Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today hit out at the Chinese papers for twisting his words and putting him in a bad light among the Chinese community.

He was responding to reports in the Chinese media that he had said the Chinese community was ‘ungrateful' despite being given much assistance by the government.

education minister handing over 140409 muhyiddin yassin 04 Speaking to reporters during his first visit to the Education Ministry as the education minister, Muhyiddin explained that his remarks were just based on his assessment of the results from the Bukit Gantang by-election.

In that by-election, the usually pro-BN Chinese voters had gone to the opposition, allowing PAS' Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin to win against Umno's Ismail Saffian.

The Chinese press played up his quote in an interview in Mingguan Malaysia in which he had apparently said that the Chinese were being ungrateful to the BN government.

Muhyiddin also said that MCA president Ong Tee Keat had found nothing wrong with his statement in Mingguan Malaysia .

"I think it's the Chinese papers. I don't know. I don't read Chinese but I got people who reported to me and they (the Chinese dailies) twisted my statement," he said.

Read the whole context

He also denied saying the Chinese were ungrateful in the interview.

"No, no (I didn't say ungrateful). Did you read my Bahasa (Malaysia)? Even (deputy education minister) Wee Ka Siong knows Bahasa.

"In Bahasa, I said ' seolah-olah tak menghargai ' (‘They seemed to be unappreciative'). You have to read the whole context. Don't pick up just like that," he said.

He also appeared to be annoyed with reporters who continued to pester him on the issue.

"If you don't understand Bahasa, I can send you to school to understand it."

He said that his language in the interview was "very clear and straight" and there was no way it could be twisted.

"When you start twisting the whole thing, it puts me in sort of a bad light among the Chinese community," he said.

Muhyiddin came under fire from various quarters over the 'ungrateful' remark.

DPM told to issue two apologies

In an immediate reaction, opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said Muhyiddin should make two apologies - first, for his “offensive” remarks in the Mingguan Malaysia interview, and second, to the Chinese media for wrongly blaming them for distorting his remarks.

On Monday, key Chinese dailies published Muhyiddin’s comments in their frontpage headlines - ‘Muhyiddin – Chinese ungrateful to BN’ ( Sin Chew Daily ), ‘Chinese fooled Barisan Nasional. Muhyiddin – Get benefits but do not vote in support” ( Nanyang Siang Pau ) and ‘BN feels tricked. Muhyiddin - Satisfy Chinese demands, still no support’ ( China Press ).

lim kit siang parliament pc 201008 02 “I had re-read Muhyiddin’s interview and I found that what the Chinese press reported was a fair and accurate translation of what Muhyiddin actually said, and Muhyiddin’s denial that he had not described the Chinese as ‘ungrateful’ do not hold water,” said Lim.

In the interview, Muhyiddin had said : “Ini yang mungkin menyebabkan sukar BN mendapat sokongan walaupun kita fikir bila mereka hendak sekolah Cina dibantu, kita bantu, sepatutnya mereka membalas budi.

“Pada waktu itu, kita pun tidak berharap sokongan kaum Cina akan meningkat 40 peratus dan sebagainya cuma kita berharap ada peningkatan sedikit tetapi apa yang berlaku ia mencatatkan penurunan, macam tidak ada penghargaan terhadap apa yang kita lakukan.”

“Muhyiddin said both - “unappreciative” (“tidak ada penghargaan terhadap apa yang kita lakukan”) and “ungrateful” (“sepatutnya mereka membalas budi”),” said the DAP supremo.

“Who should now be sent back to school, Muhyiddin himself or the Chinese media reporters and editors?”

Has yet to see report on English policy

Meanwhile, the education minister revealed that he has yet to be briefed on the controversial issue of teaching Maths and Science in English in schools, thus he could not make any comment on it.

"We discussed about it briefly just now (in the first ministry's meeting). In our next meeting, I would get a briefing on the matter," he said.

He added that the report on the policy has been prepared, but it has not been tabled to the cabinet as the ministry is still "waiting responses from other ministries".

"I haven't seen it yet and I haven't been briefed on it yet. We will see what is the best option for us to take on this issue," he said.

education minister handing over 140409 muhyiddin yassin 05 Besides the controversial policy, former education minister and now home minister Hishammuddin Hussein has handed over a number of 'unfinished businesses' for Muhyiddin.

One of them is 'Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan' (PIPP) (master plan for development of education). The report will be tabled to the cabinet soon.

Mingguan Malaysia's interview with Muhyiddin