Vernacular school row: “I dare that woman MP for a debate outside Parliament”, challenges Ridhuan Tee

Vernacular school row: “I dare that woman MP for a debate outside Parliament”, challenges Ridhuan Tee





MUSLIM convert preacher Prof Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah has dared Seputeh MP Teresa Kok for a debate on the polemics surrounding vernacular schools which emanated from allegations that Chinese vernacular schools are fanning racist sentiment against the Malays., hence a thorn to the fostering of national unity.

The Muafakat Nasional deputy president further questioned why Kok who is also DAP’s vice-chairman felt aggrieved by the statement that vernacular schools instilled racist elements as articulated by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s (UKM) former professor of ethnic studies Prof Datuk Teo Kok Seong.

“There’s no need for them to challenge the UMNO Youth … suffice to challenge us for we’ve all the evidence to show them,” he told the media at the compound of the Brickfields district police headquarters (IPD) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (March 15) while Teo who is also a member of the Council of Professors was in the midst of giving his statement to the police.


“I dare the woman MP (Kok) who brought up the matter in the Parliament for a debate … I’m issuing a challenge so that truth shall prevail.”

Recall that Kok who is a six-term Seputeh MP has been instrumental in urging the police to probe Teo’s TikTok statement during a recent interview by Malay language news portal Merdeka Times which is coincidentally owned by another renowned Muslim preacher Firdaus Wong Wai Hung.

This led to Teo is being investigated under Section 505 of the Penal Code for public mischief and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for abuse of network facilities.

However, United Rights of Malaysian Party) Interim Council (Urimai) chairman Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is of the view that resorting to taking police action against Teo will not resolve the politicisation of vernacular schools as they have been targeted by Malay nationalists “from the time of political independence until today”.

As such, the former Penang chief minister II – unlike Kok – favours engaging Teo in a rational and intellectual manner.

In ticking of UMNO Youth chief Dr Muhammad Akmal Saleh whom Ramasamy is also engaged in a war of words, MCA Youth has pointed to the fact that both the Chinese and vernacular school are shielded by the Federal Constitution.

Back to Kok and Ridhuan, the latter wants the proposed debate to be held on neutral grounds where his opponent “doesn’t enjoy legal immunity”, hence he mooted the idea of “Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) or anywhere as long as it’s not within the confines of the Parliament building”. – March 16, 2024