KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 ― DAP lawmaker Tony Pua today said that he is only interested in protecting the moral fibre of schools to ensure educational institutions' reputations are not tarnished.
Pua was commenting on Datuk Seri Najib Razak's remark that he should stop attacking the Foon Yew High School in Johor after the former prime minister visited the school’s Seri Alam campus in Johor and delivered a speech in an attempt to woo the Chinese community to support Barisan Nasional.
Pua had commented that the school’s leadership should be removed for lack of integrity after it welcomed Najib, who has been convicted of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power in relation to RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
Pua said the school's reputation would be tarnished if it is seen as being friendly to Najib.
The Petaling MP said that the school no longer needed to be “grateful” for donations that stemmed from “stolen money”.
"Schools must educate the young that corruption is evil that will destroy a country. Most importantly, they must teach them that we must never succumb to unscrupulous greed and abhor outrageous abuse of power,” Pua said.
Pua’s latest statement came in reply to Najib who told him to stop attacking the school and keep the fight with him alone.
Pua, commenting on Najib's remarks, said he was no longer interested in going after the former prime minister, stating that it was the court’s responsibility to convict him of corruption now.
“Let me reiterate that education has always been at the heart of the Chinese community. We must stop the rot in our schools ― we must defend our culture, our righteousness, our dignity and our honour,” he said.
The school’s chairperson Tay Chin Hein claimed the visit was at Najib’s request, and the school was indebted to him for approving the school’s construction in 2013 and its Kulai campus in 1999 and did not want to create a misunderstanding. However, Najib said that he was invited by the school.
Najib has since called Pua’s statement uncalled for and that there was nothing wrong for him to be invited to the school to share a few words with their faculty and students and see how the school is doing after its opening last year.
Najib is seeking to quash a 2020 ruling of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur that convicted him, as well as imposed a 12-year jail term and RM210 million fine, over one count of abuse of power, three counts of criminal breach of trust, and three counts of money laundering involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International.
On Dec 8 last year, the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal to overturn the guilty verdict and sentencing in the SRC graft case.
