Niat lists GE demands - seeks M'sian Indian DPM

The National Indian Rights Action Team (Niat) has listed out its demands for the next general election today, including calls for a Malaysian Indian deputy prime minister.

This was among the NGO’s five demands that it wants the next government to implement within the first 100 days in office.

The proposal calls a Malaysian Malay prime minister and deputy prime minister, plus two addition deputy prime minister posts.

The first post would be held a Malaysian Chinese and a Sabahan, each serving for half a term. A Malaysian Indian or Sarawakian, also swapping places mid-term, would hold the other office.

“We do not want other people to sideline us. We must make sure that what comes under the ‘Indian’ category should be brought together.

“Otherwise you do not have any justification to ask people to do thing that you won’t do yourself,” said Niat secretary Arun Dorasamy (left), who was also the project director to put together the group’s 42-page booklet to explain the demands.

'Battle against Interlok may not be over'

INTERVIEW In this final part of a three-part interview, Tamil language activist Thasleem Mohd Ibrahim sounds the alarm that the battle to keep Interlok out of schools appears to just in hibernation.
He said that this is because despite numerous requests the government has yet to give an assurance that Interlok will be kept out of the Malay literature syllabus in schools.

Thasleem, who is National Indian Rights Action Team (Niat) chairperson, said he has also written to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and MIC president G Palanivel asking for written commitment on the matter.

The letters were despatched in mid-January this year, but no response has been forthcoming so far.

"What we heard - and I don't know if this is reliable as it has not been confirmed - that as far as three months ago, the books collected back were not destroyed," he told Malaysiakini in an interview last week.

Niat, then known as the National Interlok Action Team, had campaigned since January last year for the novel to be removed from the Malay literature syllabus because of its racist undertones.

The cabinet then decided that Interlok would no longer be used as the Form 5 textbook beginning this school year, replacing it with another novel, Konserto Terakhir.
"The new book is the one they used from 2000 to 2010. They are using the previous book again, so what is going to stop them from using Interlok again, at some point in the future?

"Why is the minister so hesitant to say that these books have been destroyed?" asked the Tamil education activist.

Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/203380

'Rectify injustices suffered by Indian M'sians'

INTERVIEW National Indian Rights Action Team (Niat) chairperson Thasleem Mohd Ibrahim is not prepared to take up political office unless there is an affirmative action policy to help the Indian Malaysian community.

He was asked to comment on speculation tipping him as a candidate for menteri besar in his home state of Perak.

Thasleem confirmed that Pakatan Rakyat had approached him to contest either a state or parliamentary seat in the next general election, but that the possibility of appointment as menteri besar had not been mentioned.

Nevertheless, he turned down the offer.

“To me it’s very simple. Unless a clear cut affirmative policy for the Indian community is in place, I’m not interested,” he said, given that he has been crusading for this for more than 30 years.

Best known for spearheading the campaign against the use of the novel Interlok for Malay literature in school, the Tamil education activist said he was prepared to toe any party line - as long as it was “fair, equitable and just”, but said the injustices suffered by the community have not abated.

MIC lost relevance 38 years ago, says Niat chief

INTERVIEW The MIC lost its relevance in politics and to the Indian community as far back as 1974, says National Indian Rights Action Team (Niat) chairperson Thasleem Mohd Ibrahim.

"It started becoming irrelevant much earlier, but (former MIC president) S Samy Vellu had his own way of making the party appeared relevant," Thasleem told Malaysiakini in an interview last week.

His statement contrasts with the popular view that S Samy Vellu, who assumed office in 1979, was the cause of MIC's downfall, culminating in the 2007 Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally, which brought some 30,000 protesters onto the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Thasleem, a long-time Tamil education activist, claimed that the MIC in 1974 forwarded a memorandum to the Cabinet Committee on Education, but its proposals got nowhere.

The memorandum, he said, called for the upgrading of Tamil schools and syllabi, better teacher training and residential schools to be set up to "enable Indian students to overcome the debilitating effects of their socio-economic environment."

