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BTN’s racist, anti-national and seditious indoctrination courses should not be glossed over or minimized as it makes a total mockery of 1Malaysia slogan and concept

The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Ahmad Maslan, who is directly responsible for Biro Tata Negara (BTN), is trying to gloss over and minimize the condemnation of the BTN courses as racist, anti-national and seditious indoctrination programmes detrimental to Malaysian nation-building and national unity.

Adding insult to injury, Ahmad claimed that BTN courses were based on facts, asking:

“If we say that two-thirds of the population consist of bumiputeras and one-third non-bumiputeras, is that considered racist?

“If we say 66 percent is bumiputera and 24 percent consists other races, is that racist? That is just stating the facts.”

Ahmad, who is also Umno information chief, cannot be so obtuse as not to know that nobody objects to such factual information.
Continue reading “BTN’s racist, anti-national and seditious indoctrination courses should not be glossed over or minimized as it makes a total mockery of 1Malaysia slogan and concept”

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Some 630 Malaysians leave the country every day

A total of 304,358 Malaysians left the country between March last year and August this year for better education, career and business prospects, Deputy Foreign Minister A Kohilan Pillay told Parliament yesterday. This is a big leap from 139,696 Malaysians who migrated to other countries in 2007.

This works out to some 630 Malaysians leaving the country every day.

Can Malaysia afford such a continuing brain drain?

This is a big vote of no confidence not only in the Abdullah premiership but also in the present Najib administration. Continue reading “Some 630 Malaysians leave the country every day”

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Why not invite me to head an investigation whether BTN’s course had poisoned the minds of a generation of leaders, civil servants and university students with its racist indoctrination programme?

In continuing to justify the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) course as inculcating nationalism and unity among the people, the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin challenged me to join the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) course to see for myself if it promoted racial hatred as alleged.

Undoubtedly, in such a case, the BTN lecturers will act as model Malaysians with exemplary conduct and attitude.

Let me ask Muhyiddin – why not invite me to head an investigation whether the BTN course had poisoned the minds of a generation of leaders, civil servants and university students with its divisive, racist and seditious indoctrination programmes?

No one will have any objection to national civics courses which promotes national unity and inter-racial understanding but it is unpatriotic, anti-national and criminal to say the least to have a government programme which incites racial ill-will and hatred as this is not nation-building but destroying the very fabric of a united, progressive and successful Malaysian nation.
Continue reading “Why not invite me to head an investigation whether BTN’s course had poisoned the minds of a generation of leaders, civil servants and university students with its racist indoctrination programme?”

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BTN should not only be revamped – heads must roll for the poisoning of a whole generation of Malaysian leaders, civil servants, university students

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz told reporters in Parliament this morning that the Cabinet has agreed to revamp the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) following national furore against the BTN’s divisive, racist and seditious course which pump communal poison, incite racial hatred and illwill which are no different from Nazi indoctrination camps.

Nazri is reported to have:

  • agreed that the divisive, racist and seditious BTN course is not in line with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept;

  • that “the recent Cabinet meeting saw it necessary to do away with the BTN co-curriculum which government leaders, including the prime minister, saw was racially divisive and destructive”; and

  • the Chief Secretary to the Government has been instructed to oversee BTN’s revamp.

Continue reading “BTN should not only be revamped – heads must roll for the poisoning of a whole generation of Malaysian leaders, civil servants, university students”

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Top Umno leaders should stop all double-talk, abandon race politics, be national leaders for all Malaysians or they should scrap and bury Najib’s seven-month-old 1Malaysia slogan and concept

Top Umno leaders should stop all double-talk, abandon race politics, be national leaders for all Malaysians or they should just scrap and bury Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s seven-month-old 1Malaysia slogan and concept.

Malaysians are shocked that the outrageous “defense” of divisive, racist and seditious Biro Tata Negara (BTN) courses by Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, was not the lone voice in Cabinet but represented the consensus of the top Umno leadership.

On my call for the closure of the racist BTN courses which go against everything Najib’s 1Malaysia could stand for, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said it was “just the opposition’s tactics to divert attention from their problems”.
Continue reading “Top Umno leaders should stop all double-talk, abandon race politics, be national leaders for all Malaysians or they should scrap and bury Najib’s seven-month-old 1Malaysia slogan and concept”

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Call on Cabinet to set up an independent public inquiry into the BTN “brainwashing” to have public airing of its racist, anti-national and anti-1Malaysia courses over the years

Pretender Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir hit today’s New Straits Times front-page headline: “‘Disclose BTN course syllabus’ – Perak MB: This will allay doubts about its objective”.

