Don’t insult people’s intelligence, Sabah MCA tells Maszlee

Sabah MCA Wanita chief Dr Pamela Yong says the education minister should concentrate on providing easier accessibility for Sabah and Sarawak schoolchildren, who now have to travel long distances on foot or by boat.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah MCA Wanita chief Dr Pamela Yong scoffed at Education Minister Maszlee Malik’s explanation that his remarks to treat Sabah and Sarawak as “medan dakwah” were misinterpreted.

Speaking to FMT today, Yong said Maszlee’s clarification did more damage as it insulted the intelligence of the people.

Pamela Yong.

“Who doesn’t know that ‘dakwah’ is usually used in a religious propagation context, made popular by the then education minister Anwar Ibrahim in the mid-1980s?

“Worse still, Maszlee clarified that ‘dakwah in Islam is about doing good deeds, which is what non-Muslims too can do’.“What exactly is he implying? That non-Muslims are currently not doing good deeds and therefore are in dire need of such guidance?

“Such an assumption is unbecoming of a federal minister and will serve to sow distrust and a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude by one community against another,” she said.

Maszlee had used the term “dakwah” when urging religious teachers from the peninsula to remain and serve in Sabah and Sarawak.

He said the term “dakwah” should be seen in a wider context, saying it was not just about Islamisation or converting non-Muslims into Islam.

“Dakwah in Islam is understood as bringing mankind towards good and this can be done through various means, including as educators or teachers.”

Referring to the issue of shortage of religious teachers in Sabah and Sarawak, the minister said the term which he had used in his statement had been misinterpreted as an attempt to convert non-Muslims in the two states into Islam.

Yong said Maszlee had been pursuing trivial matters such as changing white school shoes and socks to black and urging hotels to open up their swimming pools for students to learn to swim when he should be focusing on “heavyweight matters”.

These include the disbursement of the promised RM50 million allocation to Chinese schools and immediate recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).

Furthermore, Yong said Maszlee should devise solid policies to ensure easier accessibility for Sabah and Sarawak schoolchildren to be able to attend classes.

She said this is because there are many indigenous children in remote interiors who have to travel on foot across land and rivers for hours to reach their schools.

“Education is a way out of poverty. Maszlee should be more concerned about building more schools or at least hostels for rural children so that they have access to education, aside from after-hours tuition classes to fortify their aptitude for learning.

“Therefore, the minister should stop abusing his power in attempts to make Sabahan and Sarawakian schools his brainwashing centres, and exploiting destitute rural children as his convenient prize catch.

“I would also like to call on Deputy Education Minister Teoh Nie Ching to say something on the matter as so far I’ve found her silence to be deafening,” she said. - FMT