Comments
Biro Tata Negara flap
What some Malaysians, including students, say on the newly-revealed controversy that besieged Malaysian Premier Abdullah Badawi can do without. Littlespeck-compiled.
Sep 8, 2008

The following are some of the widespread Internet comments that follow the revelation what the Biru Tata Negara has been doing for some time.

Anonymous said,
Someone suggested why not record the event? How?
I went to BTN before, twice (once for undergrads and the other for students on foreign scholarships). On both camps, we have to surrender our mobile phones. Photography session in the hall were banned. And you want video recording? Fat chance.
Besides, who wants to get caught and being penalised?

Qino said,
This is really dangerous, to teach university students to be wary of other races and plant hatred like that. Thank goodness I don't have to attend any as a private institution student. I hope the voice of reason and logic will be able to drown this fanatism out.

overaged said,
The university admin thought that the students are still living under the coconut shell while other institutions of higher learning (mostly private and regional) are busy positioning themselves in the eyes of the world.
And they (the admin) must surely have under-estimated the power of ICT and Internet can do to the younger generations and presumptively over-rated the naivety of the undergraduates.
You guys think that the students would be easily sweet-talked into believing all these shenanigans? Fat Hope! lol

Anonymous said,
Been there, one that still feel my temperature rising whenever I think of it. We sat through lectures where we were told the Pope was a terrorist and non-Malays should be sent back to 'our countries'.
You should see the final 'exam' we had to take: multiple choice, just pick the answer that criticises non-Malay races the most.
For those of us who get scholarships to go overseas, this is one of our last experiences before we leave. Is it surprising that so many decide they never want to return?
And yes, all recording equipment confiscated. and they are very careful to count and make sure every bit of material they gave us was returned.

Anonymous said,
I have been through BTN as well, just returned yesterday,
This camp is total bullshit. It might not influence us (non-bumis) that much, but I can daresay, it has tremendous effect on the Malays. Intoxicating their mind!
I urge politicians to bring this issue up to Parliament!!

Anonymous said,
Also attended these sessions.
I, myself, am a Malay but I'm against this brainwashing camp. My conclusion from these two sessions is that their mindset is so entrenched in a certain belief/ideology such that it clouds the whole truth about the reality and the dynamics of our country.
A pity.

IPTS student said,
I'm very astonished as to why no one from the Malays or non-Malays ever brought this up? BTNs have been held for years now and no politician from either (the ruing) BN nor the (opposition Pakatan Rakyat) PR even mentioned it in Parliament.
Such brain-washing of youths in our institutions of higher learning is akin to the Hitler Youth Camps in 1930's Germany.
If anyone in Germany now even attempted to reestablish the Hitler Youth, he'd surely be condemned to the fullest by society and the law. And yet in Malaysia, our youths are being fed poison every year and this tak-apa (apathetic) attitude prevails.

juraiza said,
I came, I sleep, I go back
Yeap, that's why I do in BTN and I even went to it twice

Anonymous said,
Want to pass BTN? simple only... just be smart and make the instructor happy, even to the extent that non-Malays are indebted to Malays, and non-Malays should be grateful (don't condemn me, this is what I'd being told!) In activities, give your most stupid and biased answers and be a great pretender.
Trust me, if you follow these instructions, you tutup (close) both eyes also can pass.

msleepyhead said,
If the purpose of the BTN is to instill and promote unity, it should be open in the first place. The very fact that it does not allow cameras, phones or any recording devices clearly shows that it DOES HAVE something to HIDE.
I hope there would be a brave enough person to bootleg the speech and spread the recording on the internet.

jewelsjv said,
The worst thing about BTN is the fact that they threaten us with May 13, 69 if we don't accept the social contract that our forefathers have formulated prior to independence.
They condemn the BERSIH and HINDRAF demonstrations with videos that only portray half the story and they project photos of the gory deaths of innocent civilians in the Middle East to scare us students into submission.
I have to disagree with those who claim that BTN has no brainwashing power. It does. Especially for students who do not read any alternative media (which most tend to do).
The Malays would return believing in their superior status and the non-Malays would submit to the fact that nothing can be done since they don't really belong to this nation anyway. They are still immigrants after 50 years and would forever be indebted to the Malays for their citizenship.

