Datuk Johari Abdul, former BTN director for tenure of 4 years ( 1986 to 1990) , alleged that former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad, the premier for 22 years, was the one who turned BTN into a Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) indoctrination machinery to maintain loyalty to the leaders.
BTN first director was former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
If Umno were to conduct such programmes using their own funds. it is OK but "don’t use the public funds."
Parliament recently approved a budget of RM62 million for BTN
BTN course facilitators handpicked, says former director
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9, 2009): Biro TataNegara (BTN) or National Civics Bureau facilitators were handpicked by politicians or "whoever were in positions of power", said former BTN director Datuk Johari Abdul pic left, who is now Parti Keadilan Rakyat MP for Sungai Petani.
"Most of them were civil servants, some on contract, some permanent but (they) are a bunch of committed people. They work hard for certain purposes, depending on what their bosses want," said Johari who was the BTN director from 1986 to 1990.
Johari, who was in Umno for 16 years before joining PKR in 1998, said many of the courses were run simultaneously and there were different departments and sections in charge to handle the courses.
He said various senior officers were tasked with handling courses for students, corporate leaders, ministers or even member of parliaments.
Apart from BTN facilitators themselves conducting the courses, various speakers from outside were also invited by the officers.
"Among the criteria for these speakers are they must be ultra-Malay, someone who is wiling to talk about Malay supremacy, someone Malay enough and while they conduct the courses, some of these speakers do go overboard," admitted Johari.
He said there was no specific instructions given by higher ups on the content of the courses but said it was an "open secret" that the course was to " glorify" the Malay leaders.
"When these speakers are invited to talk, they have certain expectations. They have their own KPIs (key performance index) and BTN has its own KPI so there was an understanding," said Johari.
"The yardstick is, if they don’t get called by their leaders, then it’s a good job, that’s the unspoken KPI."
He alleged former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad, who was the premier for 22 years, turned BTN into a Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) indoctrination machinery to maintain loyalty to the leaders.
"Mahathir was the one who used BTN to the fullest. I wouldn’t say he designed the curriculum but he had his advisors."
Datuk Ahmad Maslan, who is the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, last week clarified a statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz that the curriculum would be revamped to be in line with the 1Malaysia concept.
Ahmad said instead of a revamp, the curriculum is to be upgraded.
Nazri and Mahathir are exchanging heated criticism of each other over the BTN course issue, with the former calling Mahathir a racist. Mahathir had said the BTN should be maintained as it promoted nationalism.
Johari said the BTN which was first established in 1974 with a different name was placed under the then Youth and Sports Ministry.
In fact, its first director was former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
In 1983, it was re-named BTN and was placed under the Prime Minister’s department.
Johari said he had no qualms if Umno conducted such programmes using their own funds but "don’t use the public funds."
Parliament recently approved a budget of RM62 million for BTN.
Hemananthani Sivanandam/sun2surf
Johari: Dr Mahathir eksploitasi BTN, saya sudah bertaubat
BEKAS PENGARAH DEDAH MODUS OPERANDI BTN
BTN DAN UMNO: SEGALA-GALANYA TERBONGKAR MESKIPUN DINAFIKAN
BTN: Nazri kecam Mahathir rasis, Mahathir dakwa sengaja dibesarkan
KUALA LUMPUR, Dis 8 — Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz berkata beliau tidak bersetuju dengan pandangan bekas Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad bahawa kursus Biro Tata Negara (BTN) tidak perlu dirombak.
“Saya tahu Dr M (Mahathir) mengulas mengenai patriotisme dan sebagainya, ya saya setuju mengenai patriotisme ... ia untuk semua semua.
“Namun terdapat mereka yang menghadiri kursus (BTN) yang kemudianya keluar dengan perasaan marah. Terdapat banyak contoh ... jadi saya ingin tahu di mana silap saya dalam menyokong rombakan silibus BTN,” katanya di sini semalam.
Malah Nazri juga menyifatkan Dr Mahathir sebagai “rasis betul” kerana mempertahankan kursus-kursus BTN sambil mengulangi keputusan Kabinet sebelum ini bahawa program-program itu akan dirombak.
“Dia rasis betul. Anda seharusnya bertindak sebagai seorang rakyat Malaysia sama ada menteri ataupun sebaliknya.
“Anda mesti buat apa yang anda perkatakan. Jangan kerana bila anda menjadi Perdana Menteri, anda mahu setiap orang menyokong anda, anda bertindak seperti seorang rakyat Malaysia. Sebaik sahaja bukan lagi jadi Perdana Menteri, anda hanya bercakap pasal orang Melayu, saya tidak boleh menerima komen beliau,” katanya.
