HE thought he could have earned some brownie points with the Malay Muslim community by claiming that Chinese private schools should not be entitled for government financial aid.
But convert Muslim preacher Prof Riduan Tee Abdullah found himself at the firing line of Malay netizens instead after opposition-slant TV Pertiwi (@TVPertiwi_MY) aired his views on X (previously Twitter).
Sekolah persendirian Cina tidak berhak mendapat bantuan kewangan kerajaan, kata Muafakat Nasional.
Timbalan presidennya, Prof Riduan Tee Abdullah berkata sekolah berkenaan sudah dilengkapi kemudahan canggih selain ditaja ahli perniagaan setiap bulan.
(1/4) pic.twitter.com/vAeCnNzrBJ
— TV Pertiwi (@TVPertiwi_MY) February 21, 2024
In fact, many Malay netizens are not buying argument of the Muafakat Nasional’s deputy president that Chinese private schools do not deserve funding as “they are already well-equipped with state-of-the-art facilities in addition to being sponsored by businessmen every month”.
Instead, they snubbed the lecturer of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin in Kuala Terengganu for venting anger at the Chinese community as a publicity stunt after failing to shine as a preacher (Ridhuan was relieved as a speaker on talk show Forum Perdana Ehwal Islam on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) soon after the formation of the unity government in late November 2022).
For the uninitiated, UMNO secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki has reportedly defended the RM15.75 mil allocation for 63 Chinese independent high schools (SPMC) in 2023 by stating that questioning this allocation is unjust when Malay education has received RM3 bil in budget.
The allocation for SPMC was started in 2019 under the Pakatan Harapan administration. The federal government at that time allocated RM12 mil and the figures went up to RM15 mil in 2020 and remained the same amount annually until 2022.
However, as the SPMC are not part of the national education system, the allocation does not come from the Education Ministry but as a special grant from the Finance Ministry.
Whatever said and done, some Malay netizens pointed out the need to be careful with those who “ride on religion” to fulfil their political interest. – Feb 22, 2024
