Interlok stays but with amendments: DPM (Updated)

(Bernama) – KUALA LUMPUR: The novel Interlok will remain as the textbook for the literature component of the Bahasa Malaysia subject for Form Five but with amendments to several aspects deemed sensitive by the Indian community, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said an independent panel would be set up to study the types of amendments and would submit recommendations to the Government.

“The decision to continue using the novel, with amendments so as not to hurt the feelings of the Indian community, is the best solution,” Muhyiddin said in a statement Thursday.

Muhyiddin said the panel would comprise linguists, academicians, literary figures and representatives of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka as well as the Indian community.

“I expect the amendments to be carried out in the near future,” he said, adding that the novel would only be used and distributed to schools once the amendments had been incorporated into it.

While waiting for the process to be completed, he said, the Education Ministry would instruct teachers to continue with the existing syllabus so as not to disrupt the teaching and learning process.

“I believe we have sufficient time to make a thorough amendment so that there will be no more dispute over Interlok,” he said.

Muhyiddin said the decision was made after taking into consideration the views of all parties, which acknowledged that the book was good in nurturing and strengthening unity among the multi-racial and multi-religious society in Malaysia.

At the same time, he said any amendment made to the novel would not affect the storyline and the noble message which the writer wanted to convey.

Muhyidding was earlier reported as saying he he had a formula to resolve the impasse over Interlok.

He said the consensus to resolve the issue was reach after he, together with MIC president Datuk G. Palanivel and MIC deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam, met Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to discuss the matter Thursday morning.

Interlok, a novel on the integration of the Malays, Chinese and Indians in then pre-independence Malaya, written by national laureate Datuk Abdullah Hussain in 1971, has sparked controversy as it contained words deemed sensitive to the Indian community. – Bernama