Zambry said it is time for the government to make public the contents of the Biro Tatanegara syllabus to dispel suspicions by certain quarters about its objective.

Claiming that he had himself attended BTN or National Civics Bureau courses, Zambry said these courses were about educating public servants, students and other participating groups on their roles and responsibilities towards the country.

Zamry is creating a red herring. The issue is not so much the BTN syllabus, but the more than ample evidence that BTN courses pump communal poison and incite hatred in plural Malaysia.
Continue reading “Call on Cabinet to set up an independent public inquiry into the BTN “brainwashing” to have public airing of its racist, anti-national and anti-1Malaysia courses over the years”

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BTN — Between true education and indoctrination

By Azly Rahman

I agree we must give credit to those working hard to “improve the psychological well-being of the Malays” and for that matter for any race to improve its mental wellness. This is important. This is a noble act. The question is: in doing so, do we want to plant the seeds of cooperation and trust– or racial discrimination and deep hatred? Herein lies the difference between indoctrination and education. Herein lies what the work of Malaysia’s Biro Tata Negara is about.

These days, the idea of Ketuanan Melayu is going bankrupt, sinking with the bahtera merdeka. It works only for Malay robber barons who wish to plunder the nation by silencing the masses and using the ideological state apparatuses at their disposal. In the case of the BTN it is the work of controlling the minds of the youth. The work of BTN should be stopped and should not be allowed anymore in our educational institutions. It is time our universities especially are spared of counter-educational activities, especially when they yearned to be free from the shackles of domination. Look at what has happened and what is still happening to our institutions with the University and University Colleges Act and the Akujanji Pledge.
Continue reading “BTN — Between true education and indoctrination”

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Close down Biro Tata Negara if Najib is serious, sincere and genuine about the 1Malaysia concept

When he became Prime Minister seven months ago, Datuk Seri Najib Razak came out with the slogan of 1Malaysia.

It was an admission of the failure of 52-year nation-building to create a Malaysian citizenry forged by a common Malaysian consciousness and identity, transcending their ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic differences.

The Biro Tata Negara (BTN) is one important factor for this failure in Malaysian nation-building.

In Parliament in March this year, I read out an indignant email from a recent participant in BTN course, on how BTN operated as the propaganda arm of UMNO, pumping communal poison instead of spreading the message of national unity.

The complaints against the BTN included:

Their purpose is to convey THEIR Message to us but I think they are absolutely wrong. It made us more irritable towards BN government and make us more stronger to vote opposition.
Continue reading “Close down Biro Tata Negara if Najib is serious, sincere and genuine about the 1Malaysia concept”

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Single stream schooling: The bad and ugly side

Written by Dr Azly Rahman
Edited by Helen Ang
for Center for Policy Initiatives

‘Ideas move nations but indoctrinations remove intelligence’.

According to government figures, only 7 percent of students in national schools are non-Malays. Parents fear sending their children from their past experience of the government indoctrinating young minds in the guise of an educational setting. Inciting racial sentiments in the classroom and boot camps (BTN, National Service, 1Malaysia) is in fact a big business nowadays.

Language issues come to mind as we speak about identity formation, befitting the notion of “language as culture,” and “culture as the habits we acquire and the tools we use in a house we inhabit in order to create our realties.”
Continue reading “Single stream schooling: The bad and ugly side”

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Test for 1Malaysia – Najib should ask Cabinet on Wednesday to revoke earlier decision to ban the use of word “Allah” for religions other than Islam

Malaysia is again at the centre of adverse international publicity despite our tourist promotion of Malaysia as a harmonious and model multi-religious nation and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s new slogan of 1Malaysia.

In the past few days, the world media like CNN and international press have been giving extensive coverage to the government seizure of 15,000 Bibles in recent months because they refer to God as “Allah” raising concerns and fears of religious intolerance in the country.

