Mariam Mokhtar | Feb 21, 11
Malaysiakini

The BTN or National Civics Bureau is divisive, racist and politically-motivated. Most people are aware of this except for BN politicians. Despite the serious allegations made about the BTN, their main coalition partners, MCA and MIC have not been effective in condemning the BTN.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin denied claims that courses run by the BTN were a form of political indoctrination. He said, “BTN is to inculcate nationalism and unity among the people in line with the 1Malaysia concept”.

Talk of nationalism smacks of the supremacy of one race over the other races. If he had said that the mission of BTN was to promote patriotism, this would be more in line with the spirit of Malaysian unity.

After a media blitz on the BTN in late 2009, the cabinet decided that the BTN would be revamped as it had run counter to its aims of instilling a united Malaysia. When former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad disagreed, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz described him as racist.

Nevertheless, the task of revamping the BTN was given to Ahmad Maslan, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, who is also the BTN chief. As is common with most BN politicians, he flip-flopped and said that he was not going to revamp the curriculum but would merely ‘upgrade’ it.

In the last few days, we have heard that the BTN is indeed thriving.

The Pahang BTN assistant director, Ahmad Shah Jamlus, said on the bureau’s blog that “to reject race was un-Islamic”. He also stressed that “the religion and Malays are inseparable”.

Ahmad Shah then said that “the creation of Adam and Eve implied differences in mankind as we are made of distinct races”. He opined that the “Quran says Allah has created nations and tribes and the most honoured are those with the most piety towards Allah.”

Malays and Muslims are indistinguishable?

He said, “Therefore Malays and Islam cannot be separated. The first step in reaching a higher level of God-consciousness is established in the country’s constitution whereby Article 160 stipulates that a Malay must be a Muslim.”

Few people will understand what Ahmad Shah is trying to say in his article entitled “Rejecting race or ethnicity is rejecting human nature”. Is he saying that Malays and Muslims are indistinguishable?

His comments give an insight into the man. How does he equate the rejection of race or ethnicity as rejecting human nature? It is clear that he has a warped view of the Quranic teachings, and that is my being polite.

If Ahmad Shah is the assistant director of the Pahang BTN, then what sort of outfit does he lead? How many hundreds of thousands of minds has he polluted?

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is from Pahang. This is happening in his own backyard. What does he intend to do about this serious failing of his minister, Ahmad Maslan, and the Pahang BTN? Clearly, Ahmad Maslan has failed to do his job properly and should be sacked.

It is obvious that the BTN is not a tool to unite the people. It is only a propaganda machine to unite one race – the Malays.

One Malay man told me, “The Malay spirit is threadbare. Malays are fencesitters and support those who hold the gun. They have no pride and have become shoe lickers of the Japanese, British and the communists. Malays are not concerned about power and do not want to be united. They are willing to work with the devil as long as their livelihood is protected.”

Another said, “Past Malay leaders realised that the Malays are stupid and allowed themselves to be colonised for 500 years without a fight. They preferred to be ruled as long as they led an easy life. That is the reason that today, Malays are still slaves to the Chinese and Indians.”

It is disturbing that some Malays think like this in 21st century urban Malaysia.

Pakatan Rakyat will have to do much more to engage ordinary Malays – urban and rural. The Malays have a misconception that if Pakatan were to take over Putrajaya, non-Malays will rule and over-run the country and take away their rice bowls.

Malays are traditionally conservative and 53 years of brainwashing by Umno has corrupted their minds.

Strangling the ideals of all Malaysian peoples

The greater damage is that BTN has strangled the ideals, aspirations and uniqueness of all Malaysian peoples, not just the Malays.

These Malays will have to be made to understand that if Umno were to lose power, the Malays themselves would not lose power.

What BTN did not tell them was that they can be progressive, innovative, united, creative and excellent, without Umno’s crutches.

The fear these Malays have is a fear of themselves. They do not want to lose their identity. Indoctrination has made them become dependent on Umno for a place in society. Indoctrination has led them to believe they are who they are, because of Umno.

It is up to us to strip them of their insecurities and make them realise that with Pakatan in power, the Malays will flourish alongside the other races.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.