Oleh itu kata Nazri beliau “sangat percaya bahawa kursus-kursus BTN mesti selari dengan slogan 1 Malaysia yang digerakkan oleh Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Kelmarin Dr Mahathir berkata modul latihan BTN yang sedia ada tidak perlu dirombak kerana ia sesuai untuk menyemai semangat patriotisme di kalangan rakyat Malaysia.
Isu kursus anjuran BTN mendapat perhatian ramai apabila kerajaan Negeri Selangor baru-baru ini melarang kakitangan awam dan penuntut institusi pengajian tinggi milik negeri mengikuti kursus berkenaan berkuatkuasa serta-merta kerana didakwa sebagai proses doktrinisasi oleh Barisan Nasional hingga mencetuskan fenomena perkauman, memecahbelahkan penduduk pelbagai kaum, agama dan menimbulkan kebencian kepada pembangkang.
Pada Rabu lalu, kerajaan Pulau Pinang, yang juga di bawah kepimpinan Pakatan, mengikut langkah kerajaan Selangor dan tidak membenarkan semua penjawat awamnya menghadiri kursus BTN berkuatkuasa serta merta.
Mohamed Nazri turut menafikan bahawa rombakan silibus BTN merupakan idea beliau.
“Ia merupakan keputusan Kabinet. Seperti yang anda ketahui, peruntukan BTN disebut dalam bajet (di bawah) Jabatan Perdana Menteri ... jadi ia merupakan wang awam.
“Sekiranya ia wang awam, maka kita perlu pastikan ia dibelanjakan secara berhemah,” katanya.
Dalam pada itu Dr Mahathir berkata kritikan mengenai modul kursus BTN, termasuk yang
mendakwa ia berunsur perkauman adalah sesuatu yang diperbesar-besarkan.
Beliau berkata kursus itu hanya mengajar penjawat awam supaya mempunyai nilai dan budaya yang baru, seperti lebih berdisiplin, jujur dan tidak melakukan rasuah, dalam usaha memberi khidmat yang lebih baik kepada negara.
“Kita telah mempunyai perkara ini selama 20 tahun. Ketika saya menjadi perdana menteri, tiada siapa yang mengadu apa-apa dan mereka yang menghadiri kursus ini juga mendapati ia sangat berguna.
“Apa yang kita cuba ajar mereka ialah mereka mesti mempunyai nilai-nilai yang baru, kerana sistem nilai dan budaya yang mereka ada tidak kondusif untuk kejayaan. Saya tidak nampak apa yang salah mengenainya,” kata beliau dipetik Bernama ketika ditemui wartawan di Cyberjaya.
===================================================================================
Nazri says Dr M's remarks ‘most stupid’
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, lashed out at Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today and described the former premier’s remarks as the “most stupid statement” that he has ever heard.
Dr Mahathir had said earlier today that Nazri should resign from Umno because if he were against racism, he should not be in a racist party.
“He (Nazri) said I am racist? Don’t ever say he is not, because he knows everything very well. He belongs to a party and that is a racist party, which is Umno. Umno is a party ‘perkauman’ and it’s meant only for Malays and nobody [else] can join in. So he is in a racist party but said he is against racism. So he should resign from the party,” Dr Mahathir had told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre today.
In response, Nazri pointed out that Dr Mahathir’s comments only confirmed what he said about him was right.
“You know that the bigger concept is the Barisan Nasional. This party (Umno) was formed and it was not decided by me. I joined because I want to serve the government. I want to serve the people and that was the platform prepared for me so actually when you want to talk about forming the party, he was involved in forming the party.
“That is not my problem, that is his problem and I only joined the system as it is. I only want to serve the people and the only way I can serve is through this party.
“I am right in the sense that if Umno is a racist party, he was a president of a racist party so he is [therefore] a racist,” he said.
Nazri added that Dr Mahathir’s arguments did not make him less racist.
Nazri had called Mahathir a “bloody racist” yesterday for defending the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) courses, and reasserted the Cabinet’s earlier decision to overhaul the programme.
He explained that patriotism was not meant only for the Malays but for all Malaysians.
Nazri also slammed Umno’s Utusan Malaysia newspaper, saying its “denial syndrome is making me laugh.” The minister in the prime minister’s department repeated his stand that “everybody knows what the BTN is,” so there was nothing to hide.
