Review BTN, says Saifuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: There should be a review of the National Civics Bureau (BTN) as it has strayed from its original objectives said Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.

The Global Movement of Moderates CEO said that the bureau allegedly promotes Malay supremacy, not the original motive of its existence.

"It was meant to educate Malaysians on civic mindedness and patriotism. Not the superiority of Malays.

"When I was young I went through some courses and eventually facilitated some courses there," he said after attending a talk by the MIC youth Saturday.

He added that he did not feel BTN should be abolished but instead stressed that it should be reviewed.

"In addition to its existence itself, we need to review the curriculum and how the course is implemented,” he said.

Former ambassador and G25 spokesman Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin recently expressed similar views.

Noor Farida had said in an interview that there is little doubt that BTN is “an ultra Malay racist agency”.

Many Malaysians were up in arms when a folder, containing several presentation slides, appeared on the BTN website.

Some of the slides described independent book publishers as masterminds of an “anti-establishment” movement to influence youths voting in the 14th general election.

The slides also said that because G25 members were educated in the 1960s and 1970s, they were influenced by socialism.