Kit Siang: Disband Biro Tatanegara

(The Malaysian Insider) Veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to disband the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) for undermining national unity.

"In his 51st National Day message last Saturday, Abdullah said united citizens were a bulwark against any threat, either from within or outside the country.

"He said solidarity was the cornerstone of the country's political stability, social harmony and economic competitiveness," said Lim in a media statement today.

The Ipoh Timur MP faulted Abdullah for retaining the BTN, an agency within his own department, eventhough he claimed it undermined national unity.

"The BTN had been assaulting the national 'bulwark' and chipping away the Malaysian 'cornerstone' in the past quarter of a century, with its unrelenting and unashamed purveying of racist poison among government servants, PTD scholars, university students and youths — using public funds running at RM76.3 million last year and RM72 million next year — to destroy the public policy of creating a Bangsa Malaysia out of the diverse peoples of Malaysia," he said.

Lim also lashed out at the rest of Abdullah's administration and the leaders of the Barisan Nasional coalition and demanded that they make clear their stand regarding this matter.

He described the BTN as "a Trojan Horse in the Prime Minister's Department which undermines and subverts the Prime Minister’s National Day message of national unity and solidarity and Vision 2020 objective of Bangsa Malaysia."

Yesterday, Lim had commented in his website (blog.limkitsiang.com) on the case of a parent whose daughter was allegedly subjected to racist remarks while attending a BTN indoctrination course for Public Service Department (PSD) scholars.

The entry provoked a flurry of responses from other equally outraged parents, whose children had faced similar situations.

"As the BTN is under the direct jurisdiction of the Prime Minister, Abdullah should explain why BTN is allowed to conduct such divisive and racist indoctrination courses, which are compulsory for JPA scholars and government officials but which are also held for selected university students and youths — like the BTN course in UiTM Shah Alam on July 6, 2008," said Lim.