The publisher of a workbook which had questions that were deemed ‘racially sensitive’ has apologised after several MPs yesterday raised concerns about it in Parliament.

Info Didik chief executive officer William Tong said he has also instructed the workbook entitled ‘Kertas Model Sebenar SPM Bahasa Malaysia’ to be withdrawn from all bookshelves.

Tong said a refund would be given to any parent who wanted to return the workbook, according to a Sin Chew report today.

He admitted that the editor was not sensitive enough in the usage of words in the workbook, which contained phrases like ‘Chinese willing to even kill Malays’.

Sibu MP Oscar Ling yesterday complained about the textbook, demanding that the Education Ministry investigate the matter.

Tong stressed he was not a politician and did not mean for the questions to contain racial content.

He explained the questions were based on a short story, titled ‘Melissa’, from the Harga Remaja anthology, which is part of the school syllabus.

“The ‘Melissa’ short story is about a woman from China who was adopted by Malay parents in Malaya and was later engaged to her Malay boyfriend.

“The boyfriend was later killed by Chinese during the the (May 13) riots. The question was based on the content of that short story,” Tong is quoted as saying.

He added that he did not expect a workbook to generate controversy and had even received queries from his own family members.

“Even my father had asked me about the matter, it’s apparent that it is a sensitive issue for the Chinese community,” he said.

Tong said he hoped the matter will be resolved as soon as possible.

MP: Racial conflict poser from ministry textbook