"If the cabinet committee did not agree to this, why didn't (then MIC president) V Manickavasagam walk out of the Alliance Party?" he asked, adding that the time then was ripe because MIC had no competition for Indian support.

No Interlok reclaim order at 80 schools

More than 80 secondary schools have yet receive instructions to reclaim the novel Interlok, distributed to Form 5 students last year, despite a cabinet decision on the matter last month.

Chairperson of the pressure group National Interlok Action Team (Niat), Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim, said a telephone survey of 100 schools conducted by his group showed that 80 of them have yet to receive any written instruction from district education offices to reclaim the book from the students.

The schools surveyed were from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya and Negri Sembilan.

At a press conference with Ngeow Chow Ying, the vice-chairperson of the civil rights committee of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Thasleem said he had received more than 600 complaints from the parents on the matter.
Of the 100 schools, Thasleem noted that most of those that did not receive the circular were in rural areas.

Indian NGOs not convinced over Interlok withdrawal

Representatives of the Federation of Indian NGOs are “not convinced” the dispute over the problematic Form 5 literature textbook Interlok is over, just yet.The novel, which was introduced into the syllabus early this year, was withdrawn last week after almost a year of discontent from various quarters, particularly the Indian community.

The group’s president, Victor Suppiah, said today that it is not certain that is the case until Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin “makes the announcement and provides a detailed reasoning to why it was withdrawn” a year after it was introduced into the education system.  Suppiah said that he is “not convinced” the novel has been withdrawn and replaced with Konserto Terakhir as announced by Education director-general Abd Ghafar Mahmud.

Interlok to be scrapped next year?

PETALING JAYA: The government is expected to pull out Interlok, the Form Five Malay literature textbook which ignited a firestorm of controversy, from schools altogether.FMT understands that Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will be making an announcement to that effect soon.It was learnt that MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam had raised the matter at the last cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Subramaniam said: "I requested the deputy prime minister to ensure that the novel is not used as a textbook in schools next year."He responded favourably and was quite positive about it. I hope this would quell the unhappy feeling still felt in the Indian community," said Subramaniam when contacted today.

Interlok: Niat to petition the Agong, rulers

After 10 months and 56 letters or memoranda to the government, a movement seeking to withdraw the novel ‘Interlok’ from school use is heading to the palace.Niat head Thasleem Ibrahim (right) said the group plans to submit a petition to the Agong, as well as the rulers of Selangor and Negri Sembilan, to seek royal intervention to have the SPM Malay literature textbook withdrawn.

Thasleem told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday that copies of the petition will be sent to the premier and his deputy, and that its contents would be made public in due course.Also present was Lim Teck Ghee, who heads the Centre for Policy Issues. He said the issue is a Malaysian one, as the education system is multiracial and multi-cultural in scope.

1 mil ‘anti-Interlok’ CDs to be printed

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Interlok Action Team (NIAT) has come up with a new plan to remove the controversial novel from schools.NIAT steering committee chairman Thasleem Mohd Ibrahim said one million CDs will be printed and distributed nationwide to give the people the true picture of Interlok.

“Our objective is to get the message across to all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or political affliation,” he told FMT."We are now confronted with a new danger – ethnic characterisation. Introducing Interlok as compulsory reading material for SPM students will take these students back 100 years,” he added.He also said that Interlok, penned by national laureate Abdullah Hussain, would damage the respect between the different races in the country.

Gov't to spend RM1 mil to reprint Interlok

The Education Ministry today agreed to reprint the controversial Interlok, the novel which was part of the syllabus for Form Five Bahasa Malaysia literature.Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said the decision was made following complaints from teachers who had to use stickers to patch the corrections manually on nine pages of the books.The word 'pariah' would be deleted completely from the reprinted version, he said while commenting on an English newspaper report today about the teachers' complaints on the issue.

The cost of reprinting and distribution was about RM1 million and would involve recalling the 390,000 copies distributed to secondary schools in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. “We do not want to burden the teachers and also prefer the books to be clean without patch marks," he said.Interlok, a novel by Abdullah Hussain turned controversial for words deemed sensitive to the Indian community.


