Education Minister stirs racial animosity all in the name of so-called harmony and reform: Tiong
KUCHING: Calls to remove Dr Maszlee Malik as Education Minister get louder.
The latest came from Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president and Bintulu Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
He warned that Maszlee’s words further divided the country along racial and religious lines and should be grounds to sack him.
“This Education Minister should be replaced for continuing to stir more hatred under the education policies, all in the name of so-called harmony and reform,” Tiong said in a statement on Monday.
Maszlee has been slammed by employers, academicians and politicians alike for linking the matriculation quota system to alleged unequal private sector employment opportunities for Bumiputera graduates.
The Education Minister also came under fire for retaining the controversial 90:10 ratio for public university matriculation programme after raising the intake from 25,000 to 40,000.
“Education is the lifeblood of our national development. If such an incompetent person cannot be forward-looking, the entire country is in trouble and another competent leader should take over,” he urged.
Tiong said Pakatan Harapan, especially the DAP, also loses credibility daily for not backing its promises to improve racial harmony and equality.
“PH claims the former government was pursuing racial politics. It is now practising the same things it had condemned. Not even education is spared,” he pointed out.
“Their policies not only undermine national unity but create even deeper racial divides and make us suspicious of each other.”
Tiong’s statement added to a barrage from prominent employers lambasting Maszlee for conflating employment opportunities in the private sector with preference for hiring non-Malays, saying that it stokes further misunderstandings leading to racial tensions.
“Employment has nothing to do with race, but with pure ability. As a minister who fails to think before making statements, Maszlee plays a dangerous game of stirring racial sentiments in multi-racial Malaysia,” he said.
Tiong urged young people to be calm amid Maszlee’s inflammatory statements and to be sceptical of the online news they read about PH policies, pointing to PH’s numerous U-turns on their election promises.
“It was easy for PH to say that it will suspend PTPTN repayments for those earning below RM4,000 per month, stop blacklisting defaulters and even abolish it altogether. But these have never been fulfilled and some old policies are continued even as it condemned them before the 14th general election.”
