Biro Tata Negara - A Den Of Blind Chauvinists?

The Biro Tatanegara (BTN) has been recently in the news for the wrong reasons. Several members of Parliament lambasted it for stereo-typing certain student groups and making wild allegations against them at a recent seminar. It alleged that Malaysian student groups are being used by Jewish elements hoping to undermine the nation’s security and that American and Jewish elements were sponsoring certain student groups in local varsities.

All this wild, blind shooting by these Biro guys has not been backed by a shred of evidence. Because it has been an accepted practice in our country to not question any claim, no matter how stupid or far-fetched, as long as it is done on behalf of bangsa, agama dan negara these scumbags have been getting away with it. This time however some Members of Parliament (not the usual band of rabble-rousers though) gave it a dressing down, but I wonder to what effect.

First let us take a look at the reasons for the existence of these zealots:

Objektif
Mencipta semangat patriotisme dan cintakan negara di kalangan semua lapisan masyarakat Malaysia dengan memberikan keutamaan kepada golongan pelajar, cendekiawan dan pemimpin-pemimpin masyarakat dengan hasrat mewujudkan satu negara dan bangsa yang kuat dan bermaruah melalui rancangan latihan dan penyelidikan kemasyarakatan.

Misi
Memberi sumbangan bermakna dalam usaha mencipta kegemilangan masyarakat Malaysia. (Is blindly hurling accusations and screaming of Jewish conspiracies by any stretch of the imagination sumbangan bermakna?)

Visi
Pembina semangat patriotisme negara yang terkemuka dan utama.

Now that we have noted the raison d'etre of this objectiveless, missionless, visionless, ineffectual and worthless entity, let me pose this important question. Do we need the continued existence of relics like the BTN which have no proven use (despite the lofty claims) and have shown to be divisive rather than acting as a unifying force?

**** Here is an interesting 1999 article in Malay regarding the actual politics that the BTN plays: PERIHAL DALANG PAK LAH DALAM BIRO TATA NEGARA