Source : Bernama

Use ‘Interlok’ as model for history textbooks, says historian

PETALING JAYA, June 8 — The controversial “Interlok” novel should be used as a model for history textbooks as it’s is quite “inclusive” in its narrative and depiction of non-Malays, a historian has suggested. Professor Anthony Milner, currently with the International Studies department of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), said that despite complaints against the Malay novel, he felt that the author of the book national laureate Datuk Abdullah Hussain attempted to provide an idea of the lives of the Chinese and Indian community and their relationship with the Malay community.

“I only had a chance to read ‘Interlok’ in English, so I would not know if the Malay version of it gave it a different meaning... (but) the actual story was wonderfully inclusive compared to the history curriculum.“The novel was sympathetic towards Malays, Chinese and Indians, in fact the novel was only unsympathetic towards the British,” he said during a forum organised by the Kairos Research Group here last night.

Hindu Sangam withdraws support for NIAT?

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Hindu Sangam, allegedly under pressure from the MIC and the PM’s Office, has withdrawn its support for National Interlok Action Team (NIAT) which is spearheading the Interlok issue.The organisation has been conspiciously silent on the matter after the movement’s president Mohan Shan ordered his representatives to stay away from NIAT, said sources.NIAT was born when the first Interlok meeting was held at the Hindu Sangam headquarters where representatives of more than 140 Indian NGOs assembled and formed the movement.The Hindu Sangam appointed Dr Balatharmalingam, its deputy president and Arun Doraisamy, former youth chief as it is representatives in NIAT.

Un-edited’ Interlok surfaces in exam

KUALA LUMPUR: A parent from Gombak here complained that questions from the controversial novel Interlok were posed during the mid-term examination held last Monday. According to Human Rights Party (HRP) leader S Jayathas, who received the complaint, the questions were featured in the Malay Language Paper 2 for Form Five students. The paper was set by the district education department.This happened despite the assurance from Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin that the novel would not be used until amendments were carried out.

Interlok: ‘Why are Umno and Ministers silent?’

KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional politicians are keeping the controversial Interlok novel issue at an arms' length, according to National Interlok Action Team (NIAT)."We know that a lot of (people) within Umno and many ministers aren't happy (with Interlok).""(But) BN hasn't come out with anything. Why are MCA leaders keeping quiet? Why are MIC leaders keeping quiet?" asked Niat chairman Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim Al-Haj.Expressing dismay to newsmen today, he said neither he nor NIAT were pro-opposition as insinuated by BN leaders.

He said the group was willing to speak to parties from both sides of the political divide on the matter."For goodness sake, if I am a supporter of Opposition, why am I supporting 1Malaysia?" he asked.
Thasleem is particularly disappointed with the BN Back-Bencher's Club (BNBBC) in parliament, which appeared to postpone meetings to unusable dates.


'Islamic values sidestepped'

A letter by BNBBC secretary Ismail Haji Abdul Muttalib to Thalseem revealed that an initial March 30 meeting this year had been postponed to April 6, which was the Sarawak election nomination date.In his letter to Thasleem, Ismail wrote that the meeting had to be postponed to an unmentioned future date, as many BN MPs had left for East Malaysia at the time.Thasleem, in his revert to Ismail, expressed his unhappiness with the ambiguity of the later's letter."You yourself said that many Peninsular MPs would be present (at the meeting). As a Muslim, I feel sad that Islamic values have been sidestepped to gain political advantage," Thasleem wrote.


NIAT later revealed that a request to meet with Umno Youth over the issue had been turned down as it was "Interlok-related".Taking a swipe at Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin, Thasleem said : "He's an Oxford graduate... but has no guts to raise this issue."Thasleem also questioned why only the Deputy Prime Minister-cum Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had an opinion on the matter.


Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/05/07/interlok-why-are-umno-and-ministers-silent/

Penang Library to take 'Interlok' off textbook rack

Debate on the controversial Malay literature textbook for Form Five students, Interlok, continued to reveberate for the third consecutive day within the Penang legislative assembly today.And today too, the state government showed its disdain for the book by prohibiting it from being displayed in the textbook section of the state library.Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy said the decision was taken at the state executive council meeting yesterday, and the instruction would be conveyed to the library soon.