A consignment of 10,000 copies of the Indonesian-language Bibles which feature the disputed word “Allah” was confiscated in Kuching, Sarawak in September while another consignment of 5,100 Bibles was seized in March. Continue reading “Test for 1Malaysia – Najib should ask Cabinet on Wednesday to revoke earlier decision to ban the use of word “Allah” for religions other than Islam”

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A Malaysian Civil Service totally against 1Malaysia concept

To many Malaysians, the deplorable cowhead protests incited by UMNO in Shah Alam section 23 three days before National Day over the relocation of a Hindu temple was strong evidence of the lack of seriousness and commitment of the Najib administration to the “1Malaysia concept” – which put Malaysia in the dock of world opinion with adverse international media reports scaring off intending investors with the spectre that Malaysia is on the verge of greater racial and religious polarisation and intolerance.

The announcement in the budget of the award of national scholarships to 30 crème de la crème students strictly on merit for educational studies in world renowned universities is not proof of 1Malaysia – but the very reverse, of the discriminatory and divisive nature of Barisan Nasional government policies in the name of NEP when they should be based on meritocracy coupled with socio-economic need and justice.

National scholarships to 30 crème de la crème students for world renowed universities is a paltry and most ridiculous figure 52 years after Merdeka.
Continue reading “A Malaysian Civil Service totally against 1Malaysia concept”

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Does 2010 Budget pass as a 1Malaysia Budget?

Or does Najib think that Umno/BN victory in the Bagan Pinang by-election could be used as proof of popular support for his 1Malaysia slogan?

Then, what about Umno/BN defeats in the Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau and Permatang Pasir by-elections, if we do not to mention Penanti by-election, where 1Malaysia theme could not ensure victory? Is this to be taken as three by-election defeats as against one victory for Najib’s 1 Malaysia since he became Prime Minister in April?

It is not wise to turn 1Malaysia into a political party issue.

I had publicly called on Najib to officially withdraw the 1Malaysia slogan from the BN Bagan Pinang by-election campaign.

Firstly, what 1Malaysia could the BN talk about when there is even no 1Umno, 1MCA, 1MIC or 1BN?
Continue reading “Does 2010 Budget pass as a 1Malaysia Budget?”

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Deepavali greetings – triumph of good over evil to ensure unity, equality, justice and harmony among Malaysians regardless of race or religion

Happy Deepavali to Hindu Malaysians and all Malaysians.

Deepavali is celebrated this year in the midst of the great fanfare of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan – which is in fact an admission of the failure of the 52-year nation building policy to create unity, equality, justice and harmony out of the diverse Malaysian citizenry, regardless of race, religion and culture.

This is the time for serious reflection how to go beyond sloganeering to end the disunity, discrimination and marginalization in Malaysia for the past half-century so that every Malaysian, regardless of race, religion or culture can find common pride as citizens of this country.

Makkal Sakti for the triumph of good over evil to ensure unity, equality, justice and harmony among Malaysians regardless of race, religion or culture.

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Are Najib, Muhyiddin and Umno leaders prepared to pledge that they are “Malaysian first, Malay second” in keeping with the 1Malaysia slogan?

The 1Malaysia logo dominated the Umno General Assembly and 1Malaysia is clearly the fad of the day in the speeches of the Umno President, Umno Deputy President and the leaders of Umno Youth, Wanita Umno and Puteri Umno.

But are all the Umno leaders, including the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin really serious and fully committed to the 1Malaysia slogan as the overarching national philosophy in nation-building?

Without having to go into details, the first test of whether Najib, Muhyiddin and the Umno leaders are serious about 1Malaysia policy is whether they are prepared to set the example of being “Malaysian first, Malay second” for everyone to be Malaysian first and Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan or Iban second?

Although the proof of the pudding is in the eating, there is no need to get to the eating stage even.
Continue reading “Are Najib, Muhyiddin and Umno leaders prepared to pledge that they are “Malaysian first, Malay second” in keeping with the 1Malaysia slogan?”

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When Najib’s proposal for a “multi-racial hostel” could make front-page headline news in mainstream media

When Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s proposal for a multiracial hostel to foster better national integration among pupils in secondary schools under the 1Malaysia spirit could make front-page headline news in the mainstream media, it is testimony of how far Malaysian multiracial nation-building had deviated and failed in the past five decades.

As Malaysia is internationally publicized as “Malaysia truly Asia” show-casing multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual unity in diversity, multiracial hostels should have long become an accepted part of national life.

Instead, they seem to have become an increasingly extinct species after over five decades of nationhood to the extent that Najib’s proposal for a multiracial hostel in Kuala Lumpur appeared to be a great brain-wave of his 1Malaysia slogan.

