Press Digest: MCA wants Wong Pow Nee included in textbook

PETALING JAYA: MCA deputy president Datuk Wee Ka Siong said the party will not rest until the omission of the late Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee (pix) from the SRJK Year Six history textbook pertaining to the formation of Malaysia is rectified.
Wong, who was the first chief minister of Penang, was one of the members of the Cobbold Commission which recommended the establishment of Malaysia in 1963.
The textbook mentions Umno's Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak, two Sabah leaders Fuad Stephens and Mustapha Harun, Sarawak leaders Stephen Kalong Ningkan, Temenggong Jugah and Ong Kee Hui, as well as Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, as the "founders" of Malaysia.
There is no mention of any MCA leader, such as Wong or even former MCA president Tun Tan Siew Sin.
Press reports had quoted Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid as saying that Wong would not be in the textbook as the books were already printed and would be sent to schools soon.
After reading the reports, Wee said he sent a text message to Mahdzir to express his concern and hoped Mahdzir would fulfil the consensus he reached with the MCA top leadership on Dec 3.
He said in a Facebook posting that at the meeting, which was also attended by MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, Mahdzir had agreed to rectify Wong's omission from the textbook.
Wee said he hoped Mahdzir would convince his subordinates in the next two weeks, or use his position as the education minister to restore history that was omitted, the Chinese press reported today.
He stressed that the content of the history textbook should be complete and not be changed.