Anonymous said,
I encountered roughly the same thing during the Asian Law Students International Conference this year in Kuala Lumpur. Mukhriz Mahathir (son of former PM, Mahathir Mohamad) presented us with a video filled with all these stuff.
It was such an embarrassment to me (the fact that I'm a Malaysian delegate) with all the other Asian law students present. A lot of them walked out (I walked out too) and severely criticised us, asking "Why do you hate others so much!?"
The Conference wasn't so fun anymore after that..

Will Chow said,
Can these BTN lecturers be detained under ISA (Internal Security Act)? Or can the opposition do something? The non-Malay taxpayer sending their kids to be hated and blamed on everything that happens in Malaysia is unacceptable.

Anonymous said,
I personally know some friends who went to BTN. The respond: It's brainwashing.
It's also interesting how BTN separates male and female in the canteen when the students are supposed to be prepared to go to overseas (UK, Australia, US, Ireland and so on).
Do they actually try to prepare students for a open lifestyle or are they trying to make people conform to this ultra conservative lifestyle?
And what's with all the bashing towards non-Malays? I have said this a thousand times but I will repeat again.

StevePCH Says,
BTN should be disbanded. All these racism has created two types of extremists, one blindly agreeing to it and the other strongly on the opposing side.

max2811 Says,
I am glad you have brought up this issue which I have commented on with regard to the UMNO racists. MCA knows about it but nothing was done.
I have complained to party leaders many years back…
The leaders of these parties have so much at stake that they are not willing to give up this ATM machine. Luckily, I threw away my MCA membership card last year.

big bird Says,
A similar course was conducted recently for all government servants supposedly in the name of “perpaduan”. The said seminar happened in Selangor of which my wife’s colleague (a school teacher) was a participant.
What you described is exactly what they went through as well. Maybe what we know so far is just the tip of an even bigger “racist” iceberg.

dankers Says,
Another thing to add on,
I think why speeches in BTN were agreed to by most participants is because of fear of revoking their scholarship.
Do you know that BTN is a pre-requirement for students to study overseas? You can’t fly, if you do not pass BTN camp.
BTN camps have assessments, objective and subjective. Objective part is 60 questions. As for subjective marks, they are given by the facilitators on their will.
I HAD to agree to everything they say, if even you don't. Not worth it to fight them with their fingers on my neck.

ahming Says,
I’m studying in one of the IPTA. Our University made it compulsory for us to attend the BTN camp by telling us that if we don’t attend, we will not graduate from the Uni.
On the other hand, my friend in UMS doesn’t even know what the heck is BTN camp. It’s not like what my Uni told us, Compulsory. So it’s like we are being dragged into a BN’s political plot.
The camp is a pro-BN campaign (everyone in the camp, Malay, Chinese and Indian know it) as wellas a racism camp.

doc Says,
My daughter went through this so called induction course, as it was called, recently. She was so traumatised by the blatant racism spewed by the trainers that the first thing she wants to do is find some way to migrate!
She is a professional and could not digest that such a thing was carried out as official government programme.
I wish there is some way to expose this disgusting practice so that the general public can see it for what it is - perhaps a video recording a la Lingamgate.
As Abdullah has promised to be a Prime Minister for all Malaysians, he cannot keep quiet to a Trojan Horse in the bosom of the Prime Minister’s Department working to undermine and subvert his National Day message and the Vision 2020 objective of Bangsa Malaysia.
He should tell Malaysians what action he is taking to end the rank racism of the BTN.
Compiled by Littlespeck.com