Anwar Ibrahim, is playing politics with the 1990 Education Bill when he gives long television interviews but refuses to make the contents of the Bill public

by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP Tor Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Monday, 6th August 1990:

Anwar Ibrahim, is playing politics with the 1990 Education Bill when he gives long television interviews but refuses to make the contents of the Bill public.

Education Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, is playing politics with the 1990 Education Bill when he gives long television interviews but refuses to make the contents of the Bill public.

I challenge Anwar Ibrahim to name the countries in the world which uses the Official Secrets
Act to amend the Education Act, making it an offence with a mandatory minimum jail sentence
of at least one year for anyone to have information or to give information about the
Education Bill 1990.

Anwar Ibrahim announced a few days ago that the Cabinet has decided to set up a National
Education Consultative Council on the Education Bill 1990.

Those who are going to serve on the National Education Consultative Council must be
forewarned that if they are given copies of the final draft of the Education Bill 1990 under
the Official Secrets Act, they could be charged in court for violation of the Official Secrets Act
if they discuss, the final draft with their col¬leagues, friends or even family members or through
some carelessness allow another person to have sight of the final draft.

Once they are found guilty they will be sentenced to serve a minimum mandatory sentence
of one year for judges have lost the right to use their discretion in sentencing, even if it is a
purely technical offence.

In these circumstances, the National Education Consultative Council cannot be meaningful,
unless the Education Minister de¬-classify the Education Bill or its final draft.

Anwar Ibrahim has not been able to give any satisfactory or convincing reason why the
Barisan Nasional Government cannot make public the contents of the Education Bill 1990.
This is because he could not admit the real reason – that the Barisan Nasional will lose a
lot of votes if the Education Bill 1990 is made public before the general elections.

If this is not playing politics with the Education Bill 1990, then what is?