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What do the `Biro Tatanegara' say to the Malays-only audience that it cannot say to the rest ?

From Malaysian Voters Union (Malvu)



A notebook left by a local university student somewhere caught my eyes : it was a notebook of a participant to a `Biro Tatanegara' seminar containing notes of the `lectures' ! Since it is a tax-payers supported government department it appears strange that the Biro Tatanegara limits its audience to only Malays and speaks from an ethnic perspective :

The participant recorded a Pengarah Birotatanegara Tuan Hj Sabudin Bin Hasan as saying under a speech titled `politik matang' -part of a `Seminar Bina Negara USM': `punca pergaduhan (ialah) kuasa. Bila ada kuasa kita boleh buat kata putus...Melayu 54% dalam Negara -tampuk pemeritahan oleh Orang Melayu. Kata putus di tangan kita.'

The date was 28/08/04.

So tax payers are made to support a department which teach students from 1 race that political power must be in their hands only - no withstanding an apparent contradiction which this point has with the 1st challenge of Wawasan 2020, which was dutifully reprinted at the back cover of the note book : `Mewujudkan Bangsa Malaysia bersatu yang mempunyai metalamat dikongsi bersama' !

It may be understandable -though we need not agree, if UMNO fund and run the above seminar to propagate its misguided `Ketuanan Melayu' racial supremacy ideology. But for a Government department to do so is certainly out of its job definition-if it still pretend to service all Malaysians -let alone equally !

Certainly not only 1 student was given such brainwashing wrapped up as `pendidikan politik' and `seminar Bina Negara'. There certainly had been millions of such sessions organised with mammoth expense by the UMNO government since the beginning of Biro Tatanegara. So what do our Mr Clean PM say about this department under the PM department which unabashedly propagate sectarian thinking ?

While not necessary that all students believe what they are told but those who lack critical thinking would be misled into thinking that the `double speak' on `national unity' is for official nicities but it really mean that ethnic hegemony is right !

To continue on the notes taken there was another bit which goes like this : Jangan ghairah sangat sambut hari Valentine Day kerana ia adalah hari memperingati hari dijatuhkan kerajaan islam kerajaan Sepanyol.' This bit was quoted as by another speaker Dato Prof-Madya Jamaludin Mohaidin.

So what has this got to do with a seminar purportedly to help `bina negara', paid for by all tax payers ? It is again plain that it may be more appropriate for such points to be raised at a religiously inspired talk -and subject to debates, than in a `nation building' talk.

So there is a Department of National Unity under the PM Deaprtment preaching the Malaysian identity, and then you also have Biro Tatanegara which preach ethnic power ala-UMNO speak. So what do Pak Lah want to do really ? Is he trying to speak different thing to different people as politicians are notorious for ? Or is he thinking that what is good for UMNO is also good for the country ?

It has been noted by students of dictatorships that they invariably mix up what belong to them as a party and what come under them as a government/public office.

Source :

Malvu : What do the `Biro Tatanegara' say to the Malays-only audience that it cannot say to the rest ?

Copyright : Malaysian Voters Union