The Cabinet next Wednesday should order the immediate suspension of school principals who acted as “Little Napoleons” in unilaterally and arbitrarily imposing rules and regulations which trample on cultural and religious rights and sensitivities in a plural society – demonstrating that they lack the most fundamental qualification to be school principals.

The latest manifestation of such “Little Napoleons” is Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (formerly English College) in Johor Bahru in making “songkok” part of the compulsory uniform of school prefects in the school.

I put up on my blog the protest letter of a parent of a school prefect in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar who said his son, who is in Form Five, would resign as a school prefect – appointed since Form II because of his exemplary conduct – if he is forced to wear the songkok. There are over 160 responses in the two threads in my blog on this issue in the past 24 hours, showing the intensity of the sensitivities over the matter.

Recently there have been an unchecked increase of incidents whether in schools, universities or involving the government decision-making process showing growing indifference, disrespect and even contempt for the sensitivities and rights of the diverse races, cultures and religions in the country – which are most detrimental to the goals of nation-building and the Vision 2020 objective of creating a Bangsa Malaysia.

Yesterday, Malaysians learn to their shock another incident of the “Little Napoleons” running wild in Malaysia – the confiscation of English language Christian children’s books said to contain offensive caricatures of prophets from several bookshops in Johore Baru, Senawang (Negri Sembilan) and Ipoh by state enforcement officials of the Publications and Al-Quran Texts Control Department under the Internal Security Ministry. Read the rest of this entry »