Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has condemned the act of mooning by a youth on Aug 30 as ‘un-Malaysian’.

           

In a speech today, he said such acts do not reflect Malaysian values and should not be encouraged.

“Street demonstrations are not a Malaysian value we want to encourage. Much less is the act of dropping one’s pants in public. It is nothing to be proud of,” he said.

NONE A student had bared his buttocks to a photograph of Najib during the Janji Demokrasi rally on the eve of National Day.

Ten thousand people thronged the Dataran Merdeka area in Kuala Lumpur to demand, among others, clean and fair elections.

The PM mentioned the incident when launching the preliminary education blueprint (2013-2025) in Kuala Lumpur today.

"Yes, investments and international trade are important but if all these are not based on quality education, on Malaysians who do not have the right knowledge, values...our hopes will come to nought," he said.

Lauding the Education Ministry's efforts in preparing the blueprint, Najib said education should be an area which is "depoliticised".

azlan "To ensure a bright future for Malaysians, leaders must have the moral courage to depoliticise education...to ensure all decisions are in the children's and national interests and (are) not merely populist," he said.

He also urged the ministry to ensure that the plan addresses the needs of all types of schools, including vernacular schools, "so it will not be a politicised by any quarter".

"There are no other country with so many different types of schools as here, but we have to manage this as it is our legacy," he said.

He also congratulated the ministry for boldly admitting the nation's weakness in mathematics and science and for taking steps to address it.

"The government will support the education ministry to ensure successful implementation of the blueprint to allay doubts and cynicism over our ability to deliver," he said.

Groundbreaking referendum

The blueprint was conceived following groundbreaking dialogues and roundtable discussions with some 12,000 stakeholders since last October.

NONE According to Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (right) , the government had received 7,039 suggestions and 156 memorandums.

"This plan is no less than a historical referendum which symbolises the people's hopes for the education system," he said.

The blueprint aims to improve on access, quality, unity and efficiency in the education system.

It focuses on producing multilingual, ethical and spiritual students who have leadership and thinking skills and a clear national identity.

The preliminary blueprint will be open for public feedback via open days, with the final plan scheduled to be presented to cabinet in December.