UMNO bastards will not edit the sensitive parts in Interlok at present but will consider later, Stop voting for UMNO @ BN bastards

Interlok to remain as textbook but sensitive parts will be edited later

KUALA LUMPUR: The novel Interlok will remain as a textbook in the literature component of the Bahasa Malaysia subject for Form Five students, but changes will be made to parts deemed sensitive by the Indian community, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said an independent panel would be set up to study the types of amendments and submit recommendations to the Government.

“The decision to continue using the novel, with amendments so as not to hurt the feelings of the Indian community, is the best solution,” Muhyiddin said in a statement.

He added that the panel would comprise linguists, academics, literary figures and representatives of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka as well as the Indian community.

“I expect the amendments to be carried out in the near future,” he said, adding that the novel would be distributed to schools for use only after the amendments had been incorporated.

While waiting for the process to be completed, teachers would continue with the existing syllabus so that the teaching and learning process would not be disrupted.

The novel, by national laureate Datuk Abdullah Hussein, came in for criticism following the Education Ministry’s decision to use it as a literature text, with several parties claiming that it contained words sensitive to the Indian community.

Muhyiddin said the decision was made after taking into consideration the views of all parties, which acknowledged that the book was good in nurturing and strengthening unity among the multi-racial and multi-religious communities in Malaysia.

He said any amendment would not affect the story and noble message the writer wanted to convey.

He added that the consensus was reached after he, MIC president Datuk G. Palanivel and his deputy president Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, met Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to discuss the matter yesterday.

They agreed the novel would continue to be used as a textbook in Zone 2, comprising Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.