PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) has begun to rally behind Prof Datuk Teo Kok Seong after like-minded academician Prof Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah blasted the coalition for not defending the latter for having steadfastly opposed Chinese vernacular schools as being “an obstacle to racial integration or for sowing the seeds of racism”.
For context, Ridhuan who is a renowned convert Muslim preacher and Muafakat Nasional deputy president has hit out at PAS and Bersatu MPs for not siding Teo when DAP Seputeh MP Teresa Kok had wanted police to probe the former Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s (UKM) professor of ethnic studies in the Dewan Rakyat for his seditious and inflammatory remarks.
“Without denying the position of vernacular schools which have long been one of the options in the national education system, we need to acknowledge the weakness of our education system in creating unity among multi-racial communities through the use of Bahasa Melayu as the national language,” noted PAS deputy chief Hanif Jamaluddin in a recent statement.
“This is inevitable due to the enforcement of national laws and culture that is very weak,”
As such, Hanif who took on Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari for the Sungai Tua state assembly contest during the Aug 12 six states polls last year contended that experienced academicians and intellectuals like Teo would not simply issue statements without a solid foundation and clear facts.
“This is different from politicians, especially those who are synonymous with chauvinistic and extremist behaviour from DAP who have repeatedly indulged in unruly and insensitive actions that are against the norm of Malysia’s pluralistic society,” he justified.
“Teresa Kok’s action of labelling an individual with a strong sense of nationalism and patriotism such as Dr Teo Kok Seong as a racist and even calling for a PDRM (Royal Malaysia Police) report to be lodged against him is an outrageous and impudent act.”
Meanwhile, Bersatu youth strongly condemned actions of the unity government that bowed to the insistence of Kok who urged the police to investigate the intellectual views put forth by Teo and the Malay-language Merdeka Times news portal (whose owner and renowned convert Muslim preacher Firdaus Wong Wai Hung claimed that police will quiz him this week over a TikTok video which featured Teo’s “hate statement”).
“This spell the hypocrisy of DAP and Pakatan Harapan (PH) who are willing to use the Sedition Act 1948 to impede the freedom and rights of an expert who expressed an honest opinion about vernacular schools.in Malaysia,” lamented the movement’s head honcho and Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal.
“Stop this intimidation on academician Prof Emeritus Teo Kok Seong and the Merdeka Times.” – March 11, 2024
Main image credit: mykmu.net