Nazri’s attack on Dr Mahathir was however, not published in Umno-owned newspapers today.
“It does not matter to me, I don’t know what are the reasons but to me if Tun Mahathir can make criticisms against the government then he is not immune to criticisms from members of government,” he said.
Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani/malaysianInsider
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr M challenges Nazri to quit ‘racist’ Umno
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today hit back at Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz for calling him a racist and urged the minister to instead quit Umno because it was indeed a racist party.
The former premier and the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department have been at loggerheads over the need to revamp the National Civics Bureau (BTN), which critics charge with cultivating racism instead of its original purpose of nation building.
Yesterday Nazri called Dr Mahathir a “bloody racist” for defending BTN courses while reasserting the Cabinet’s earlier decision to overhaul the programme in line with the policy of 1 Malaysia mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“Nazri says I am a racist, he cannot deny he is not because he knows everything very well,” said Dr Mahathir.
“He belongs to a party that is racist because Umno is meant only for Malays, no one else can join. But he is against racism, so he should resign from the party.”
Nazri yesterday said Dr Mathathir’s postings in his blog were also racist and contrary to his own stand when he was the prime minister.
“When he was prime minister he wanted everyone to support him but now he only talks about the Malays, so I cannot accept his comments,” Nazri had said yesterday.
Dr Mahathir had defended BTN’s training modules and described them as suitable for instilling patriotism in Malaysians.
BTN came under public scrutiny recently, after Pakatan Rakyat-ruled Selangor prohibited state civil servants and students of higher educational institutions owned by the state from attending its courses, claiming that they were an indoctrination process by the Barisan Nasional government and aimed at brainwashing Malaysians into hate opposition parties.
PR leaders and former participants have also claimed that the courses were racist and emphasised the idea of Malay superiority.
Neville Spykerman/malaysian Insider
=================================================================================
Dr M transformed BTN to a super-racist agency, says former director
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 — Former National Civics Bureau (BTN) director now turn PKR leader Datuk Johari Abdul (picture) claimed that it was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who made the body a full-fledged racist indoctrination agency, contradicting the former premier who has gone all-out to defend BTN and deny that the body was used by Umno to sow racial hatred.
Speaking at a forum organised by PKR tonight, Johari claimed that prior to Dr Mahathir’s ascendancy as the prime minister, the body, not yet called the BTN, was initially used to counter the influence of anti-establishment Islamic movements in universities in the 1970s.
At the time, the body was headed by another former prime minister, Dr Mahathir’s arch-rival, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He was not yet a politician at the time but a government officer.
“And when Abdullah became a full time politician, the body officially became BTN and its purpose was to raise the confidence of Malay students who were doing badly academically by instilling ideas like ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy),” said Johari who is also MP for Sungai Petani.
But when Dr Mahathir became prime minister, Johari said the former premier, whom he described as a “shrewd politician”, made full use of the BTN and turned it into a complete Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) indoctrination machinery to maintain Malay loyalty to the status quo.
“One of the courses (under him) was that the Malay participants were taught to defend the Umno-BN government at all cost. If the Umno-BN government falls, than the Malays are made to think that the Malays would be enslaved in their own country.”
“And then it got worse when (PKR de facto leader) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked by Dr Mahathir after a fall-out in 1998 and the BTN was then used to demonise all opposition leaders,” he added.
The PKR leader claimed he was speaking from personal experience as a former director of the agency.
And being a former director and also an Umno man, Johari admitted that he too at one point believed in the teachings of the BTN, and its supposed objective to help the Malays but has since “repented.”
“You know within your conscience that there is something wrong somewhere..it is wrong,” he said.
Johari said however that to be fair there was nothing wrong with the agency itself but that it was the syllabus that needed a revamp. He also said that Umno, as a political entity, has the right to do its best to edge out its political rivals.
“But don’t use taxpayers money for that. Finance your own programme,” he said.
The government had allocated RM64 million under the 2010 Federal Budget for BTN and the opposition is currently doing its best in Parliament to get BTN closed.
So far, some influential Umno leaders like Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, and Minister in the Prime Minister Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, have joined in the rising chorus against the agency.
Nazri had also blasted Dr Mahathir as a racist for defending BTN while Razaleigh claimed he too was a victim of the programme when he went against the former premier in the late 1980s.
But the hawks in Umno, through its newspapers like Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia, have come out to defend BTN and blast its critics as attempting to politicise the issue.
