(Bernama) -- The courses conducted by the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) or National Civics Bureau do not contain any element of racism, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamid had attended many of these courses when MAHATHIR SENT ME, THAT BOOT CAMP DURING HEIGHT OF REFORMASI WHEN I WAS IN ANWAR IN HOUSE
"I do not see any element of racism there," he told reporters after the signing of contracts by Armed Forces football players for the 2010 Malaysia League, here.
Saying that it was the right of the Selangor government to prohibit its civil servants and students of its tertiary institutions from attending the courses, Dr Ahmad Zahid said the ban could be due to anxiety of the opposition leaders over the people's support in the state.
"They are apparently afraid of the people losing confidence in their leadership," he said.
The Selangor government yesterday announced that it was barring state civil servants, students in state-run higher learning institutions and employees of state government-linked companies from attending courses organised by the BTN, effective immediately, allegedly because they were an indoctrination process and smacked of racism.
Dr Ahmad Zahid said Selangor executive councillor Datuk Hassan Ali himself had been a BTN director-general, but the question of racism did not arise during his tenure.
He also spoke on the appointment of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the economic advisor to the Selangor government, and said it was a cause of waning support for the state government.
"Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has expertise in the economic field, and he does not have to appoint Anwar. This is assuming of authority by Anwar," he said.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the Selangor government's decision would deny the opportunity for the relevant civil servants and students to learn more about the country and its policies. "BTN has never belittled any community.
The subject matter is associated with the Federal Constitution and the concept of unity in a plural society," he said in a statement.
Ahmad said the knowledge and information disseminated at the courses were from historical facts and data garnered from relevant agencies and experts, and the syllabus involved training based on noble values aimed at making the participants citizens who could contribute to nation-building.
The participants were at liberty to offer their views and express their criticism and stand on issues, he added.
"The people have to understand the policies which shape nation-building. The 1Malaysia concept supports the Federal Constitution and the spirit of patriotism regardless of ideology because they are fundamental to the success of Vision 2020 (of moulding Malaysia into a developed nation)," he said.The Coalition of Malaysian Indian NGO's (Comin) had in December 2007 called on the government to look into the issues raised by Hindraf and resolve these issues through dialogues and peaceful negotiations rather than suppressing the grievances raised through measures that can only be considered as vengeful and hateful.
We had made our call subsequent to the peaceful mass rally on Nov 25, 2007 organised by Hindraf which was brutally suppressed by Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) who used water cannons containing chemically-laced water and tear gas on the peaceful protestors.
Five of the key organizers, P Uthayakumar, M Manoharan, V Ganabathy Rao, R Vasanthakumar and G Kengadharan were incarcerated in Kamunting under the Internal Security Act while P
Waythamoorthy is still living in exile continuing his struggle from abroad.
Many saw the Hindraf rally as a wake-up call for Indian Malaysians but in truth we now realise that Nov 25, 2007 was a wake-up call for Malaysians of all races. About three months later, on March 8, 2008, Malaysia saw a peaceful transition of power for four state governments to Pakatan Rakyat with Barisan Nasional losing its two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time in recent memory.
The results of the general election in 2008 exposed the strong feelings of discontent against corruption, discrimination, abuse of power by law enforcement agencies, violent action taken against peaceful demonstrators, use of the ISA against dissenters, mismanagement and mal-administration in the public sector and the severe lack of meaningful initiatives to alleviate the problems of both the urban and rural poor.
For once it exposed the weaknesses of communal politics and the failure of the national leadership and that of the minority community in realising their constitutional rights. It was only after the severe defeat at the general election 2008 and the several subsequent by-elections that followed did the authorities show any sign of realisation as to the depth and severity of the issues affecting the Indian Malaysians specifically and the majority of Malaysians generally.
Though we note that some initiatives are now being implemented by the federal government and state governments on a piecemeal basis, we have concerns as to whether such initiatives are real institutional changes that will offer change and restore confidence in the minds of people.
This land belongs to all. It is our primordial duty to see that no single citizen is made to feel as if he is not one among us. There is enough for all and everyone. For democracy to succeed, it has to be a tool that ought to address the needs of the weak and the minority more than the majority.
We agree that the nation must be centred on the federal constitution, rule of law and institutional reforms that guarantee the rights of every citizen, without dwelling on our communal differences.
Noting the prevailing socio-political situation, on this, the second anniversary of the Hindraf rally, Comin makes the following proposals:
1.We urge members of the Indian community in Malaysia to engage with one another and be united in what should be a common aim of empowering impoverished Indians so they can be useful citizens of this country.
Whilst differences can and should exist and be debated rationally and through the democratic process, we urge politicians, temple leaders and NGOs to put aside personality clashes and political differences when dealing with the plight of poor Indians and work together across party lines in this common aim.
Thus, we call on all Indian members of the Dewan Rakyat, Dewan Negara and the respective state legislative assemblies to form one cross party political caucus to address Indian issues, similar to what we see in the US Congress, where Black and Pacific Island caucuses exist consisting of members from both the Republican and Democratic parties.
2.We also urge the federal government and all the state governments, be they from the Barisan Nasional or the Pakatan Rakyat, to show their sincerity in improving the lot of the Indian community.
Concrete and tangible efforts must be made to improve educational opportunities, moral upliftment, the provision of living skills training and the creation of employment and small business opportunities.
Efforts to improve national unity must be done in a transparent and genuine method. To that end, we reiterate our call for the creation of an independent non-political task force to be a monitoring body comprising representatives selected by the NGOs themselves to oversee the implementation of the initiatives for reform that are so desperately needed.
The Government's '1Malaysia' concept must be practised and implemented in a manner that gives every Malaysian the sense of pride that he is wanted, appreciated and recognised in the development and progress of our beloved country.
The writer is chairperson, Coalition of Malaysian Indian NGO's (Comin)
al,
Poor Indian lady, 7 children earns RM 350.00 p.m., living in shack cannot pay RM 50.00 p.m rental, now homeless (ref Malaysia Nanban 21/11/09 at page 16) Veeni Arjunan (35) from Manjong will any time from now become homeless as she could not even pay her monthly rentals of RM 50.00 per month. The landlord has now told her to move out. Veeni and her seven children will become homeless at any time from now. There are hundreds of thousands of such poor and homeless Indian families in Malaysia but who get almost zero help from the Malaysian government. All this despite UMNO Prime Minister Najib Razak’s RM 220 Million Budget 2010 allocation for welfare senior citizens and the poor. The poverty line index as per this budget is RM 720.00 per month. But all his help does not reach Veeni because she is an Indian poor. She and hundreds of thousands of other Indians are rejected even at the counter levels of the welfare departments. In any event it is the duty of the Malay-sian UMNO Welfare Department to ensure that not even one Indian is homeless and suffering from poverty.
No comments:
Post a Comment