Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said the case of the principal of SM Bukit Selambau who made racist remarks against his students is closed.

He said the senior teacher has been issued a stern warning and has already been transferred to the Kuala Muda district education department since Oct 4.

NONE Nazri ( right ) explained that when a civil servant is issued a warning letter, they will not be eligible for a promotion over a period of 12 months.

“When the issue came out, he quickly confessed and said it was not his intention to insult anyone and that it was spontaneous,” he said.

“He quickly admitted and apologised for what he said. This is a straightforward case.”

Earlier, during question time in the Dewan Rakyat today, he defended the government against accusations that it is dragging its feet on the matter, and stressed the need to follow due process in order to come to a decision that would satisfy all parties.

“As the saying goes, better late than never, but I must stress that it’s not late.

“This is the first time in the history of our civil service where government officials are cited for racism, so it will take time,” he said.

'Vastly different statements'

Responding to a supplementary question by Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor), Nazri pointed out that the government had immediately suspended the two headmasters from schools in Kulai, Johor and Bukit Selambau, Kedah.

He insisted that the government is doing what it can to be fair to all parties involved, stressing that the officers investigating the racism claims need to make sure the evidence collected is all kosher.

"For example, the case in Johor involves a lot of witnesses and we found that their statements were vastly different. The investigating officers need to filter through the evidence, and that alone takes time.

"In the end, when taking action we need to make sure they are guilty... a flip-flop investigation will not come to a satisfactory result," he said.

Nazri also denied Lim's assertion that the headmasters' actions were the result of indoctrination by the National Civics Bureau (BTN), saying it is unrelated and that the government will not close the bureau.

lim guan eng pc on doctored pix and penang bridge 25th anniversary To a supplementary question from Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan), the minister said the government is also collecting evidence and investigating whether or not it can take action against controversial artiste NameWee for his racially-tinged songs and videos.

Nazri meanwhile swatted aside a challenge from Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan, left ), saying that BN parliamentarians do not need to assert their position on being ‘Malaysian first, Malay second' as the ruling coalition has been doing it from the time of the first general elections.

"For new people, they need to state this because people know that DAP are Chinese chauvanists, PAS are Islamic extremists and PKR only came in to balance things out... we don't need to talk so much," he said.

When asking a supplementary question, Guan Eng asked if every BN backbencher would follow in Nazri's lead and declare that they are ‘Malaysian first, Malay second'.

"Does every BN backbencher have the guts to follow in the minister's example? If not, it will be very hard to extinguish racism," he said.