A youth group organising an "alternative course" on ethnic relations claimed today that it has been forced to change the venue for the second lecture because of 'pressure' from the management.

Youth for Change (Y4C), a non-profit organisation based in Petaling Jaya, has developed an Ethnic Relations course as an alternative to the controversial Ethnic Relations module for public universities.

Co-ordinator Lee Khai Loon said the second talk in the series - scheduled to be held on Thursday night at the Masjid building in International Islamic University's Petaling Jaya campus - will now be held at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

He said the management told him that it had been pressured not to allow use of the venue because of the speaker invited - former student leader Hishamuddin Rais (photo) who will talk about the role of students and ethnic relations.

Other lecturers involved in the series are former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, veteran politician Dr Syed Husin Ali, social activist and mother-tongue educationists Lee Ban Chen and K Arumugam, and Islamic expert Prof Osman Bakar.

The first lecture by Syed Husin, who is Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president, had analysed the impact of the New Economic Policy on ethnic relations. It was well received by around 60 students and social activists.

For critical thinking

Lee said the main intention of the course is to provide a platform for students and the community in general to understand ethnic relations in greater depth.

"We strongly encourage critical thinking and open debate among students especially," he said in a statement.

Y4C believes that it is only through open discussions and communication that relations between citizens of different ethnic origins can be improved.

The higher education ministry's Ethnic Relations course, implemented in public universities this year, has been questioned in many quarters in light of contention resulting from the Universiti Putra Malaysia module.

Criticised as having distorted history, the guidebook sparked widespread protests for having blamed opposition party DAP for the May 13 racial riots, and accusing Indian youths for triggering the Kampung Medan clashes in 2001.

It also labelled Chinese lobby group Suqiu's call for a non-discriminative affirmative action policy as being 'extremist'.

Experts and concerned groups had warned that the book would burn rather than build bridges among the various communities.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi then instructed the guidebook to be withdrawn, saying racial issues are still a sensitive subject despite close to 50 years of independence.

He also said a new textbook on ethnic relations would be scrutinised by a group of experts.