NOT A DEFENCE OF CIKGU SITI INSHAH MANSOR

Updated 3 Sept 2010:

Bernama Report:

Kertas siasatan isu pengetua dibentangkan kepada lembaga disiplin

PUTRAJAYA, 3 Sept — Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) akan membentangkan kertas siasatan berhubung seorang pengetua sekolah di Johor yang didakwa mengeluarkan kenyataan berbaur perkauman kepada Lembaga Disiplin Jabatan Perdana Menteri (JPM) selepas Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Ketua Pengarahnya Datuk Seri Abu Bakar Abdullah berkata langkah tersebut akan menentukan sama ada kertas pertuduhan akan dikeluarkan terhadap pengetua tersebut.

“Saya telah menerima kertas siasatan dari Jawatankuasa Siasatan Kementerian Pelajaran petang semalam, dan saya bersama beberapa pegawai JPA sedang menelitinya.

“Jika ada asasnya (untuk mengambil tindakan), kami akan membentangkan kepada Lembaga Disiplin JPM bagi mendapatkan persetujuan untuk mengemukakan pertuduhan kepada pengetua tersebut,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas majlis berbuka puasa bersama media, di sini, semalam.

Semalam, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin meminta Abu Bakar membuat keputusan segera berhubung kenyataan berbaur perkauman oleh Pengetua Sekolah Menengah Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Siti Inshah Mansor, Kulai, Johor, baru-baru ini.

Dia didakwa menyebut pelajar Cina tidak diperlukan di sini dan boleh pulang ke China di samping menyamakan gelang keagamaan Hindu yang dipakai oleh pelajar India seperti rantai anjing adalah amat menjijikkan.

Sebelum itu, Muhyiddin telah mengumumkan sebuah jawatankuasa ditubuhkan bagi menyiasat dakwaan tersebut bagi mendapatkan fakta sebenar perkara itu.

Abu Bakar berkata jika kertas pertuduhan dikeluarkan, pengetua terbabit akan diberikan peluang untuk membela diri sebelum sebarang keputusan dibuat.

“Kami akan teliti pembelaan Siti Inshah sebelum sebarang hukuman di bawah Peraturan Tatatertib Penjawat Awam diambil,” katanya. — Bernama

read here for English version.

Original:

As usual DAP Supremo and defacto Opposition Leader just couldn't resist making a huge mountain of a small hill with his usual trade mark of politicizing whatever issues that can be politicized to score political points. Never mind that it will deepen the rift between races in this blessed multiracial country.

I am not condoning what Cikgu Siti allegedly said as I am not privy to what was actually spoken, her speech may have been taken out of context, you know lah some people can't speak Bahasa Melayu well enough to understand its nuances. As a senior Cikgu I am sure she is well aware of what she said and if that is what she actually said than she has to express regret for her action.

The Malays are labelled more derogatory words by other irresponsible Malaysians before, tak ada pula mereka melatah macam orang gila meroyan. Tak kan sebab a momentary lapse in judgement Lim Kit Siang nak belasah Cikgu Siti Inshah begitu teruk, Uncle Lim nak jadi champion orang Cina dan India kah. Enough is enoughlah Uncle Lim, MP YB Tony Pua said some irresponsible things hurting the sensitivities of the Malays, we did not ask him to be removed from the DAP, did we, and Gobind Singh Deo even called PM Najib a murderer in Parliament, did Najib asked for Gobind to be removed from the DAP? No they didn't, though Tony did receive an anonymous bullet which might have come from just about anybody in Malaysia, you have instinctly put a racial slant to the unfortunate event which the much misunderstood KJ wrote eloquently about:


Statesmen and opportunists: A rejoinder to YB Lim Kit Siang — Khairy Jamaluddin

AUG 13 — There are statesmen and there are opportunists. We learnt yesterday the shocking news that Petaling Jaya Utara MP YB Tony Pua received a bullet threat in the post. Immediately a chorus of condemnation ensued, and rightly so. At some point the politics and politicking need to take a backseat in favour of humanity and caring for each other's fundamental right to physical safety. It was in such spirit that I, as Leader of Umno Youth, expressed outrage against the threat to YB Tony and his family, as well as urged the police to ensure their safety. It matters not that YB Tony is a DAP leader, or that we have our numerous disagreements politically, and it certainly does not matter that he is an ethnic Chinese. All that should count is that he is a Malaysian citizen who was threatened by an individual or individuals and that no justification exists for such a threat.

But as is often the case here, in times of shock or crisis, some politicians find ways to exploit sentiments and score political points against an opposing political party. A matter, to which sensible Malaysians can gravitate, suddenly becomes all about how Umno or Barisan Nasional is at fault. In the minds of such politicians, the politics never stops; in their actions and statements they insist our entire social lives be governed by narrow, belligerent partisan logic, 24/7.

One such politician who tends to do this is YB Lim Kit Siang. We shan't go through history here to see how often he has exploited tensions, conflicts and unease for partisan gains. His recent blog post suffices.

In it, YB Lim Kit Siang implies that the threat was a result of "communal hatred against YB Tony". He precedes this insinuation by stating the police reports and warnings made against YB Tony made by Umno Youth Selangor and the Umno Information Chief. He is careful to avoid blaming Umno outright on his blog, but we all know what he's trying to say.

Was the bullet threat motivated by discontent in parts of the Malay community about YB Tony's position on the Bumiputera housing discount? Likely, though we cannot rule out any possibility until the police conclude their investigations, hence the call I made earlier for speculations to be kept at bay. For the sake of argument, was Umno at the forefront of this Malay discontent? Sure. But instead of trying to empathise with such disgruntlement, YB Lim Kit Siang dismisses it with adjectives like 'irresponsible', 'ugly' and 'vicious' - because he'd like very much for people to believe that Umno manufactured the discontent, and that in doing so Umno similarly created a "communal hatred" against an individual resulting in a bullet threat. Talk about generalising and piling one assumption over another.

Nevermind that many Malays who have nothing to do with Umno feel strongly about the issue of Bumiputera housing discounts, it is what YB Lim Kit Siang omits from his statement that interests me most. If he is going to assume that the threat was racially motivated, then I say bravo, Captain Obvious. But especially so being a veteran politician, YB Lim Kit Siang should follow that up with calls for calm, join Umno Youth and others in rallying all Malaysians of all races to stand in solidarity against extremism. He could have stated that even if the threat was racially motivated, it was not representative of any community. These are exactly the things YB Lim Kit Siang should say if he has the country's interests at heart. But true to form, instead of defusing the situation, YB Lim Kit Siang sought to worsen it by fanning the very "communal hatred" he is convinced exists — provoke Umno, ridicule the aforementioned discontent and hope people see it through his partisan eyes.

But I have more faith in Malaysians than YB Lim Kit Siang does. Just as Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans and all the various ethnicities in this great country rose up against the arson attacks early this year, I believe we will do the same whenever anyone receives death threats for stating their views, even if there are racial or religious dimensions involved. We are a resilient lot; push comes to shove, we know to put our differences aside and stand together. Well, most of us, anyway. There are statesmen and there are opportunists. — www.rembau.net.my

Agreed, Lim Kit Siang is good at fanning "communal hatred" that is probably the only thing he is good at, how PAS, Parti Islam SeMalaysia could find it in them to work with Lim's DAP is truly one of the mysteries of the 21st century.