Education DG says Johor principal fiasco settled
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

August 18, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom said today it was just a misunderstanding — the allegedly offensive remarks by a Johor school principal — and the matter had been resolved.

Siti Inshah Mansor, the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra principal, allegedly said that “Chinese students... can return to China,” and likened Indian prayer strings to dog leashes during school assembly.

Alimuddin denied that the principal has been transferred from the school.

“There is no change, the issue was only a misunderstanding and the problem has been solved between the principal and students,” he told The Malaysian Insider by SMS.

The police are currently investigating the case under Section 504 of the Penal Code for provocation which carries a maximum imprisonment of two years, a fine or both.

A total of 17 complaints have been lodged with the authorities.

Kulai Jaya deputy OCPD Deputy Supt Mohd Kamil Sukarmi told reporters that the police would be calling for the principal’s statement to be recorded today.

On Thursday, the principal had reportedly made the derogatory remarks during the launch of the school’s Merdeka celebrations.

“Chinese students are not needed here and can return to China or Foon Yew schools. For the Indian students, the prayer string tied around their neck and wrist makes them look like dogs because only dogs are tied like that,” Siti Inshah was quoted as saying in at least one police report.

State Education Department deputy director Markom Giran has also said that the principal was on leave pending disciplinary action.

The school administration confirmed with The Malaysian Insider that the principal has been leave since yesterday and is expected to be back by Monday.

Yesterday Lim Kit Siang called on the government to remove the principal and said that she should be severely punished for the offensive remarks allegedly made during a school

Police report against the principal racist remarks.

BN Youth wants ‘racist’ school principal punished
By Boo Su-Lyn

August 19, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, The Barisan Nasional (BN) Youth today demanded the government punish Johor school principal Siti Inshah Mansor if allegations that she made racist remarks were proven true.

Their call came after angry parents lodged 17 police reports against the SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra principal, whose remarks the Education Director-General Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom dismissed as a mere misunderstanding which has been resolved. But the parents now say it has not been resolved and described Alimuddin’s statement as a “cover-up”.

“BN Youth calls for the government not to take this matter lightly,” said its chief Khairy Jamaluddin in a statement today.

“If it is true that it happened, she should be charged with a severe punishment under Section 504 of the Penal Code or the like as our multi-racial country cannot accept this at all,” added Khairy, who is also the Umno Youth chief.

The police are currently investigating the case under section 504 of the Penal Code for provocation which carries a maximum imprisonment of two years, a fine or both.

Siti Inshah allegedly likened Indian students wearing prayer threads to dogs and ordered dissatisfied ethnic Chinese and Indian students to “return to China or India”.

The principal reportedly made the derogatory remarks during the launch of the school’s Merdeka celebrations last Thursday.

“Did she (Siti Inshah) not consider the students’ feelings, especially the Chinese and Indians, by making comments that appear to insult and chase them out of the country while they were singing “Negaraku, tanah tumpahnya darahku?” asked the Rembau MP.

BN Youth’s censure against the school principal joins a chorus of condemnation against Siti Inshah since MIC central working committee member S. Murugessan has called on the government to mete out the “heaviest punishment” while DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang has demanded for her dismissal.

“Her remarks… are very disgusting and shows her ignorance in citizenship issues and religious rituals in this country. If it is true that it happened, then a severe punishment must be meted out as a lesson and a strong signal that any actions which are not in line with the 1 Malaysia concept, which fosters national unity, must be handled and acted upon accordingly,” said Khairy.

He pointed out that this incident which involved a school head, coupled with another earlier incident which involved the prime minister’s special officer, showed that racial tension was a growing systemic problem in the country.

Datuk Nasir Safar, the prime minister’s former special officer, allegedly said in February this year at a 1 Malaysia event that the “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese, especially women, came to sell their bodies”.

He was later asked to resign as the prime minister’s aide and no further action was taken against him. In Parliament, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said that this was because it was difficult to prove if Nasir’s words had any tendency to be seditious.

Another civil servant accused of making racial slurs was a schoolteacher who purportedly made racist remarks but was let off with just a transfer.

School teacher Rusita Abu Hassan who taught in SMK Telok Panglima Garang in Banting had in 2008 allegedly used derogatory remarks on a certain ethnic group in order to “test their level of patience”.

She was later transferred from the school but the punishment was viewed as more of a promotion for she was given a post in a smart school located near to her home.

Parents claimed that Siti Inshah has also made racist remarks in her previous school SMK Kelapa Sawit, where she called Indians Nigerians.

Another student alleged that Siti Inshah gave an example of owning a Proton Saga where a Chinese and Indian are passengers in the car and cannot claim any right to the car, likening it to Malaysia where non-Malay students are mere passengers.