By Syed Jaymal Zahiid/MalaysianInsider
=================================================================================
Ku li: ‘I was battered by BTN’
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 – One of Umno’s most respected leaders,Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, has come out to back the closure of the Biro Tata Negara (BTN), saying he was a victim of its controversial courses when he led an opposition front.
“Yes I have heard, I have been battered about in seminars, discussions in BTN,” the Gua Musang MP said when asked if he had been a victim of BTN.
“They said a lot of things,” he replied when asked to elaborate on the nature of the attacks against him.
The Kelantanese prince was also a victim of a hate campaign during Election 1990, when a photograph of him wearing an East Malaysian headgear was widely distributed just days before polls.
The photograph of Razaleigh in the headgear, which bore a motif similar to a crucifix, is credited with turning away significant numbers of Muslim votes from Semangat 46, which he led.
The BTN, under the Prime Minister’s Department, runs compulsory courses for civil servants and undergraduates and has been accused of promoting hatred and racism by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders.
“I think BTN should close down. It has been used to promote personality cults and also used for badgering people who oppose the leadership,” he told reporters after delivering his speech at the United Nations Human Rights Day here.
“It’s a waste of money,” said the Gua Musang Umno chief.
The PR-led Selangor government recently imposed a ban on its civil servants and students within its state-run educational institutions from attending BTN courses, while Penang — another PR- governed state — is said to be considering similar action.
But the hawks in Umno, through Malay-based dailies like Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia, have moved to defend BTN and attacked its critics as “traitors” who are trying to politicise the issue.
On Sunday Utusan urged the government not to “bow down” to the opposition on BTN.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz had said that BTN training modules would be revamped to better reflect the 1 Malaysia concept introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
However former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been defending the BTN courses and saying that the criticism against it has been exaggerated.
Adib Zalkapli/malaysianInsider
YOU 'RE FIRED, I QUIT FIRST
Ura-ura atau cakap politik untuk merombak silibus kursus BTN berlaku secara kebetulan memandangkan Kabinet sebelum ini pernah membincangkan cadangan untuk merombak kurikulum kursus berkenaan agar selari dengan peredaran masa kata Menteri Pengajian Tinggi.
Bagaimana pula dengan ulasan, jawapan serta hujah TPM dan Menteri-Menteri dari UMNO?
GPMS juga turut menyokong Menteri-Menteri UMNO.
Rombak Kurikulum BTN Sudah Lama Dicadangkan - Khaled
KUALA LUMPUR, 1 Dis (Bernama) -- Menteri Pengajian Tinggi Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin Selasa menolak dakwaan bahawa keputusan untuk merombak kurikulum dalam kursus Biro Tata Negara (BTN) menunjukkan kerajaan akur dengan desakan pembangkang.
Sebaliknya beliau berkata, "Sebelum perkara itu dibangkitkan oleh pembangkang memang kita (Kabinet) sudah berbincang dan lihat bagaimana perlunya modul dan pendekatan BTN laksana programnya. Perlu ambil kira suasana dan keadaan yang berubah dari segi tahap pendidikan rakyat yang meningkat, tahap pendedahan kepada pengetahuan dan lain-lain. Pada saya perkara itu kebetulan," katanya kepada pemberita di sini, hari ini.
Mohamed Khaled diminta mengulas keputusan kabinet semalam yang bersetuju untuk merombak kurikulum dalam kursus BTN supaya ia lebih sesuai untuk semua kaum sejajar dengan konsep 1Malaysia.
Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz yang mengumumkan perkara itu di Parlimen semalam berkata keputusan Kabinet minggu lalu itu dibuat bagi memastikan kursus tersebut tidak tertumpu kepada satu kaum sahaja dan tidak memecahkan rakyat mengikut etnik.
Sebelum ini barisan pembangkang telah membangkitkan isu sama dengan mendakwa kursus-kursus BTN sebagai salah satu cara doktrinasi oleh Barisan Nasional (BN) selain dijadikan tempat memupuk semangat perkauman di kalangan peserta yang boleh memecah-belahkan masyarakat berbilang kaum di negara ini.
Sementara itu, Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Ahmad Maslan berkata kurikulum BTN akan melalui proses penambahbaikan bagi mencerminkan Gagasan 1Malaysia.
"Kita akan masukkan semangat patriotisme dalam konteks 1Malaysia, kita akan tambah nilai-nilai murni di dalam gagasan itu," kata Ahmad kepada pemberita di lobi Parlimen.