Ramasamy (above) said the state was not banning the book but due to its controversial nature, it would not be allowed on the rack for textbooks, which are located in a prominent area of the library.He said the book insults all ethnic communities yet stereotypes found in the book were being defended by Umno, particularly by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Umno's deputy chief."The book is disheartening as our children, who may not understand the country's history, would obtain knowledge that is damaging, especially that concerning the different races," he added.

Interlok: TPM bohongi rakyat, dakwa Pengerusi Niat

KUALA LUMPUR: Pengerusi Badan Bertindak Interlok Kebangsaan (Niat), Haji Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim mendakwa Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin telah membohongi rakyat Malaysia berhubung isu buku kontroversi, Interlok edisi murid."Muhyiddin di dalam sesi Parlimen pada 24 Mac menyatakan bahawa Jemaah Menteri bersetuju agar Interlok terus diguna pakai tetapi tiada seorang pun yang menjelaskan pendirian mereka.""Seterusnya Muhyiddin berkata keputusan penggunaan Interlok berterusan adalah muktamad namun akhbar Sinar Harian melaporkan Muhyiddin sebagai berkata bahawa Interlok hanya akan digunakan selepas pindaan dilaksanakan."

Interlok: MIC man accepts debate dare

KLANG : Combative MIC leader KP Samy today accepted a DAP challenge to an open debate on Interlok and offered to fund the session.However, he said the challenger, Sungkai assemblyman A Sivanesan, must bring along a statement from the Pakatan Rakyat leadership calling for the banning of the controversial novel.Samy, a former member of the MIC Central Working Committee, claims to be the first man to have sent a letter to the Prime Minister protesting against the use of the novel in schools.

Interlok protest: DAP MP, PKR man arrested

KUALA LUMPUR: The police today arrested Teluk Intan MP M Manogaran and PKR division leader MS Arjunan for protesting against the controversial Interlok novel at the Batu Caves Hindu temple.They were taken to the Gombak police district headquarters for questioning and were released at 3.30pm after their statements had been recorded.Manogaran, a DAP first-time parliamentarian, and Arjunan, who is also the president of the Malaysian Tamil Students Progressive Associations (MATSAP), arrived at the Batu Caves temple this morning with a small group of supporters to demonstrate against the novel.

They were protesting against the government's decision to retain Interlok as compulsory reading for Form Five students taking Malay literature.The anger over the novel has been simmering for months now after it was discovered that the school edition novel contained words which disparaged the Indian community.

Muhyiddin says government will not revisit ‘Interlok’

PAGOH, March 31 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today the federal government will not bow to fresh demands from Chinese groups to remove the controversial “Interlok” novel from the school syllabus.The deputy prime minister said that as far as the government was concerned the issue had been resolved.He also described groups raising the issue again as irresponsible.

Fresh trouble is brewing over the use of “Interlok” in schools, with Chinese groups yesterday condemning the novel’s depiction of Chinese characters as greedy, opium-smoking lechers keen to exploit Malays for profit.Having weathered a storm of controversy from the Indian community over the novel’s use of the word “pariah”, the Education Ministry now faces Chinese calls to drop the “racist” book from the Form Five Bahasa Malaysia syllabus.

Chinese groups weigh in on Interlok

A number of prominent Chinese groups are among 45 organisations which inked a joint statement criticising the government's decision to retain the controversial novel 'Interlok' as a compulsory textbook for secondary schools.In a strongly-worded statement, the civil society groups ticked off the novel for attempting to indoctrinate Form Five students with the 'Malay supremacy' ideology.

Describing 'Interlok' as an “insidious poison”, the civil society groups accused the novel of propagating the ideology of “Ketuanan Melayu”.“In fact, Interlok is barely a step away from the Biro Tatanegara brainwashing that promotes racism and disunity. 'Interlok' conveys the central message that Chinese, Indian and other minorities are second-class citizens in addition to perpetuating the divisive notion of a host community (the Malays) versus foreigners ('bangsa asing' Cina dan India).