KOTA BARU: The Kelantan government has joined Selangor and Penang in not sending its civil servants for the National Civics Bureau (NCB) courses.
Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said Wednesday that he objected to sending the state civil servants for courses organised by the NCB so long as curriculum was not changed to be in line with Islam.
He said Kelantan, together with the other two Pakatan Rakyat states, had agreed not to send their officers for the NCB courses.
“If Selangor rejects, Penang rejects, there’s no reason for me to send (the civl servants),” he told a news conference here.
However, he did not propose to ban his officers from joining the courses.
Last week the Selangor government banned its civil servants and students of tertiary institutions owned by the it from attending the NCB courses and the Penang government followed suit with a ban on its civil servants on grounds that the courses were used to spread the Barisan Nasional propaganda.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz maintained that he would not retract his statement calling former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad a racist for defending the NCB curriculum module.
He said that though many people, including Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, had criticised his statement, he would not apologise to Dr Mahathir because he felt that the new module should be in accordance with the 1Malaysia concept introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“Now, under Datuk Seri Najib, we have 1Malaysia. So, surely we must have a curriculum which reflects 1Malaysia.
“We must make a change, that’s important. We must make adjustments according to what Najib wants. He is the prime minister,” he told reporters at the lobby of Parliament House, here.
Mohamed Nazri said he did not mean to be disrespectful to the former prime minister, adding that Dr Mahathir was open to criticism as well.
When asked to comment on Muhyiddin’s statement Tuesday, Mohamed Nazri said the public had the right to know the views of both sides and that leaders could not hide the facts from the people.
“Even the opposition (leaders) fight with each other in the open. This is the year of modern technology. How can you hide? What is wrong with fighting in the open?” he said.
Muhyiddin, who is on a trade and investment mission to Japan, said Tuesday that it was rather extreme to label Dr Mahathir Mohamad a racist and added that it would be better if everyone “talked less” and refrained from debating the matter openly.
Mohamed Nazri said he respected Muhyiddin’s views and felt that the deputy prime minister was trying to resolve the matter. – Bernama
