BTN apa sudah jadi?

Friday May 22, 2009
BTN course teaches disunity

AS parents we are glad that our grown up children attend the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) course, which is compulsory for government servants. They are all mature professionals.
But what angers me is that, instead of talking integrity, unity and harmony among the various races, participants are taught about disunity and racial hatred. Is this what our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib wants for 1MALAYSIA?
Throughout the five days of the course, participants are repeatedly told not to question Malay rights and so on. The course coordinators keep talking about social contracts and telling non-Malays not to question Malay rights and so on.
Many participants, including my Malay friends, are upset.
Are we still living in a primitive age? If the BTN course is to be conducted in this manner, it is better to abolish it or let it concentrate on only one ethnic group.
The course is not bringing unity but only arousing anger and hatred.
As it is handled by the Prime Minister’s office, please do not say that they do not know what is going on.
DISAPPOINTED,Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.


Tuesday May 26, 2009
BTN course turning into a farce

REFERRING to the letter “BTN course teaches disunity” (The Star, May 22), I agreed with the writer. I’ve talked to almost everybody who had attended the course and the common reaction was how much more they dislike the Government after the course.
I believe BTN should be dropped. The course is not achieving its objectives.
On the contrary, it is sowing hatred against the Government and encouraging disunity.
All BTN course participants are grown-ups and know what is right and wrong.
By trying to enforce a belief, the Government is instead causing a backlash.
If the organisers of a five-day course think they can convert an opposition-minded government officer to change his mind, they are being naive.
The course is compulsory for all new government servants and those who entered the service from 2002 to 2004.
If one does not pass BTN, one will not get a promotion or salary increase even though one gets “Aras 4”, the highest mark for the PTK (Penilaian Takap Kecekapan) exam.
This is another reason why decent, hard-working government doctors leave the service and we end up employing foreigners who can barely live up to the standards.
Do not waste money and precious time by conducting such a course.
Government servants are attending enough courses and seminars already.
Let them stay in their workplace to serve the people.
GOVERNMENT DOCTOR,Kuching.

Allow Chin Peng to return, Gerakan

Posted Date 19/05/2009: GERAKAN WEBSITE

Press Statement by Penang Gerakan Chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan

Former communist leader Chin Peng should be allowed to return to Malaysia on humanitarian grounds, especially when he is no more a security threat to the country, said Penang Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan.

“Communism all over the world including China and Russia has transformed and is moving towards economy-based struggles and extreme communist terrorism practiced in the 50s is non-existent now,” said Dr Teng in a statement.

Echoing the call by Penang-based Citizens International chairman S.M. Mohamed Idris to the government to allow Chin Peng to return to the country, Dr Teng urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to use his good offices to take a re-look at Chin Peng’s case.

Chin Peng, who was born in Sitiawan, Perak, has brothers and sisters, and close relatives who are staying in Butterworth, Perak and all over Malaysia.

“He is now 85years’old and wishes to return to Malaysia, his birthplace. He had even appealed to the High Court to allow him to return but the appeal was rejected.

“The government should fulfill his wishes,” said Dr Teng, adding that Chin Peng’s family would be very happy to see him back.

S. M. Mohamed had told a Press conference yesterday that the struggle waged by the liberation movement led by Chin Peng, Rashid Mydin, Abdullah C.D, Shamsiah Fakeh and others had contributed to the independence of Malaya.

S.M. Mohamed described Chin Peng as a Malaysian patriot who fought the British colonialists from the age of 15 and “sacrificed everything he had to free this country from British control, domination and exploitation.”
Mohamed also said an appeal letter would be sent to Najib.

Chin Peng is currently living in exile in Bangkok. He failed in his last bid to live in Malaysia after the Federal Court on April 30 upheld two lower courts’ decisions compelling him to produce his identification documents before he could enter the country.