Little Napoleon in Education Ministry transferred out

A little Napoleon from the Education Ministry who created an uproar by banning two Tamil songs from being performed at a Tamil language carnival held in Kepala Batas has been transferred out.

The official whose identity and rank remains unknown and so are other disciplinary actions taken against the concerned individual.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s aide revealed the transfer in his bid to dismiss allegations that there ws no action taken.

Fadhlina’s special officer Thiyagaraj Sankaranarayanan said stern action was taken.

“The officer responsible has been transferred to another department,” he said on Facebook yesterday.

“Allegations that the ministry did not take action on other officers who had ordered the matter are also baseless.

“We have to be aware that any statements on this matter will affect further investigations by the ministry,” he added.

Last month, there was an uproar after two Tamil songs were banned from the Tamil language carnival in Penang, organised by the Education Ministry.

The two songs were ‘Kadavul Valthu’, a worship song, and ‘Tamil Valthu’, which is a song about the Tamil language.

Banners featuring Tamil literary and philosophical figure Thiruvalluvar, who is frequently quoted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, also was banned.

Fadhlina apologised to the Indian community over the matter at the Dewan Rakyat while wrapping up budget debate for the Education Ministry.

At that point of time Fadhlina did not reveal the action taken against the official.