Subra: Mistakes in UTM lecture slides show ignorance

PETALING JAYA: The "so-called" mistakes in the lecture slides of University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) have once again triggered a serious concern on the level of knowledge and depth of understanding of the various cultures and religions in Malaysia, said MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.
He was commenting on UTM's Islamic and Asian Civilisation Studies (TITAS) module which claimed that Hindus followers believe that dirt on the body is a ritual which could lead to the attainment of nirvana and that Islam had taught Hindu followers "manners in life".
Subramaniam said this current case reflects that the desire to be ignorant had permeated to the dons of the ivory tower.
"We have seen this in schools before and now we realise it is also evident in universities. There has been a recent trend to distort facts to fit into the disordered and disturbed perception of individuals.
"Such individuals have led to the release of educational content where facts have been dangerously mutilated by their disordered perception. Distorted historical facts are in school text books, in examination questions and now in university slides," he said in a statement issued today.
Subramaniam said there has to be a sincere desire by those within the educational system to the historically and factually accurate.
"Attempts to compare cultures and religions are always dangerous. It is dangerous even in the most liberated intellectual environment, what more in a multicultural and multi religious Malaysia?"
A screengrab of the teaching module was posted by Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan on Facebook.
Kamalanathan said he had spoken to the university's vice chancellor, who he said had acknowledged the mistakes and said such errors would not be repeated.