The independent panel studying proposed amendments to the novel Interlok has agreed to 19 of the 106 suggested changes, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said on Thursday. Of the 19 changes, three related to the use of the caste word pariah which the novelist had agreed to drop, he told the Dewan Rakyat. He said that the government agreed that the 19 changes should be made because they concerned parts which could hurt the sensitivities of the Indian community.
Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said the other 87 suggestions were found to be irrelevant to the core issue, and they included putting the name of the author on the cover and altering the spelling of a word.
Three other changes related to reference to the cow as a sacred animal to Hindus, the safety of the wife of the character Maniam in India and the exhaustive description of a wedding, he said in reply to Datuk Abd Rahman Bakri (BN-Sabak Bernam) and four other MPs who asked about the status of the novel which is to be a text book for fifth formers.
For seven of the changes, the panel agreed unanimously to insert “errata” in the novel to correct or drop phrases that the Indian community might find culturally and religiously offensive, Muhyiddin said.
The other changes included substituting words and dropping phrases such as “orang berkulit hitam” (a dark-skinned race), he said.
Muhyiddin said that all members of the panel, including representatives of the Indian community, had agreed to leave it to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the literary agency), as the publisher, to edit the novel accordingly for the new edition.
He said the Education Ministry would at the same time prepare a glossary to explain phrases and concepts contained in the novel.
Muhyiddin said that settlement of the Interlok issue showed that there was no problem that could not be resolved at the negotiating table.
“The Intelok episode is proof that the spirit of unity, acceptance and mutual respect in line with the 1Malaysia concept continues to thrive in our country”, he said.
Muhyiddin said that Interlok was a creative work that attempted to depict a harmonious life in multi-racial Malaya before the country attained Independence.
- Bernama
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