Don: Don’t make same mistake
‘Failure to include ethnic ties expert on education review panel may have serious consequences’
AZRIL ANNUAR
Monday, December 19th, 2011
WITHDRAWN: The controversial novel has been taken out of next year's Form Five syllabus
PETALING JAYA: THE flames of hate and racial anger over issues such the controversial Interlok novel might once again be resurrected should the government continue to neglect to include ethnic relations experts on its Special Committee to Review Education in Malaysia.
Independent Panel on Interlok chairman and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's (UKM) Institute of Ethnic Studies director Prof Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin (pic) voiced out his concern that the "Interlok incident" might occur again."The Special Committee to Review Education in Malaysia, appointed last week, is made up mainly of scientists and nonspecialists on ethnic relations.
They have popular knowledge but not deep research-based knowledge on ethnic relations," he told The Malay Mail.
"Isn't our education system an ethnic-oriented one, with vernacular schools still functioning and alive? I am not surprised if we were to make the same mistake again, like the Interlok episode, when the review was done devoid of research-based knowledge on the dynamics of ethnic relations in Malaysia."
Shamsul said there were six zones with different textbooks for secondary school literature, with each zone having its own committee to select and review each textbook.
However, he was surprised there were no ethnic relations experts in any of the committees.
"As far as I know, no expert on ethnic relations is a member of any of the six committees. This neglect on this matter is a real surprise for a society that claims to be ‘Malaysia truly Asia'. The expert or experts could have pointed out on what is sensible and sensitive to our multi-ethnic society," he said.
Touching on whether or not politics had taken hold of Malaysian education with the cabinet decision to withdraw the controversial novel, Shamsul said it was not about politics.
"This is about being knowledgeable and educated about our own society, with the depth and breadth expected from a society that has 1,700 professors in the public universities.
"It is not ignorance but neglect that is the critical issue here, neglect as a result of and informed by the simplistic notion that having ‘goodwill' is enough for this multi-ethnic society to survive. We need more than goodwill to survive in the long-term."
Asked whether the panel had wasted its time negotiating and discussing the novel as it was going to be withdrawn from the Form Five school syllabus next year, he said "negotiations for peace and stability of the society is never a waste of time".
He said the withdrawal meant the selection process of textbooks had been improved.
Shamsul also said he was proud of the negotiation process handled by the independent panel as it was resolved amicably, where he witnessed "social cohesion" being alive and functioning in Malaysia.
Written by national laureate Abdullah Hussain in 1971, Interlok was made a compulsory Bahasa Malaysia literature text for Form Five students this year.
It was criticised for containing material offensive to the Indian community, such as the inclusion of the words kasta pariah.
On Friday, MIC deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam said the cabinet had, in its meeting, decided to withdraw the novel from the school syllabus.
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