'Gov't sowing culture of fear by acting against anti-palm oil school show'

The Education Ministry has been urged to cease any action against an international school where students spoke out against palm oil in a performance.

Freedom of expression advocacy group Article 19 said any action will create a "culture of fear" among those whose views differ with the state.

"The government should not outlaw criticism and opinions. Instead, the government must engage with those who take a different position," Article 19 Malaysia programme officer E Nalini told Malaysiakini.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy today called on the Education Ministry to resort to other measures rather than threatening the school with stern action.

"I thought under the new Pakatan Harapan government we should be giving priority to persuasion, rather than outright crude action like the days of the BN.

"There is a need to ascertain the reasons for the performance, the message that was imparted and whether the students were exposed to the correct information or the performance had a sinister motive in equating the clearing of forests for oil palm with the extinction of animals," he said in a statement.

Ramasamy (photo) added that if the school authorities are punished, there could be collateral damage to the students.

Yesterday, Education Ministry director-general Amin Senin (photo, above) said the ministry will take action against the school for allegedly "spreading propaganda or indoctrination which tarnish the country's name and image".

"Student involvement in such propaganda activities is clearly against national policy and will affect the country's good name," Amin said in a statement.

Amin said action would be taken against the school under the Education Act 1966.

Warning letter to be issued

"The ministry will also issue a warning letter to all international schools to ensure this does not happen again," he added.

In the performance, the schoolchildren said oil palm plantations have caused deforestation and threatened the orangutan.

"If we don't do something about this and ensure oil palm is sustainably grown, within 10 years these beautiful creatures could be gone from our world," one student said.

Earlier yesterday, Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok said the Malaysian Palm Oil Council has approached international schools to speak to students about palm oil but was turned down.

Educators were spreading "untrue and one-sided" messages to children and sabotaging the ministry's effort to promote palm oil in the face of an international boycott, Kok said.

Malaysia has turned to China to weather the impact of the European Union's plan to ban palm oil, with China growing its palm oil purchase from Malaysia by around 50 percent to 4.7 million tonnes this year.

Last year, Malaysia exported 3.07 million tonnes of palm oil and palm products valued at RM8.38 billion to China.

Palm oil is the largest agricultural contributor to Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP), making up RM44.8 billion or 3.8 percent of the GDP in 2017. - Mkini