A marker points to the mistake in the textbook.
KUCHING: The Ministry of Education has acknowledged the error found in the Bahasa Melayu Tingkatan 1 textbook as highlighted by The Borneo Post, where Sarawak is omitted as one of the oil and gas producing states in Malaysia.
In a statement today, the ministry said that it would amend the mistake by adding Sarawak into the paragraph in question, found on page 23 of the textbook.
“The Ministry of Education admits that there is an erratum on page 23 of the textbook as highlighted by The Borneo Post in their article dated Jan 17.
“The Ministry has decided to make the correction by adding Sarawak to the excerpt and the corrected version will be available in the textbook’s QR Code as errata,” the statement read.
Future editions of the textbook will also carry the correction, the Ministry promised.
On Jan 16, State Reform Party Sarawak (STAR) president Lina Soo highlighted the mistake to The Borneo Post.
Pages 22 and 23 of the textbook, which has been in circulation since 2017 and is published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), covers the oil and gas industry of the nation.
At the bottom of page 23, a section on additional important facts about the petroleum industry reads:
“The major oil producers of the world are the United States (13.7%), Saudi Arabia (11.9%) and Russia (11.0%). Malaysia is among the world’s top oil producers. Oil exploration areas in Malaysia are found in waters off Terengganu, Kelantan and Sabah.” The state of Sarawak is conspicuously missing from the list.