We refer to the Malaysiakini report PM's aide probed for sedition .

The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia Youth Section Chief (FeCAM-Youth) condemns the ex-special officer of the prime minister, Nasir Safar, who allegedly made racial remarks during a ‘1Malaysia’ seminar held in Malacca.

The resignation of Nasir will not solve the root problem but only this individual case. To kill the problem once and for all, the government must put an end to Biro Tata Negara-run (BTN) courses that are said to promote racism.

The BTN courses are run by the Prime Minister’s Department for university students, government scholars and civil servants. Its main objective is to inculcate ‘patriotism’ and a sense of responsibility among the civil servants.

However, many of the participants have revealed that the content of the course promotes racism.

We belief that BTN as a legal platform which promotes racism was the key factor to Nasir’s racial remarks.

Therefore, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should close down the BTN and set up a committee that comprises of bipartisan leaders, academicians and members of civil society to come up with training courses that really promote patriotism.

Apart from that, the trainers of BTN should be reshuffled and only those who fulfill the criteria of being of a multiracial spirit will be hired.

The PM’s aide is an example of the many civil servants that are victims of BTN. Although Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz has said that Prime Minister’s Department will look into the matter and will amend the content of the BTN courses, we feel that BTN itself should be closed down as it goes against the prime minister’s ‘1Malaysia’ slogan.

Besides that, we also suggest that the prime minister review the decision of setting aside the proposal to draw up a Race Relations Act and ratifying the United Nation’s International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1965.

This is to maintain the relationship between the different communities in Malaysia and to avoid any other remarks, acts or policies that will worsen our interracial relationships besides ensuring that the spirit of ‘1Malaysia’ will continue to shine.’

By setting up a Race Relations Act, the government can also follow the example shown by the UK as the country’s Race Relations Act 1976 has a well-defined ‘provocation of racial hatred’ clause

Meanwhile, the government can also set up Race Relations Court to handle relevant cases and form a Racial Equality Committee to put in more effort to solve racial discrimination issues.

To recap, we would like to urge Najib to shut down Biro Tata Negara, review the decision not to draw up a Race Relation Act and to ratify the United Nation’s International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1965.

The writer is Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia Youth Section chief.