SYED Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has been given 48 hours to retract his “bodoh sombong” (proud and arrogant) remark against an anti-khat group.
The Seni Khat Action Team (Sekat) said it will sue the youth and sports minister if he fails to withdraw the comment, made on Twitter last night.
“We were urging the Education Ministry to postpone the teaching of khat and hold a dialogue, but the minister (Syed Saddiq) chose to use inappropriate words to describe our intention,” said Sekat secretary Arun Dorasamy in a statement.
“He should not have read only the title of the article published by a news portal. Instead, he should have read the full story before commenting.”
Yesterday, the group urged the ministry to postpone the teaching of Jawi, or the script on which khat calligraphy is based, to vernacular school pupils until there is a “clear” answer on the issue.
It said it wants a dialogue with the government, so that an amicable solution can be reached.
Arun said if Sekat’s demand is not met, it will convince parents to stop sending their children to school in protest.
Syed Saddiq responded by branding the group “bodoh sombong”.
“To prevent children from getting an education just because you are scared of three pages of Jawi, which isn’t even going to be tested in the exams, and is already made optional… You cannot get more ‘bodoh sombong’ than this.”
Arun challenged Syed Saddiq, a well-known debater, to spar over the khat controversy.
“Let’s have a debate. There will be no conditions for it.”
PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad, meanwhile, slammed Sekat’s idea of convincing parents to “boycott” schooling.
He said the group should not politicise education matters.
“Let us all be rational. Education is not for you to politicise. This is not helping the future generation. This is bringing them down.”
Jelebu Umno division chief Jalaludin Alias said it is unreasonable for Sekat to call on parents to stop sending their children to school over the khat issue.
Khat has nothing to do with race or religion, and is only an art form, he said.
“There is no reason for children to skip school. (The idea) is a blow to both kids and their parents.
“The teaching of khat will be optional… it is not compulsory.
“It has nothing to do with race or religion, so stop making it as such.” – August 26, 2019.
Comments
Posted 4 years ago by Arul Inthirarajah · Reply
Posted 4 years ago by . . · Reply
look...with some fews pages of Jawi wont convert people.. ok
on top of that its optional...
THE END ................
I rather pet my cat
Posted 4 years ago by Lan Lan · Reply
Posted 4 years ago by J w · Reply
Posted 4 years ago by Sidney Karan · Reply
Posted 4 years ago by Mindy Singh · Reply
Posted 4 years ago by Mindy Singh · Reply