KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has officially denied that its minister, Dr Maszlee Malik, stated that the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal will be included in schools’ History syllabus.
The Ministry’s statement was issued after Maszlee was besieged by brickbats from various quarters after making the announcement in Parliament while responding to a supplementary question, yesterday.
The Education Minister now states that he only said that the 1MDB scandal would be “included in Malaysian history”.
The statement, issued by his press secretary Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari, blamed the media for reporting the issue inaccurately.
“The media, quoting YB Dr Maszlee saying that the 1MDB case would be made as part of the History syllabus is inaccurate.
“Whether or not it is put into the syllabus is up to the committee in charge of the curriculum. As such, the cooperation of the media is sought to make a correction to avoid confusion among Malaysians,” the statement continued.
It added that in the interest of “enriching intellectualism”, Maszlee would have no issue with 1MDB being made a topic of study in higher learning institutions. It said the matter is relevant in drawing attention to the importance of proper management, accountability and integrity.
Earlier, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak – who has been slapped with more than 30 charges of corruption and money laundering predominantly linked to the 1MDB case – said that Maszlee would “go down in the history books” for making his Dewan Rakyat statement.