PETALING JAYA: Nobody is more pleased to hear about the scrapping of the National Civics Bureau (BTN) programme and the National Service Training Programme (PLKN) than Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
Calling it timely, the PKR Youth chief, who has been a most vociferous opponent of BTN especially, said its programme has no place in the New Malaysia.
He, however, said the improved programmes should not include personnel from BTN “because the initiatives should not have any elements of the old politics, and that was part and parcel of BTN”.
“Matters such as partisan politics, even if it were to be pro-Pakatan Harapan, should not be part of the new initiatives,” he said when contacted.
“Matters such as partisan politics, even if it were to be pro-Pakatan Harapan, should not be part of the new initiatives,” he said when contacted.
Nik Nazmi said he was not advocating that the personnel involved in BTN be let go, but was just cautioning against them getting them involved in the new programmes.
The new programmes, he hoped, would be “forward-looking, effective, and something that are welcomed by all Malaysians”.
The National Patriots Association (Patriot) president Brig-Jen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamad Arshad Raji said BTN was formed to benefit a certain party and had deviated from its original goals.
“It was supposed to cultivate and instil loyalty but instead, it was used as a propaganda machine of a certain party.
“It became highly politicised despite its initial noble goals,” he said when contacted.
Supporting the move to abolish BTN, Mohamad Arshad said when a politician was put in charge of such a programme, “everything would go wrong”.
