'We cannot extrapolate from some bad members of a particular community that all members of that community are bad.'

Chinese groups weigh in on Interlok

Loyal Malaysian: Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin proclaimed the Interlok issue resolved. It looks like the Umnoputras want to bulldoze the use of this novel through regardless of the opposition there may be against it.

There must be ulterior motives involved - see how insistent Muhyiddin was in using it although it flies head on against the Education Ministry's own guidelines against the use of sensitive and discriminatory materials?

David Dass: Government servants should accept the fact that Chinese and Indians are citizens of this country and their views do count and must be taken into account.

Unfortunately Chinese and Indian leaders within government have not discharged their responsibility. And this is why today the man on the street represented by NGOs and opposition politicians have to assert basic constitutional rights. It is shameful that the civil service has become so politicised.

History is history. It is the story of what happened in the past. It is an objective record of what happened in the past - good and bad. History is neutral. We learn from the mistakes of the past. We cannot improve the present by rewriting history.

We cannot extrapolate from some bad members of a particular community that all members of that community are bad. Racial stereotyping is wrong. Malaysia is the sum of its parts. It is a good story of people of different races and religions coming together to build a nation.

Keturunan Malaysia: As a Chinese, I am sad to see the Chinese dragging their feet on this when an injustice came visiting next door and not their own home and didn't even seem to bother until recently. We are Malaysian first, remember!

There is no guarantee that other races won't be next as long as there are evil people around. Nonetheless, it is better late than never.

Loo Soon Fatt: A responsible government will not allow this controversial novel included as a compulsory textbook based on the intense opposition of other races. Better think how to tackle and pay more attention to the alarming decline of our education standard instead of creating more problems to students of all races. It is as simple as that.

Temenggong: The staggered response was such that it gave the impression that the Chinese were not overly disturbed by the book. And how exactly are they planning to bring about the withdrawal of the book other than this joint statement? What is their next step? Fifty-three persons have been charged in court for opposing the book.

Onyour Toes: If Interlok is bad, what about the National Civics Bureau (BTN)? What are we doing about this monster? As far as I know, the bureau is still very much alive, still recruiting and renewing the contracts of all its existing officers to carry on their tirades against non-Malays.

Who is checking on them now? Mind you, they are doing all these nonsense with government's money, the funding of which come from us.

Jeremy Tankh: It is understandable that most of us have not read the book ‘Interlok', for we are not going to school at our age, neither are we teaching in the school.

The question is whether Education Minister Muhyiddin has read the book. If he has not and yet insists on using ‘Interlok' in schools after so many complaints from the public, he should step down as education minister for he obviously is not doing his job right.

If, on the other hand, Muhyiddin did read the book, and still insists on using it in the school, this indicates that he agreed with the book which promotes racism and disunity and "conveys the central message that Chinese, Indian and other minorities are second-class citizens in addition to perpetuating the divisive notion of a host community (the Malays) versus foreigners (‘bangsa asing' Cina dan India)".

If so, he needs to step down altogether as a member of the cabinet, for he obviously is working against PM Najib Razak's 1Malaysia concept.

Anak Bangsa Malaysia: What must be done is that all Indian and Chinese students nationwide must boycott and not go to school. The parents, too, must get the schools' parents-teachers associations to demonstrate in all schools.

I hope the Pakatan Rakyat leaders will come out in the open and mention these facts and conscientise the public in their ceramahs as well.

Proarte: Umno finds it hard to back down because it would mean they would have been seen to ‘backtrack' and that would be viewed as a humiliation. In their primitive minds, it is a case of ‘malu lah kita'. In actual fact, it is really ‘malu' for Malays to support such a distasteful, crude novel of low literary merit masquerading as a Malay literary ‘gem'.

Interlok's purpose is clear, as the civil society groups have pointed out, that is to portray Malays as the ‘legitimate' residents of Malaysia and the Chinese and Indians as vile reprobates who have ‘exploited' the naive and moral Malays.

Such is the stupidity and total disregard for truth that Umno and some MCA leaders like Chua Soi Lek can regard the novel as 'historical' and with a unifying intent.

But perhaps the most laughable view over this novel and which has exposed himself to be a fraudulent ‘Man of Letters' who supposedly loves TS Eliot and Shakespeare, is Anwar Ibrahim's recent comment that ‘Interlok' is a good novel with no element of racism in it.

Anonymous_4031: The Chinese groups and the Indian community have strongly condemned the use of ‘Interlok' as a textbook.

Earlier, two eminent historians have voiced their views that the History textbook is biased and lop-sided. Out of 10 chapters, there are five chapters on Islam, which shows clearly that the Education Ministry is trying to Islamise History; when it should, by right, be a balanced text on the history of Malaya and Malaysia.

The fact that the ministry has made it a compulsory pass in this subject (in order for a SPM candidate to obtain a certificate) means that it is forcing its version of history down the throats of SPM students.

As a grandfather of school-going children, I take strong exception to the ministry's attempt to Islamise our grandchildren. You, as education minister, have no business to try to Islamise our grandchildren. If you wish to Islamise your children, that is your business. But do not try to do that to our grandchildren.

Lee Boon Kiat: For a moment, I thought the Chinese organisations had abandoned fighting for our dignity. At last, a glimmer of hope has come through this joint statement by these responsible organisations. I hope together we will fight on to get this tainted novel out of the syllabus.

Subangi Sathasivam: I just don't understand why a government that shouts 1Malaysia at every opportunity has to choose a book that seems so sensitive to its own people. There are so many other worthy Malay novels by fantastic authors.

Sticking to ‘Interlok' at such an expense, as if this is the last book on earth, is actually an insult to them.

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