The Biro Tata Negara (BTN) or in English, the National Civics Bureau, issue is something that almost everyone has always known about but rarely dared to speak out about. But once the cat’s out of the bag and the taboo of not talking about has been broken, there’s no shortage of people condemning it with their every breath. I guess I’m no different. In case there are any non-Malaysians reading this who have no idea what I’m talking about, it refers to a government agency run by the Prime Minister’s department that runs courses with the ostensible aim of promoting patriotism amongst Malaysians.

To that effect, it runs a series of courses for which attendance is obligatory for everyone wishing to qualify for a government job. However, many Malaysians have complained that the courses actually promote racism and seek to segregate the different ethnic groups that comprise the country’s citizens. The Malays in particular are consistently taught that they are special and hold a superior position with regards to the other ethnic groups while Chinese and Indian participants are taught that their Malaysian citizenship is not a right but rather a privilege for which they must be forever thankful to the Malays.

I’ve never attended one of these courses myself but I heard some very shocking anecdotes recounted by a friend of my wife about the course she was forced to take only a few years ago. This was part of a process that she had to go through to be hired as a public school teacher. I recall that the lecturer was described as being extremely provocative, to the point of shouting at participants even if that meant driving them into a rage or to tears. The Malay participants were constantly harangued with the question, “Are you Malaysians? Yes or no?” When they inevitably replied “Yes”, he would reply, “No, you are Bumiputera!”

This refers to the special classification assigned to ethnic groups recognized as being indigenous to the country, of which the Malays are by far the largest group, and hence accorded special privileges and rights under the national constitution. It goes without saying that this is resented not only by the ethnic groups not included under the bumiputera classification but also by more enlightened bumiputera who believe that such special privileges are a slur on their abilities.

Anyway the most interesting part about the experience that was related to me was towards the end of the course. One of the participants, a male Indian, was seen to be becoming more and more agitated as the lecturer spoke and looked like he was ready to start a fight then and there. The lecturer ignored him and just kept going. However, after he ended his talk, the lecturer took the time to take the Indian guy to one side to calm him down and told him not to take it too seriously and that he was just a guy doing his job. I honestly don’t know if that’s something to laugh or cry over.