How Many More SPM Workbooks Have Racist Undertones Like "Chinese Willing To Kill Malays"?

An SPM workbook where model questions and answers discuss “Chinese killing Malays” and how Chinese schools are the cause of disunity among the people is causing concern among teachers and parents, Sibu MP Oscar Ling said.

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In the workbook published by Info Didik this year, students are asked why the "Chinese willing to even kill Malays" and vice-versa, among a host of other racial innuendos.

The model answers for the questions painted the Chinese as responsible for some of the racial strife and seemed to suggest that Chinese schools contributed to racial divide in the country.

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The excerpt referred to in the SPM workbook is from the short story 'Melissa' by national laureate Abdullah Hussain. It is of an anthology of short stories called 'Harga Remaja', which is part of a Form Four text for the Bahasa Malaysia literature component. Abdullah also wrote the novel 'Interlok' which caused controversy when it was selected as a school text, for allegedly perpetuating racial stereotypes.

He explained the questions were based on a short story, titled ‘Melissa’, from the Harga Remaja anthology, which is part of the school syllabus. “The ‘Melissa’ short story is about a woman from China who was adopted by Malay parents in Malaya and was later engaged to her Malay boyfriend. “The boyfriend was later killed by Chinese during the the (May 13) riots. The question was based on the content of that short story,” Tong is quoted as saying.

Ling today called on Education Minister ‎Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to state what his ministry's model answers would be if questions on "Melissa" actually came out in the SPM examination. "I will not deny that there could be a political conspiracy here, there may be a reason behind it. "We don't know whether these were common answers agreed by the minis‎try," Ling said of the contents in the workbook.

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He said the sentiment in the book which suggested that Chinese vernacular schools were the cause of racial disunity appeared to be shared by certain Umno MPs in Parliament. "There appears to be an agenda to propagate that vernacular schools are the cause of disunity among the races. "They are trying to spread this theory to students‎, which is very wrong," he added.

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Ling said that if that was the contention, the same could be raised about religious schools for Muslim students. "I am just using this as an example but if they say SJKC (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina) is the cause of racial strife, what about religious schools which are for Muslims students only, isn't that the same thing?" he asked.

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However, Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told the Dewan Rakyat the ministry is powerless to rectify the problem if the publication is private and did not come from the ministry. “We hope this did not come from the ministry. If it is from a private publisher, it is beyond the scope of the ministry,” Muhyiddin said.

Noting that no prior complaints were received by the ministry on the book, Muhyiddin nevertheless assured parliament that the matter would be looked into. He said the ministry would not have authorised the publication of the book which was likely the work of a private publisher.

The fact that the controversial "racial" SPM model question was the work of a private publisher does not absolve the ministry, DAP's Sibu MP Oscar Ling said.

This is as the question was based on an Education Ministry-approved short story which touches on the May 13, 1969 racial riots. Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby today, he said this raises the question of whether such a short story is "relevant" as a school text. Ling also asked what the answers will be if students are asked about May 13 in SPM.

He questioned the suitability of using that particular story in textbooks for secondary students. "We want to ask the Education Minister whether it is suitable to include this story in books for the SPM examination because the meaning can be easily twisted. "We know how it can happen," he added.

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Julian Tan (DAP-Stampin) asked about the Education Minister's rescue plan given that many students had been exposed to the Kertas Model Sebenar SPM Bahasa Malaysia.

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He suggested that the Education Ministry conduct checks if similar racial contents were in other schoolbooks. "Are there other books with such contents that escaped the attention ‎of the ministry?" he asked, in urging teachers and students to report to the ministry if they came across such content.

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Titled 'Kertas Model Sebenar SPM Bahasa Malaysia', the book is authored by Khairudiin Ayip and Yusanizan Shafie.

The publisher of a workbook which had questions that were deemed ‘racially sensitive’ has apologised after several MPs yesterday raised concerns about it in Parliament.He admitted that the editor was not sensitive enough in the usage of words in the workbook, which contained phrases like ‘Chinese willing to even kill Malays’. Tong stressed he was not a politician and did not mean for the questions to contain racial content.

Info Didik chief executive officer William Tong said he has also instructed the workbook entitled ‘Kertas Model Sebenar SPM Bahasa Malaysia’ to be withdrawn from all bookshelves. Tong said a refund would be given to any parent who wanted to return the workbook, according to a Sin Chew report today.