Small or not, Interlok errors should be corrected

'Muhyiddin claims that they were minor. Who should know better how to spell words on Indian ceremonial matters - non-Indians or Indians?'

DPM: Interlok walkout due to misunderstanding

Kit P: When authorities say a problem such as the Interlok issue is to be handled by an 'independent panel', there is a reasonable expectation that the panel will be allowed to do its job without undue interference, and its recommendations will be accepted even if Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin may not really agree with it.

Otherwise don't call it an independent panel - that amounts to a public relations fraud or a whitewash.

Wira: I remember the 'Malay' entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica drew frenzied protests from the community because they were stereotyped as lazy. I don't understand why a novel published locally which insulted the sensitivity of the Indians be allowed to be used in our schools. Have our educators lost their common sense?

Jimmy Ng: Muhyiddin claims that they were minor issues? Who does he think he is to decide whether they were minor? Why not leave it to the committee to iron out and decide whether they were minor or not?

Who should know better how to spell correctly words on Indian ceremonial matters - non-Indians or Indians? My bet is that he is putting political considerations first and foremost above other things.

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: The solution is very simple - withdraw 'Interlok' and replace it with another text by some other Malay writer. Why can't it be done?

What is wrong with amending minor words and phrases since the entire book is under review? If there are spelling mistakes, grammatical and contextual errors, shouldn't these be corrected? Or is the review only confined to the word 'pariah'?

'Interlok' is not a suitable book to be made compulsory reading in schools. It contains many factual and cultural errors, racial profiling and stereotypes, and derogatory terms to refer to Indians and Chinese and even the Malays. So why keep such a controversial and divisive book as a compulsory text?

Teacher: I agree. It is a good novel but it is not suitable for schools. Will the teacher who has to teach it be able to handle it with all the negative publicity it has received? Students will tease each other and this will not create unity in class. It may be a cause for a fight outside the class.

Please withdraw the book. Don't create more problems for teachers.