'China forces for Merdeka month': Act against teacher - Amanah

Appropriate action must be taken against a secondary school teacher in Penang for using images of China's armed forces in a poster for a competition in conjunction with Merdeka, said Amanah.

The party’s education bureau chairperson Azli Yusof said this would serve as a lesson and ensure that such an incident does not recur.

Refusing to accept it as a mistake, he said the incident had “tarnished the Merdeka celebrations, insulted the nation’s security forces and trivialised the sovereignty of an independent nation”.

Azli was also concerned that certain quarters would use the poster to fan racial sentiments and threaten national stability and harmony.

On Sunday, the Penang Education Department conducted an internal investigation into the poster for a scrapbook competition, which has since gone viral on social media.

State education director Abdul Said Hussain had also apologised for the incident and promised that action would be taken.

“Preliminary reports have been received from the school, teachers and the Seberang Perai Tengah District Education Department.

“We regret the incident and hope that all parties will be patient and allow the relevant departments to complete the investigation,” he said.

Said stressed that the department took the matter seriously as it had offended numerous people.

It was reported that the teacher had also apologised and replaced it with a new poster. The teacher had claimed that the initial image was mistakenly taken from the internet.

The poster was first circulated in a WhatsApp group for teachers and parents on Aug 15.

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