Metzelder says: I hope Government will take serious action against her. At this high level of authority, uttering racist statement is unacceptable to all Malaysians.

Putting in ISA to punish such racist woman is highly recommended by me. If we put words back to ISA, her action justify all requirements; harming country safety and enticing racial sentiments.

Such civil servants should not let off hook because Prime Minister said before they are portraying 1Malaysia.

We must not forget few racist statements made before:

The Ahmad Ismail-Nasir Safar-Siti Inshah incidents are a collective indictment of the failure of the process of Malaysian nation-building.

In August 2008, Bukit Bendera Umno chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail referred to Chinese Malaysians as “pendatang”.

In February this year, the special officer to the prime minister, Datuk Nasir Safar, said that “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially women came to sell their bodies”.

“It is clear that the Ahmad Ismail-Nasir Safar-Siti Inshah episodes are not isolated incidents but reflect a deeper national malady contributed no doubt by the communal brainwashing perpetrated by Biro Tata Negara over the decades,” DAP adviser, Lim Kit Siang said.

‘Racist’ principal spurs all-out Facebook war (TMI)
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 – What started out as a fan page for Johor principal Siti Inshah Mansor has escalated into an all-out verbal war on popular social networking site Facebook.

Since Siti’s alleged racist remarks were reported last week, a fan page in support of the principal was created on Facebook.

Titled “Support Puan Siti, a political victim (Sokong Cikgu Puan Hajah Siti Mangsa Politik), the Facebook page (picture) has now garnered 1,943 fans since its creation last Saturday, August 21.

Many wall postings were in support of Siti, with many “fans” believing that the allegations against her was “racial and ethnic”.

But the backing for the principal has not sat well with some Facebook users who have also started posting wall posts on the support page.

“Before I unlike this page, this is the last thing I’ll say. As a Malay girl who is sick with the racist attitude of her own race and has experienced racism from her own race because I am mixed, I want to advise everyone on this fan page to take the high road.

“Don’t insult and hurt the feelings of other races please. This is the Holy month of Ramadhan, by doing this you are only gathering sins. Remember other races are also creations of Allah,” said a post by Sharina Shahman.

Hours after The Malaysian Insider carried out a story about Siti’s support page yesterday, a Facebook page condemning the alleged remarks of the Johor principal was also created.

Titled “Do not support Puan Siti (Tidak Sokong Cikgu Puan Hajah Siti) the page currently has 454 followers.

The page said: “A school principal in Johor was recently accused of using racist remarks in describing her ethnic Chinese and Indian wards in her school. A Facebook fan page supporting the principal has been created and garnered 1365 fans in 48 hours. This page exists for the sole purpose of gathering people who do not support such forms of racism and to show that racism isn’t right.

“Go and have a look at how bad is racism,” said the information page. The link for Siti’s Facebook page is subsequently provided.

“We in Malaysia are a family, so please do not use racial issues for personal gain ... it does not matter whether we are Indian, Chinese or Malay, we are all the children of Malaysia. I hope that this country only has one race, a Malaysian race like 1 Malaysia,” said Gevakumaran Rajoo in a comment on the page.

Some of the comments posted urged the government to take strong action against the principal, citing dissatisfaction that nothing had been done as of yet and that investigations into Siti’s alleged remarks were taking “too long”.

A number of commentators felt that a public apology did not suffice, with some even demanding that Siti be charged under the Sedition Act or the Internal Security Act (ISA).

However, the administrator of the page had also cautioned followers against posting any racially-provocative remarks.

“Expressing your views is encouraged, but please be civil about it,” said the administrator of the “Do not support Puan Siti” page.

Last week, the Johor school principal sparked national outrage when her allegedly racist remarks were reported, following a failed initial attempt by the Education Ministry to placate parents.

The SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra principal had reportedly made the derogatory remarks during the launch of the school’s Merdeka celebrations.

“Chinese students are not needed here and can return to China or Foon Yew schools. For the Indian students, the prayer string tied around their neck and wrist makes them look like dogs because only dogs are tied like that,” Siti Inshah was quoted as saying in at least one police report.

The police are currently investigating the case under Section 504 of the Penal Code for provocation, which carries a maximum imprisonment of two years, a fine, or both.

A total of 20 complaints have been lodged with the authorities.

On Friday, Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also directed Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom to set up a committee to investigate the matter.

Alimuddin had earlier said it was a misunderstanding that had already been resolved.

However, on the same day, another principal, this time from Sungai Petani, Kedah was similarly accused of racism for allegedly telling her Chinese pupils to “return to China”.

The Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bukit Selambau head was said to have accused the Chinese pupils of being insensitive towards their Muslim peers by eating in the school compound during the fasting month of Ramadan last Friday, and ordered them to return to China if they could not respect the culture of other races.