Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) said he believed Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad would give similar instructions as he had done in the early 1990s.
The former deputy finance minister said when he first attended the nation-building camp held in Langkawi, the master trainer was Mahathir himself.
“What we did then was to hear a ceramah from the prime minister, for three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon, and three hours at night. He talked about hard work, discipline, courage and trust.
“So, for the new minister to say, abolish BTN, he does not know all these.
“What is Mahathir’s philosophy? The fall and rise of a nation, the failure and success of a nation, all rests on the value system of the nation itself,” he said when debating the Supply (Reallocation of Appropriated Expenditure) Bill 2018 today.
Ahmad said he, along with other BTN officers, had been sent by Mahathir in the early 1990s for training to Germany, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea to find a suitable module for BTN.
“In the end, we designed a module based on values, so we started a nation-building camp for five days and four nights, and camps were built nationwide.
“It is my hope that the youth and sports ministry is not rash in abolishing the module. In fact, Tan Seng Giaw (a former DAP MP)was also recently called to be part of the panel to rebrand BTN,” he added.
Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman had earlier this week confirmed the abolishment of the National Service Training Programme (PLKN) and the BTN.
He said civil servants attached to both government initiatives would be absorbed into his ministry.