Sharizat defends BTN course

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the patriotic spirit instilled in the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) course or the National Civics Bureau course was for all and not just for federal government supporters.

Shahrizat said it was not justfied to be apprehensive of the content of the BTN courses as the people loved the 1Malaysia concept

On Wednesday, the Selangor state executive councillor for Education, Higher Education and Human Capital Development Committee, Dr Halimah Ali said that Selangor state staff and students of it's state-owned institutions were barred from attending BTN course with immediate effect.

Addressing fears

The step was taken as it was perceived that the course was an indoctrination process by the Barisan Nasional (BN) created to allegedly draw up racist phenomena, divide races, caused religious tension and provoke hatred of the opposition.

Shahrizat said based on her experience when attending the BTN course there was no racial content.

"The Selangor government is just making a big issue. I have attended the course and it is all about positive thinking, patriotism and nothing to do with racialism," she told Bernama at a Hari Raya Aidiladha function organised by the Wanita Umno Kepong Division here today.

Political overtones

Meanwhile, in Bahau, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Noh Omar said the decision by Selangor to bar state employees and students of state-owned institutions of higher education from attending BTN course was politically charged.

Noh, who is also the Selangor Umno deputy liaison chairman and an Umno supreme council member, said the opposition brought up new issues to deflect their weaknesses.

"Like in Selangor one issue that they raise was their internal issues so that people forget the opposition's promises in the past general election," he told reporters after opening the 'Program Korban Perdana Jempol 2009' sponsored by the Jempol Umno Division and the Negri Sembilan Tourism Action Council, at the public field of Raja Alias 2, near here.

Attend first then talk

Commenting on DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang's call that the BTN be stopped, Noh said Lim's call was that made by a "blind man".

"Just like a blind man who does not know of what he does not see. How can Kit Siang talk of the BTN course when he has never attended it?"

[Source : MMirror]

Geronimo's Take : If the BTN courses are not racist in nature, then perhaps they can inform us as to how many non-Malays have attended such courses and how many of the lecturers/speakers themselves are non-Malays? Quite frankly this is not about instilling patriotism towards our country but rather an UMNO runned programme to support UMNO [not even BN]. If the courses are not racist in nature, then perhaps it wouldn't be much of a problem for BTN to post their respective modules on the net for the rakyat to peruse. We will make our judgement from here. Many former participants to the course have posted their remarks on Malaysiakini and other news portal and all have claimed it was racist in nature. So, Sharizat, please visit some of these sites before you blindly (as usual) defend your UMNO policies.