We've discussed the brainwashing which happens in the BTN courses before (here and here). One of the reasons why I'm so critical of the UiTM VC (besides the flaunting of his UMNO credentials and his lack of an academic CV) is the fact that he also proudly lists his credentials as a BTN speaker. One can only imagine the kind of rhetoric he would regularly spout as a speaker in one of these brainwashing sessions. The latest on the BTN issue is a letter sent to Lim Kit Siang. I'll reproduce it below.
BTN’s racist and divisive indoctrination courses
Now that Najib has apologised to non-Malays for Ahmad’s statement, I would like to bring to the attention of Najib the pain endured by the young non-Malay JPA scholars who are required to go through a five-day Biro Tatanegara programme at certain camps in the country. To be fair, many moderate Malay students too cried and were hurt by some racist comments made by the instructors.
As part of the course, which is mandatory before they are sent overseas, all non-Malays are segrgated and given lectures on the history of the country and how the immigration of the Chinese and Indians had taken place. And finally how the Chinese and Indians were given citizenship. The Malays too had their own similar sessions.
The instructors blatantly told them that they should not question the rights and privileges of the Malays as the non-Malays should be thankful that they were given citizenship status and a place to stay on their soil. My daughter together with the other non-Malay students was shocked and went back to their dormitories depressed. And to the Malay students, the instructors told them to be aware of this fact and not to mix too freely with the non-Malays.
A Malay friend of my daughter came back crying to the dormitory saying that she could not take the racist position taken by the government authority. My daughter then began questioning the bumiputra policy and was disgusted with such blatant indoctrination. This incident has also made the students harbour anger and resentment. Their fear for the authorities and losing their scholarships made them keep their cool. I am not exaggerating here - ask all the JPA students to write in anonymously and you will know the truth.
These are young minds being polluted with racism. Tens of thousands of students have gone through this programme and more will be attending it in the future. So can you blame them when they exhibit their racist tendencies when in authority? How could the JPA allow such a syllabus for the cream of the nation, who will one day be entrusted to implement government policies fairly?
So, will Najib take responsibility for the racist syllabus and subsequently the racist remarks and apologise to the tens of thousands of students and parents who were hurt by such hurtful remarks? Of course knowing the BN government, it will deny this. Believe me, this is the ABSOLUTE truth.
My call to Najib is to immediately probe into this claim with the help of a multi-racial team of officers from Suhakam BUT please maintain the anonymity of the young children who have everything to lose. This blatant racism practised and preached by the Barisan Nasional government must stop immediately.
From an outraged Malaysian parent
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ReplyDeletehttp://www.trmatematik.com
I really hope Tony (or any MPs with conscience) will bring this up to the Parliament and make it public in all news media available like the recent Ahmad saga. And let's see what Sleepy Doll(ah) has to say.
ReplyDelete....he will say "Zzzzzzz! ZZzzzzzz!"
ReplyDeletei could be wrong, but i'm told btn is run under the prime minister's dept. also, when i attended, an umno camp was being held at the same campsite.
ReplyDeleteI managed to catch the UiTM VC on TV on Merdeka day after and the man confuses education with brainwashing. So its no surprise he is proud of his BTN credential.
ReplyDeleteBrainwashing fails if education succeed. Education fails if brainwashing succeed.
What is the point of BTN again?
BTN is there for the foreign scholars to qualify for their pre-departure allowances, which amount to many thousands of ringgit. Otherwise, these students may need to fork out their own cash for these things.
ReplyDeleteBTN speakers should be arrested under the ISA for inciting hatred and racial disharmony. Why can they talk about race and not be charged while Raja Petra is???? Fucking double standard from a racist BN government. There, I said it -- BN is a racist party. Fuck em.
ReplyDeleteThe main reason that the BTN speakers and organisers are not arrested is because the racial slurs were made in private where no one is dared to report or record them. The only way this can be undone is through the allegations by the scholars themselves in public. But then, it'd be very hard as this will imply that the scholarships will be revoked and another case in which the scholars will be ISAed.
ReplyDeleteI was an attendee of the BTN scholarship and it really saddens me to admit that "an outraged Malaysian parent" was spot on with his letter.
ReplyDeleteThe things they say were meant to instill fear upon us, both the Bumiputera's the and non-Bumiputera. I, as a Chinese, was subjected to humiliation for being who I am, a Chinese youth who is seen as inferior to other races.
We were told that American Jews rule the majority of the American economy, and that if we rebel the government, we might see a War in Iraq in Malaysia (Saddam Hussein's execution because of the "betrayal" of his own citizens).
I don't think we, the Malaysian citizens, aren't fighting the BTN if we're of a minority ethnic group, we aren't supporting the BTN if we're Bumiputera. We disagree with this policy because it is WRONG.
I was once told I do not deserve equal rights because I am from "Tanah Besar Cina" and not "Kepulauan Melayu".
This is WRONG.
BTN is irrelevant and redundant.
ReplyDeletethe course couldn't even qualify as persuasion let alone brainwashing. they should hire a professional to redesign their course if they really want to brainwash people.
evr1 who've attended BTN would now how very crass and utterly crude all the things they say to the participants. it only makes people resent the govt more and it only divides people.
the MO of BTN is using fear as a motivation. this is just so WRONG and short sighted.
yes, the prime minister's dept runs BTN. all the faci and speakers are handpicked by that dept and they're all indoctrinated.
i was ashamed to see full grown adult with good education (masters and phD) spouting racist statements and being very dogmatic whn it comes to 'supporting' the govt, politics etc (everything I think). they act like the govt is greater than even God.
i attended a 3 day BTN course. i couldn't look at the face of my chinese friends because i was so very ashamed of what my fellow malays (the faci and speakers) say and do.
i hope that all msian chinese knows that the behaviour of these narrow minded people does not reflect the mindset of the whole population.
im venting out here because i know that there's not much that we can do about it. (remember, there's ISA!).