Putrajaya mum on punishment for Johor headmistress

Despite mounting public pressure, the Najib administration has yet to announce whether it planned to punish Johor school principal Siti Inshah Mansor for allegedly uttering racial slurs.

Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin reiterated this afternoon that the buck was now in the hands of the “enforcement authority”, which is due to make a decision soon.

The Deputy Prime Minister who was speaking to reporters after launching a road safety joint operation at KL Sentral here, said this after he was asked if the government planned to use the Sedition Act against Siti Inshah.

“That one, I will leave it entirely up to the enforcement authority to enforce under whatever law. I believe there are available enforcement instruments that can be used... under whatever law,” he replied quickly.

On Thursday, when Muhyiddin was bombarded with the same queries in Putrajaya, he said that the case had been transferred to the Public Service Department (PSD) to decide.

“We have transferred the case to PSD and we hope they will make a decision immediately. That is why it was transferred last week and the PSD director has been asked to make a decision as soon as possible,” he had said.

Before that, Muhyiddin had directed Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom to set up a task force to probe the incident.

Alimuddin had previously invited flak when he claimed shortly after the incident that it was merely a misunderstanding and had been settled between the principal and the school parents.

Siti Inshah entered the limelight recently after she allegedly told the SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman school assembly that the Chinese could go back to China and that the Indians looked like “dogs” when they wore their prayer strings.

Muhyiddin, however, stressed that no one would be spared by the law if they behave in a manner detrimental to the country’s harmony.

“We want stern action to be taken so that others would not follow suit,” he said.

When asked to comment on a separate incident involving the existence of a derogatory Facebook profile called “Melayu Babi”, Muhyiddin said the government viewed such incidents seriously.

“Especially on the question of religion... religious issues are very influential issues so if there are parties that choose to play with religion, whether Islam or others, it can definitely trigger a lot of feelings of anger.

“The government views this very seriously. And as we know, the prime minister himself had given a warning a few days ago that these actions can create safety problems and put a strain on the relationships between the different communities. We must avoid this,” he said.

Muhyiddin added that the government had also issued orders to all relevant enforcement agencies to take stern action against those found guilty of committing acts that could lead to religious tension.

“However, we need strong and solid proof first.

“We cannot allow anyone, whether a Muslim or a non-Muslim, to ridicule the religions of others,” he said.

Muhyiddin acknowledged that a police report had been lodged on the offending Facebook page and expressed confidence that the authorities would take the necessary measures to punish the culprits.

“I am sure they have ways to prove who the culprits are. But what is most important is that such incidences should not recur.

“We have, for a long time now, been living in peace and in respect of one another, so why should one religion pollute another? We do not want to see Malaysia in crisis over religious issues,” he said.

On Wednesday, the Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung lodged a police report over the Facebook page in question, claiming that it touched on sensitivities of the Malays and could create religious conflict in the country.


comments

This is the kind of double standards that put the people off. Namewee punished. MP for Serdang insulted and painted dirty by Utusan and Kerismuddin. These are the kinds of attitudes that put ordinary Malaysians off, whether they are Chinese, Malays, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans.

If you say anything pro UMNO, no matter how insulting and intimidating it will be ok. Let us wait and see what punishments await the two principals. Nothing short of a transfer to the interiors of Sabah and Sarawak or a straight forward expulsion will satisfy ordinary Rakyat. UMNO/BN politicize how and what you want to do it, but do not use race and religion. We are not going to back you up to protect your own interests and wealth. Sudahlah! Cukuplah UMNO/BN!