The SPM reference book furore continued even after Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told Parliament that the government could not be held liable for content that it did not sanction. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — A book publisher at the centre of a row over allegedly racial content in a high school reference book has apologised and ordered a recall of the controversial goods from bookstores nationwide, Sin Chew Daily reported today.

Citing the chief executive of Info Didik Sdn Bhd, Tong Kwee Yeu, the Chinese-language newspaper reported that parents dissatisfied with the reference book targeting examination students in Form Five would be given a full refund.

The controversy erupted yesterday in Parliament when DAP lawmaker Oscar Ling demanded the authorities investigate Info Didik for publishing a Bahasa Malaysia SPM reference book that contained a short story titled “Melissa”, which he purported to carry racially-insensitive material in its suggested answer sheet.

The Sibu MP said the model answers provided in the book suggested that “vernacular schools” and the “entrenched enmity” between the Chinese and Malay community are the causes of disunity in society, while another statement contained racial undertones by claiming that “the Chinese are willing to kill the Malays”.

Tong acknowledged the use of certain Malay words such as “sanggup” (willing) in the line highlighted by the MP — “the Chinese are willing to kill the Malays” — was inappropriate.

However, Tong also said some politicians were being unfair by drawing conclusions on the reference book without fully understanding the story plot; he was further reported saying the model answers were given by the author based on the context of the story plot.

According to the publisher, the story revolves around a female character from China who arrived in Malaysia and was adopted by a Malay couple and was engaged to be married to a Malay man, but her fiancé was later killed by a group of ethnic Chinese.

He explained that one of the questions dealt with the tragedy faced by the female protagonist in the story who suffered the loss of her fiancé.

A second question focused on the source of disunity in the story, for which Tong said the author had suggested three model answers: vernacular schools, leaders who raise sensitive issues and the preference for people to interact only within their ethnic circle.

The publisher stressed that the second question posed in the book was subjective and that the author had asked the students working on it to provide their own opinion.

The publisher also defended the author, saying there was no hidden motive in the portrayal of the different ethnicities depicted in the story and where they lived, whether in cities or in villages and estates.

Tong told Sin Chew that he had not expected the furore from the story published in the reference book; and added that he was quizzed by his own family members over the content.

The furore over the racial slant in the SPM reference book continued today, even after Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told Parliament that the government could not be held liable for content that it did not sanction.

“If it is not from the ministry, it is not our responsibility,” Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, said yesterday during his wind-up address in the Dewan Rakyat.

But the DAP MP was not satisfied and today alleged a conspiracy at large aimed at ending the country’s vernacular education system.

“I cannot deny (there is a political conspiracy). They are trying to spread this theory to our students, and this is very wrong,” he said at a news conference at the Parliament lobby here.

“If there is no SJK, the Chinese will still speak Chinese, the Indians will speak their own language and the Malays will speak their own language... (racial division) has nothing to do with the schools,” he added, using the Malay initials for vernacular schools where the medium of instruction is in Mandarin or Tamil.