Five to get show-cause letters

> Teachers will be given chance to explain before any action is taken, says Mahdzir

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will issue show-cause letters to five teachers who are active in opposition political party activities.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said although they have breached the civil servants’ code of conduct, they will be given a chance to explain themselves.

“Civil servants are subject to the General Orders of the civil service, there are rules regarding the conduct of civil servants.

“My advice is, if you support the Opposition, show some class (beradat). Don’t go overboard and resort to insults and inappropriate words,” Mahdzir told a press conference after an event at the Impian KLCC Hotel here yesterday.

He said the teachers in question hold party posts in the Opposition and have literally taken to the stage in their events to criticise the government.

Admitting that teachers have the right to support whomever they want, he reminded them that they are bound by the General Orders.

Mahdzir also said teachers have freedom of speech and the right to criticise, including on social media, as long as their statements are not slanderous.

“We are a democracy. If you say on social media ‘the government is wrong, the minister is wrong and this should be done instead’, that is fine.

“But if you go to the extent of slander, then that is wrong. Just don’t go overboard,” he said.

Mahdzir added the teachers concerned are still working as usual and action, if any, will only be taken after internal investigations are completed.

Meanwhile, commenting on Mahdzir’s statement, National Union of the Teaching Profession president Kamarozaman Razak said teachers have signed an undertaking not to openly criticise the government when employed as a civil servant. Signing the undertaking is akin to making a vow to the Yang diPertuan Agong, he said.