PARLIAMENT The Dewan Rakyat has today rejected an emergency motion to debate on the position of the alleged racist school principals in Johor and Kedah.

parliament pandikar amin anwar ibrahim lim kit siang dap pkr pc 121108 02 The motion, which was filed by Ipoh Timor MP Lim Kit Siang, was rejected by House speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia ( left ) on the grounds there was no urgency for the matter to be debated.

"I was informed by the Public Services Department that it has begun initiating disciplinary action on the two school principals," he said.

Lim was however, given a chance to table the motion.

The DAP stalwart wanted the house to debate on the Kulai, Johor and Bukit Selayang, Kedah school principals on the ground they had allegedly made racist statements to students in August and that till today, there was no condemnation or disciplinary action taken against them.

This, Lim said, was against the spirit of 1Malaysia, mooted by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The motion reads that it had already been two months since the school principals of Kulai and Bukit Selayang had allegedly placed such racist labels on non-Malay students as immigrants, saying the Chinese students should return to China, and the Indian students wearing bands on their wrist were like dogs on a leash.

"This represents the racist attitude adopted by the principals. The deputy premier had said he does not have the power to take action to rectify the situation, and on the other hand allowed the principals to resume their duties," Lim said.

Mockery of 1Malaysia

"Besides this the Education Ministry director-general had issued a circular to all school principals and teachers in August, issuing a stern warning on those found to have uttered racist statements in school.

"However, as there is no action it shows there is no strong political will or administration philosophy to truly address racism in schools," he said.

NONE Lim said all this is a mockery to the National Day theme of ‘1Malaysia Generates Transformation' and is a step backward to the prime minister's call for zero tolerance on racism.

"When the prime minister wanted to inculcate the policy of ‘1Malaysia, Citizens First and Performance Now', it seems there is no seriousness to adopt it.

"In fact, there is an inclination to practice racist feelings as espoused by the National Civics Bureau which is responsible in poisoning young minds by putting in racist messages. This had undermined efforts to inculcate national integration," he said.

Lim said the prime minister had just returned from a working visit to Brussels to attend the Asia-Europe meeting and also raised the need to reject racism and extremist religious feeling at the United Nations General Assembly recently.

Lim wanted the government to continue raising its abhorrence towards racism and religious extremists, which is deemed a threat to a multi-racial country like Malaysia, where unity is a key to progress.