Katanya lapan nilai-nilai murni yang terdapat pada gagasan 1Malaysia yang akan diterapkan ialah budaya berprestasi tinggi, berilmu, ketepatan, inovasi, integriti, ketabahan, kesetiaan dan kebijaksanaan.
Beliau berkata kurikulum BTN telah mula ditambah baik sejak 15 April 2009, manakala kursus dan seminar 1Malaysia mula diadakan di dua buah negeri iaitu Melaka dan Sabah sejak Jun.
BERNAMA
Lagi: ROMBAK BTN KABINET AKUI ADA YANG TAK KENA
lagi: Yayasan 1Malaysia Sambut Baik Keputusan Kabinet Rombak Program BTN
BILA KECIL MAIN API SUDAH BESAR JUAL TANAH
Lirik lagu: ANAK KECIL MAIN API
Anak kecil main api
Terbakar hatinya yang sepi
Air mata darah bercampur keringat
Bumi dipijak milik orang
Nenek moyang kaya raya
Tergadai seluruh harta benda
Akibat sengketa sesamalah kita
Cinta lenyap diarus zaman
Indahnya bumi kita ini
Warisan berkurun lamanya
Hasil mengalir ketangan yang lain
Peribumi merintih sendiri
Masa depan sungguh kelam
Kan lenyap peristiwa semalam
Tertutuplah hati terkunci mati
Maruah peribadi dah hilang
Kini kita cuma tinggal kuasa
Yang akan menentukan bangsa
Bersatulah hati bersama berbakti
Pulih kembali harga diri
Kita sudah tiada masa
Majulah dengan maha perkasa
Janganlah terlalai teruskan usaha
Melayukan gagah dinusantara
LIRIK DIUBAHSUAI
Lagu Warisan dan Politik Perkauman
MITOS, KONSTRUKSI SOSIAL DAN KEMUNCULAN INTELEKTUAL ORGANIK DALAM SEJARAH NEGARA
PROGRAM BTN ANTI 1MALAYSIA
Selangor rasmi boikot program BTN
Selangor melarang penyertaan kakitangan kerajaan negeri dan pelajar di institusi pengajian tinggi miliknya hadir di program anjuran Biro Tatanegara (BTN), kata exco pendidikan tingginya Dr Halimah Ali.
Keputusan yang berkuatkuasa serta-merta itu dibuat dalam mesyuarat exco kerajaan negeri susulan desakan sekumpulan ADUN Pakatan Rakyat di Selangor yang mendakwa program kendalian biro bawah Jabatan Perdana Menteri itu membangkitkan sentimen perkauman.
Empat buah pusat pengajian tinggi yang dimiliki kerajaan negeri itu: Universiti Industri Selangor (Unisel), Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor (KUIS), Kolej Antarabangsa INPENS dan Institut Kemahiran Yayasan Selangor.
Selain menghentikan penyertaan pelajar, seperti didesak, keputusan itu turut meliputi kakitangan kerajaan negeri dan pegawai semua anak syarikat kerajaan itu, tambahnya.
Dalam sidang medianya di Shah Alam selepas mesyuarat itu, Dr Halimah menyifatkan program BTN sebagai "indoktrinasi kerajaan (pusat) BN untuk menimbulkan fenomena yang agak racist (perkauman) seolah-olah ingin memecah belah penduduk pelbagai bangsa dan agama."
"Rata-rata (peserta BTN) termasuk anak saya sendiri, mereka kadang-kadang dibekalkan dengan buku kecil yang mengandungi pelbagai perkara yang menimbulkan kebencian kepada (pihak) yang dikatakan pembangkang kepada kerajaan Malaysia,” kata wakil rakyat PAS itu.
"Oleh kerana ia tidak memberi satu perkara yang positif, tambahan pula kepada minda yang begitu muda ini, maka kita rasa ia tidak perlu dan menghabiskan wang rakyat."
Minggu lalu, sekumpulan wakil rakyat muda tiga parti dalam Pakatan menulis surat kepada Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim untuk membuat desakan demikian.
ADUN-ADUN yang terlibat: Amirudin Shari (PKR-Batu Caves), Lau Weng San (DAP-Kampung Tunku), Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PKR-Seri Setia), Jenice Lee Yin Ha (DAP-Teratai), Hannah Yeoh Tseow Suan (DAP-Subang Jaya) dan Gan Pei Ni (PKR-Rawang).
Abdul Rahim Sabri/malaysiakini
Selangor boycotts Biro Tata Negara programmes
