KUALA LUMPUR – The Sarawak Education, Innovation and Talent Development Ministry (MEITD) should not be cleaning up the “mess started by someone else” as it has other important tasks at hand, rather than issuing a directive on Sarawak schools’ participation in the Palestine Solidarity Week.
Sarawak’s deputy minister Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee blasted former Bukit Assek rep Irene Chang for calling on state minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah to work with the Sarawak Education Department to issue the directive.
Dr Annuar said the ministry has more important tasks at hand such as elevating the standard of education in Sarawak and working on the blueprint to provide free tertiary education for Sarawakian students studying in the five state-owned institutions of higher learning, reported Borneo Post Online.
“They have to clean up their own mess. In any event, they have to revoke their own directive. And we, in Sarawak, promote racial and religious harmony, which is why we are known as the country’s melting pot.
“To me, we don’t need (to issue the directive) because it is a known fact that the letter from the Ministry of Education (MOE) is not a directive, but a guideline for those who want to organise the support to Palestine’s cause and therefore, to avoid unnecessary programmes, that appears to carry elements of extremism.
“Furthermore, Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen had said that he has confirmed with the Ministry of Education that the Palestine solidarity programme is not compulsory for schools and education institutions in the state.
“YB Chong had issued a statement recently that he had confirmed with the Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying that it is not compulsory for schools in Sarawak to organise the programme of Palestine Solidarity Week. Isn’t this suffice for schools in Sarawak to be properly informed and advised on the matter?
“I don’t understand why we (MEITD) asked to issue such a directive for school participation in Palestine Solidarity Week, when in the first place, we were not the one that started the whole episode. She (Lim) as deputy minister should have gone against it before the letter was issued,” he was quoted as saying.
Dr Annuar said Sarawak DAP should ask Lim to resign as deputy minister if they are not happy.
“Why then, she (Lim) did not voice out or register their unhappiness before the letter was issued? I liken Irene’s (Chang) call to that of a ‘damage control’. Please don’t be doing ‘damage control’ after things have already occurred.”
Towards this end, Dr Annuar pointed out that directing the blame to MEITD is most unfair, as the “mess” did not originate from the state’s ministry.
Earlier, Chang had stressed that Sarawak should take the lead to show the rest of Malaysia that the education system will not be allowed to be dragged in any way into geopolitical issues and international conflicts. – October 30, 2023