Let Character Education Be Her Last Straw Pmx Must Replace Her Unless She Steps Down Honourably

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NEVER had an Education Minister in the Malaysian history be subjected to day in, day out trolling as much as the first woman to hold the post – Nibong Tebal MP Fadhlina Sidek.
Any of her Japanese or South Korean counterpart would have long resigned to preserve their dignity or out of self-respect from incessant humiliation levelled at them.
Her latest makeshift policy – the introduction of Character Education in the 2027 School Curriculum – probably in response to the brutal murder of 16-year-old Yap Shing Xuen by a schoolmate two years her junior and no less than four r*pe cases by school pupils  in this month of October alone – has earned the wrath of every level of the Malaysian society.
The PKR women’s wing chief was mocked – literally left, right and centre – for mooting such desperate measure with parents grumbling of the relevancy of the subject vis-à-vis the existing Pendidikan Islam (Islamic Education) and Moral Education syllabus.
“So much to be absorbed in the head … Just improve the existing syllabus. Stupid,” fumed one commenter to a Facebook post by Malay language current affairs portal Siakap Keli which has amassed 10K likes, 6.9K comments and 1.2K shares at the time of writing

Another called for the UPSR, PMR and SPM public examinations to be reinstated while others concurred that the “syllabus is more suited for the minister”.

Fadhlina’s was further accused of “double standards” in her handling of the recent Baling statutory rape case whereby three of the four suspects are secondary school pupils.
Editor’s Note: Kedah police chief Adzli Abu Shah has clarified that the incident was not “a gang rape” given the underaged victim of a boarding school had consented to having se*ual inter*ourse with the four suspects.
This came about as netizens compared how the Kedah case was “blown up” by her in contrast to the “Selangor murder case” just because the former is an opposition state.
Likewise, her poor handling in the death of Form One Papar (Sabah) religious school pupil Zara Qairina Mahathir was prompted by the fact that the case involved “children of VVIPs”.


In all fairness to the once lawyer specialising in Islamic family law and child welfare, her call for the Kedah state Education Department to expedite investigation and take drastic action including expulsion on the three school-going suspects stemmed from her earlier blunder in an earlier Melaka gang rape case.
Back then, she had stated that the four Form Five pupils from a school in Alor Gajah would still be allowed to sit for their SPM exams on Nov 3 much to the furore of the entire nation. Eventually, public pressure prevailed when the four suspects having been expelled immediately.
But the sting is too obvious as detractors continuously trolled her with her own emotional plead of “don’t disrupt us … don’t disturb our school … don’t mess with our teachers” and the fact that her ministership is “out of PMX’s generosity because your late father was an ABIM president (Datuk Dr Siddiq Fadzil) and not on merit”.

Even when it went viral in Malay language portals that some teachers claimed that “she has made many changes, hence netizens are too shallow to believe in slander and insults against her”, the trolling against Fadhlina only grew louder.

“Netizens and the rakyat are now wise in assessing the current situation and issues for information is easily available at their fingertips … So don’t underestimate what netizens say,” rebutted one retired teacher. “One more thing, don’t voice something as if you represent educators.”

Like it or not, the trolling of Fadhlina went to the extent of detractors comparing her credentials with Indonesian Higher Education, Science and Technology Deputy Minister Stella Christie.

Last but not least, it could mean that karma has come one full cycle as Fadhlina had in the past demanded her predecessor Dr Radzi Jidin (now Putrajaya MP and Bersatu vice-president) to resign in a seemingly petty incident involving a teacher who allegedly uttered obscene words to a pupil.
“Now when she becomes part of the government, issues that have emerged are even more chronic – not just obscene words – but r*pe, murder and teachers getting beaten up cases. Little wonder many are attacking and urging her to step down,” observed digital creator Teganukita. 

 - Focus Malaysia

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