DONG Jiao Zong still wants Putrajaya to cancel the teaching of Jawi in the Bahasa Malaysia Year Four textbooks in vernacular schools next year, said Ng Chai Heng.

The Chinese education group’s secretary-general said the government should listen to voices on the ground and cancel its plan to include Jawi in the textbooks.

Ng said failure to listen will only create tension between communities and the government.

“The government should show its sincerity and change its policies to preserve harmony in the country,” he said today after Dong Jiao Zong and 17 other groups met today after police stopped its congress to discuss the teaching of Jawi in vernacular schools.

Police had yesterday obtained a court order to stop Dong Jiao Zong from holding its controversial congress scheduled for today. 

“We have just received the court order. We are currently discussing what to do,” Chai Heng had told The Malaysian Insight yesterday in confirming the event had been called off.

“We respect the court order, our meeting (today) will be cancelled.” 

A court granted the order on the basis that police intelligence had indicated a riot would likely break out should the congress proceed.

Ng, however, said Dong Jiao Zong and its allies did not object to the Bahasa Malaysia Standard Five syllabus that has lessons on Jawi, Chinese and Tamil calligraphies in vernacular schools. – December 28, 2019.