MCA protest against Japanese textbook

MCA protest against Japanese textbook

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's ethnic Chinese community Sunday
launched a signature campaign in a protest over a controversial
Japanese history textbook accused of glossing over the nation's
wartime record.

The four-day campaign, organized by several Chinese non-
government organizations, also aims to underline opposition to
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's proposed visit to a
Tokyo war shrine.

Ong Ka Ting, a vice-president of the ruling Malaysian Chinese
Association (MCA), said his "blood boiled" when he read the
Japanese book.

"The history book is misleading, we cannot accept that.
history cannot be changed or whitewashed. You have come here and
killed so many, wounded so many," he told reporters after
launching the campaign.

Ong, who is also housing and local government minister, said
the book claimed that Japanese occupation had helped Malaysia and
other countries achieve independence from the British.