Malaysia has traversed the road from multiracial hostels in the early decades of nationhood, celebrating Malaysia’s diversity of races, languages, cultures, religions, cuisines to increasingly mono-ethnic hostels where tolerance and acceptance of unity in diversity have assumed decreasing importance.
Continue reading “When Najib’s proposal for a “multi-racial hostel” could make front-page headline news in mainstream media”

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How to make 1Malaysia motto a meaningful slogan instead of being the butt of ridicule, derision and contempt

Happy Hari Raya Aidilfiltri to all Muslims in Malaysia.

As the first Hari Raya under new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, it should be an occasion for Malaysians regardless of faith, race or political beliefs to give real meaning to his 1Malaysia slogan so that it will not be short-lived and the butt of ridicule, derision and contempt like the slogans of previous premiers.

However, Najib’s praise for Utusan Malaysia for being “the voice of the people, especially the Malay community” could not have come at a worse time with a more disastrous consequence, when Utusan Malaysia had been most guilty in fanning racial and religious ill-will and misunderstanding in recent months.

Malaysia’s international competitiveness recently came under a cloud with two adverse global rankings – falling three places from 21st to 24th ranking in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2009-2010 and a drop of two places in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times from 21st to 23rd placing.

Continue reading “How to make 1Malaysia motto a meaningful slogan instead of being the butt of ridicule, derision and contempt”

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There can be no meaningful 1Malaysia when Malaysia Day Sept. 16 is regarded as a Sabah and Sarawak event rather than as a national celebration

For the 46th year today, Malaysia Day is commemorated in national disunity rather than national unity.

This should not be the case as five months ago, when Datuk Seri Najib Razak become the sixth Prime Minister, he had proclaimed the new motto of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”.

Najib had the opportunity to right the wrongs of the past 45 years with the people of Sabah and Sarawak marginalized from the mainstream of national development although it was the support of the people of Sabah and Sarawak in the political tsunami of the March 8, 2008 general elections which had kept the Barisan Nasional Federal Government afloat.

In the general elections last year Barisan Nasional won 140 Parliamentary seats as against the Pakatan Rakyat’s 82, but 54 of the BN parliamentary seats came from Sabah and Sarawak (Sabah 24 and Sarawak 30).

Without these 54 parliamentary seats from Sabah and Sarawak, BN would be reduced to 86 seats out of 222 MPs in Parliament, evicting the BN from Putrajaya into the Opposition and Najib today would have been Parliamentary Opposition Leader instead of Prime Minister.
Continue reading “There can be no meaningful 1Malaysia when Malaysia Day Sept. 16 is regarded as a Sabah and Sarawak event rather than as a national celebration”

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From cow-headed to level-headed education

By Azly Rahman

How must we re-educate those who protested in such a style against the relocation of a Hindu temple? What gross deficiencies in our educational system contributed to the creation of beings that displayed such hatred?

What then must we do to reverse the evolution of hate groups sponsored by those who wish to sustain the dying ideology of ethnic politics?

These are the difficult questions Malaysian children will inherit. In the cow-head protest there were children involved; those tender young minds who will hopefully understand what respect for race, ethnicity, and religion means. Hopefully they will be strong enough to release themselves from the shackles of hatred, after 52 years of Malaysia’s independence.

We must blame the continuing survival of communal politics for the creation of hate-based groups. Because our Independence is an illusion and Malaysia is an imagined community that is thriving on rhetoric and slogans, we have a fragile system of in-breeding of hyper-modernised politics of hate.
Continue reading “From cow-headed to level-headed education”

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Dream of a sincere merdeka

By Azly Rahman

Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains – Jean Jacques Rousseau

There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents – Thomas Jefferson

Malaysia is approaching its 52nd birthday. But it is middle age characterised by bipolarism, schizophrenia and illusions of grandeur. How did we get to this stage? And how do we de-evolve?

In essence, we are a troubled nation, hyper-modernised by half-baked sense of democracy, paying lip service to the idea of a civilised society and insincere in our pledge to create equal opportunity for all.

Consider the latest problematic phrases we are living with: The Perak Fiasco, 1BlackMalaysia, One Too Many By-elections, 100 Arrests, and A Troubled Monarchy. Then there is also the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock, the caning of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, and the Ramadan drama of the cow-head protesters.

These and many other issues are unresolved. The essence of these lies in the erosion of virtue. At all levels of governance, we have lost all sense of spiritual control; our institutions eroded by our addiction to corruption.
Continue reading “Dream of a sincere merdeka”