure, I get it. It would look bad for the new administration if a federal religious authority was axed. As it is, the Malay far-right crowd are claiming that this new administration would destroy ‘bangsa’ (race) and ‘agama’ (religion) and culling this particular body would reinforce this perception.

But seriously, the Biro Tatanegara (BTN), spared? When the Selangor and Penang state governments banned their students and civil servants from attending these courses, it seemed as if political operatives finally got it. Even Kelantan jumped on the bandwagon, stating that they would not send their people for these brainwashing initiatives unless the BTN “curriculum was not changed in accordance with Islam.” So maybe PAS only got half of it.

Where did I get that RM1.1 billion figure? Well, Wong Chun Wai wrote a pretty good piece for The Star – Pretty hate machine – which neatly defined the problem with the BTN courses. And he should know, right? I’m kidding, Wong, it’s the new Malaysia so everyone has got a say. But seriously folks, people have heard stories about the BTN courses. There were testimonials of the kind of horse manure that goes on there.

Has anyone really visited their official website? I do, pretty often. The images there serve a purpose. Loads of images of Malay civil servants and the activities that BTN carries out. This provides a narrative that the dominant Malay majority are the ones who actually serve the state, serve the country and in essence, serve the political party - Umno - that supposedly serves the Malay community.

This is a powerful narrative captured in images and it is amplified when minions of Umno used to claim that it is the non-Malays who are not patriotic, it is the non-Malays’ religions which threatens Islam.

Some would argue that there are a few bad apples in the organisation, so get rid of them. Well in Wong’s article, he quotes former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Nazri Abdul Aziz, who in 2009 pushed back on the horse manure in Parliament that the work of a few bad apples sullied the programme - “Don’t think that people outside do not know about the syllabus based on patriotism for Malays. They know what the syllabus is all about, so who are we to say that it did not happen? You want to lie? You make people laugh.

“I mean, there are people who attended the courses who came out very angry. There were many instances of the use of words like Ketuanan Melayu. It is ridiculous. Do they want to say that Malaysia belongs only to the Malays and the government is only a Malay government? Should only the Malays be given the spirit of patriotism? Other races are not patriotic about their country?”

Okay, you may say, fine, reform BTN. Sounds simple, right? Has anyone stopped to think, why this organisation is needed? Forget about what it is costing taxpayers but why would there ever need to be a government agency instilling “patriotism” in the civil service and students? Why would the state need to do this except to ensure that people are brainwashed into voting for them?

No more propaganda, please

Is the new BTN going to be about the Bangsa Malaysia Kool-Aid? Is the new BTN going to be about how there are no race and class divisions in this country and how everyone has to “save Malaysia”?

Think about that. Think about how this current government is desperately attempting to assure the “Malays” that they would be taken care of and that they have nothing to fear from non-Malay political structures. This kind of thinking is because of the BTN and other propaganda arms like it.

Remember that MCA and MIC and all those other BN, non-Malay power structures turned a blind eye to the brainwashing and hate speech coming from BTN and just assumed that all this was part of the social contract and the means to ensure compliance in the Malay community. Do non-Malays want they, ‘new Malaysia’ non-Malays representatives, to follow the same kind of thinking?

So, what does RM1.1 billion – over the years – get you? For the Malays, it is - “The Chinese are rich”, “don’t spook the Malays”, “liberalism is a threat to Islam”, and the rest of the propaganda that defined Umno dogma. What did it get the non-Malays? Every time as a non-Malay, you have to worry about not rocking the Malay vote - the tendrils of the courses of BTN touched you even though you may not have attended any of its “courses”.

Every time you hurl some invective against the system anonymously online, using racial insults or religious bigotry, it is because of the boot of Umno dogma you may feel - depending on your economic status - in the real world. Every time, you have to think not as a community but rather consider how this plays out in the majority Malay polity, you have been touched by the BTN courses.

You fear or hate Islam? You cheer when you read articles telling like it is to the Malay community by other Malays? All this is part of the propaganda, the culture that is really part of what it means to be a non-Malay Malaysian and this is the function of the BTN. BTN not only taught Malays how to hate and who to direct it against, it also taught the non-Malays how to react.

For years, we voted in successive BN governments and if DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang’s numbers on the BTN funding is to be believed, the figures have increased. This would mean that we were literally endorsing the hate coming from this organisation.

Do you really trust this new administration to reform this institution? Do you really want your tax ringgit spent on an organisation whose function is to instil a sense of patriotism in the civil service or students or whoever they target?

Do you really want this for new Malaysia?

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. -Mkini