Principal apologises for 'pariah' remark
A school principal who was said to have uttered a term derogatory to the Indian Malaysian community has issued an apology to her students.
According to complainant AP Raja Retinam, who is also Federation of Malaysian Indian Organisation information chief, the apology was made at 12.30pm today.
“She made the apology to the Indian students today, so the matter is closed and we are moving on,” he said.
Principal Zaini Mohd Zin of SMK Taman Tasik Ampang in Selangor was reported to have said the word 'pariah' during a speech.
However, she later told the media that she believes that she was taken out of context as she had used the word while referring to the novel 'Interlok' which has attracted much controversy.
“She (said she) had used the book as a reference. This is what we don't want and this is the reason we want the book banned,” said Raja Retinam.
“Young people don't know how to contain their anger when they hear words like 'pariah' used amongst them.”
The Federation of Malaysian Indian Organisation is among the many organisations agitating for a ban or removal of the novel from the reading list of the Form Five Bahasa Malaysia syllabus. They object to passages which refer to one of the characters, Maniam, as a member of the pariah caste.
Set in pre-independence Malaya, the character describes how he found relief from the caste system when he moved from his homeland in India.
source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/153657
seals: This is already an evidence why this book should not be published
According to complainant AP Raja Retinam, who is also Federation of Malaysian Indian Organisation information chief, the apology was made at 12.30pm today.
“She made the apology to the Indian students today, so the matter is closed and we are moving on,” he said.
Principal Zaini Mohd Zin of SMK Taman Tasik Ampang in Selangor was reported to have said the word 'pariah' during a speech.
However, she later told the media that she believes that she was taken out of context as she had used the word while referring to the novel 'Interlok' which has attracted much controversy.“She (said she) had used the book as a reference. This is what we don't want and this is the reason we want the book banned,” said Raja Retinam.
“Young people don't know how to contain their anger when they hear words like 'pariah' used amongst them.”
The Federation of Malaysian Indian Organisation is among the many organisations agitating for a ban or removal of the novel from the reading list of the Form Five Bahasa Malaysia syllabus. They object to passages which refer to one of the characters, Maniam, as a member of the pariah caste.
Set in pre-independence Malaya, the character describes how he found relief from the caste system when he moved from his homeland in India.
source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/153657
seals: This is already an evidence why this book should not be published
Comments