GEORGE TOWN, Aug 22 – The Penang state government is sticking to its chosen Merdeka celebration theme of “Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah” (Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy). Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy said that it should not be equated with the Bersih 4 rally at the end of the month.
“The word will not be removed from the theme “Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah” (Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy) which been decided by the state exco last week. Please don’t equate the slogan with the Bersih movement due to the slogan had been around for many years, and was promoted by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his administration to improve the delivery of the government servants,” said Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy.
Penang Education Department director Datuk Osman Hussain sent a directive dated Tuesday to all Penang schools banned them from joining state Merdeka Day celebration which was organised by the state government until receiving further instructions. In the same time, he had also earlier confirmed that principals and headmasters of all secondary and primary schools had been notified through a letter from his office yesterday.
“The state secretary Farizan will inform Education Ministry and if they ban, then we will pursue further. Let them declare ‘Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah’ was an illegal theme,” Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng replied in his text message while he was on a working visit to Hong Kong.
