The Internal Security Ministry has instructed the media to downplay reports of the alleged misappropriation of funds earmarked for the repair and maintenance of Chinese primary schools nationwide.

The ministry has written to the editors last Thursday demanding "immediate cooperation" from the media not to highlight the controversy, which was first raised by Deputy Higher Education Minister Ong Tee Keat two weeks ago.

It has been reported that only RM3,000 was spent for the renovation and termite treatment of a school in Johor - the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Kung Yu - instead of the RM30,000 granted by the government.

In the Sept 21 letter, the ministry's Publication Control Unit secretary Che Din Yusoh claimed that the reporting of the controversy would lead to "confusion" among readers and erode public confidence in the government's ability to resolve the matter.

The ministry also said it considered the spat between Ong and Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein over the issue has ended after Ong's immediate superior, Mustapa Muhamed, apologised on Ong's behalf last week.

Several media sources have told malaysiakini that journalists are only allowed to report on the visit of ministers to the affected schools but they are barred from investigating the matter further.

Missing articles

The media ban is likely to affect mostly the Chinese press as they have unearthed similar cases of alleged misused of the special funds in two other schools - SRJK Mah Hua in Kepala Batas, Penang and SRJK Sin Bin in Klang, Selangor.

On Saturday, the Chinese newspapers reported Works Minister S Samy Vellu's visit to Mah Hua primary school to probe the alleged misappropriation of funds following the media reports.

However, reports in yesterday's evening editions of all four major Chinese newspapers - Sin Chew Daily, Nanyang Siang Pau, China Press and Guangming Daily - on the alleged misappropriation of funds in Klang's SJKC Sin Bin - involving work worth RM5,000 for an allocation for RM40,000 - failed to appear in their morning editions today.

The reports are however still available in their respective websites.

The special fund for the repair and upgrading of schools was set up last year after a teacher died when he fell through loose floorboards in a Chinese primary school in Kedah.

Urgent fax sent

In an immediate reaction, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said that he urgently faxed the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urging him to immediately remove the restraints on media reporting on the abuses of public funds.

He said that Abdullah has to make a "clear declaration that his administration continues to want to 'hear the truth' from the public, however unpleasant, and that he himself remains fully committed to a free, independent and responsible media".

"I told the prime minister that he is sending out a very wrong message, as an administration committed to an all-out war against corruption and abuses of public funds regardless of the form of leakages of development expenditures should have welcomed extensive media reporting on the issue, instead of imposing a clampdown."

"If the Abdullah administration should frown upon exposes involving RM30,000 or RM40,000, who expects that it will support exposes involving huge expenditures running to tens, hundreds of millions or even billions of ringgit of public funds?"