By NNN-Bernama,
Putrajaya, Malaysia : Education Ministry officials are to meet MIC-selected representatives of the Indian community to discuss objections to the novel “Interlok”, planned as a textbook.
Education director general Abd Ghafar Mahmud said today the representatives will include Hindu Sangam president R.S. Mohan Shan, former Universiti Malaya Indian Studies department head Dr S. Singaravelu, present head of the department Associate Professor Dr S.Kumaran and MIC education bureau chairman Dr T. Marimuthu.
The ministry has yet to finalise the list of officials for the meeting to be chaired by Deputy Education Minister Dr Puad Zarkashi.
Abd Ghafar said: “We hope we can reach a consensus and settle this issue (over the textbook). Every suggestion made will be considered.
“The outcome of the meeting will be relayed to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (the Prime Minister and Education Minister),” he told reporters here.
The MIC had said that changes had to be made to the novel if it were to be re-introduced as a textbook for fifth formers because it touched on the cast system that Hindus might find sensitive.
Interlok, which had been used before as a textbook, was written by Abdullah Hussain and dealt with integration of the Malays, Chinese and Indians from 1900 to 1957, when the country attained its Independence from Britain.
Abd Ghafar said the issue should not be overblown because the novelist had just wanted to show inter-racial harmony.