Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email Below is excerpt of interview between Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Ahmad Maslan and NST. I’m not sure how readers will interpret the replies by the deputy minister. It will be difficult to monitor thousands of the presenters or trainers involved in the camps, but it has to be done. I think the modules should be vetted by third party. And the presentation/explanation of the modules should be monitored. We also need to remember the participants are those who are dependent on the authorities (occupation or scholarship), so to expect them to openly question the presenters or content is difficult. One may only grumble in private, among friends.
Q: Feathers were ruffled by the labelling of non-Malays as pendatang. How could this have happened?
A: In the module, no one is labelled pendatang. But if the country’s history was taught, maybe it could have been mentioned. If the lecturer was talking about the past, then it’s different; that’s a historical context.
The social contract was drawn at that particular time when everyone agreed to it. That part takes up only five minutes of a two-hour session on Kenegaraan and Perlembagaan Negara.
That’s history, a small part of the whole story on how Malaysia was formed. It is an old episode. We have achieved independence. Indians and Chinese in Malaysia have become citizens.
Q: Why were BTN participants shown videos of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) demonstration?
A: Videos were shown during intermissions to keep participants occupied as speakers sometimes arrive late.
The one on past demonstrations, which included the Hindraf protest, was among a few videos shown to instil patriotism in participants.
There are also videos on the war in Palestine and patriotic songs. When we show the street demonstration videos, our message is that we don’t do things like that if we’re patriotic.
We tell participants that there are other ways to solve a problem instead of taking to the streets.
Q: Are participants made to sign agreements forbidding them to divulge what went on in the course?
A: No. Participants are only not allowed to bring recording instruments into the classrooms.
Q: Why then are there BTN videos of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and how did they end up on YouTube?
A: I don’t know. I haven’t even seen the video. I don’t know whether cameras were allowed into the sessions in the past.
Q: Some participants have alleged that the BTN course is a form of political indoctrination, or the government’s brainwashing tool.
A: Sometimes, when we talk about the country’s policies, some people assume that’s indoctrination. But for us, as government agencies, we have been entrusted with this task to talk about policies.
So we have to explain the rationale behind policies, from corporatisation and privatisation to education, agriculture, youth and poverty eradication.
If we don’t explain these to the participants, when are we ever going to do so?
If they take that as indoctrination, that’s too bad.
