Some objections to Jawi in vernacular schools are ‘overboard’, says Anwar

Mohd Farhan Darwis Mohd Farhan Darwis Updated 6 years ago · Published on 5 Jan 2020 2:25PM · 8 Comments

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim says some of the objections against introductory Jawi lessons in vernacular schools have gone overboard and are causing a flare-up in racial tensions. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Nazir Sufari, January 5, 2020.

SOME of the objections to introductory Jawi lessons for vernacular schools are “overboard” and have caused tensions among the people, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim said today.

He said the Jawi script is a national heritage and the purpose of introducing it to students is to broaden their knowledge about Bahasa Melayu, the national language.

“I don’t wish to add to the Jawi issue further, except to say that it is our national heritage.

“Some of those who have been objecting to it have also gone overboard, to the point that it has affected sentiments of some Malays, as if Jawi is archaic… Sanskrit is also an ancient language but there are people who still study it, likewise with Latin,” he said.

Anwar was speaking to reporters after attending a programme for students at a Tamil vernacular school in Serdang, Selangor, today.

He said he did not think the three pages of introductory Jawi in the Year 4 Bahasa Melayu textbook for vernacular schools would be burdensome.

“The students are not asked to have such a high command of Jawi, it is just for the sake of knowledge. I don’t think Bahasa Melayu can be mastered comprehensively without just a bit of knowledge as to its origins. It is about knowing our national heritage.

“The syllabus isn’t even a chapter, it’s just three pages as an introduction. I don’t think it should be a problem,” Anwar added.

The Port Dickson MP acknowledged opposing sentiments to the Jawi issue, but said those who objected need not be so vehement to the point of hurting the feelings of others.

He said the government should resolve the dispute between the Education Ministry and vernacular education groups and schools over the matter, as the country’s education system will be on the losing end in the long-run.

Vernacular education groups have opposed introductory Jawi for Year 4 pupils for several months now.

The Education Ministry had since revised aspects of its implementation, such as reducing the number of pages from six to three and allowing schools the freedom to decide whether Jawi writing should be taught if 51% of parents and parent-teacher association members agree to it.

Jawi will also not be graded or evaluated in examinations.

Chinese schools, however, are still objecting, with one of the reasons being that school boards should be the authority to decide.

Other reasons cited for opposing introductory Jawi are fears of alleged Islamisation, that learning Jawi script is unnecessary as it is not used widely, and that Chinese school students are already burdened with huge amounts of work. – January 5, 2020.

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Comments

  • To me is concerned, Khat is not part of Bahasa Malaysia. It maybe part of Bahasa Melayu. We study Bahasa Malaysia,our national language. So don't force into our mouth, Khat is part of BM. We don't think we need to study Khat bcos it's not BM. To us, Khat is part of Arabian language, so it's optional to anyone who wish to study another language but should not be part of BM textbook. In faCt, I think the BM textbook should have few pages of other Malaysian ethnic language like Kadazan, Dusun, Chinese and Tamil. Then it become very inclusive to our national identity of diversity.

    Posted 6 years ago by James Wong · Reply

  • I think Anwar has no PM material .
    I have withdrawn my support for him .
    Another Maszlee ....

    Posted 6 years ago by Charis W · Reply

    • He is a vote counter too, like Tun.

      Posted 6 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • We see road signs now written in Jawi. It is definitely not just a simple heritage, its use will be broaden over time and erode away the opportunity for more beneficial learning. Not a wise move for all Malaysians including the Malays too. Some ministers in the east has even called Jawi learning is a petty issue which should not carry so much focus.

    Posted 6 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • Talking about heritage, Chinese and Tamil have plenty too. Should we put them in the national curriculum?

    Posted 6 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

    • Yes In Tamil Nadu School Curicullam & in China School Curricullam!! No harm & no will complain

      Posted 6 years ago by Phoon Chan · Reply

  • But that's not how you start teaching Jawi! It begins with "alif", "ba", "ta" and so on. So don't get upset if people are concerned.

    Posted 6 years ago by Ravinder Singh · Reply

  • I start by saying that we are in the 21st century. In the 1950s and 1960s, Malaysians spoke better English than today's children in 2020. Does that not tell you something is wrong. This is especially so when English, Mandarin, and other primary languages are necessary for today's globalized world.
    What Malaysian students need is Bahasa Malaysia , JAWI is a TOTAL WASTE OF TIME. The government must respect the sentiments of Non-Malays ( and I am sure that most of the Malay educated population will agree) that if Jawi was such an important language in the world it would have been taken up elsewhere. It is not a necessary language, secondly, with PAS and other radical islamic groups freely moving in Malaysia ( with Zakir Naik) the danger that Non-Malays may be converted to Islamic faith is real in the eyes of the Non-Malays. On this score alone-JAWI should be an option available and not compulsory, out of respect to the Indians and Chinese community.
    We cannot carry on like this. Our educational system is the worst I have seen in decades. DR M wants to control the educational system solely for his political purposes. Can you imagine of all that Mat Rempits were trained in English and BM equally, how well they would preform in the job force. These Mat Rempis sadly were never given the chance of a solid good education. In the 1970s many Malays were promoted to Form 6 ( A levels) although they had grade II . That resulted in deterioration of our educational system and Non-Malays realized that it was not a policy to bring Malays up, but to push Non-Malays down. Today, with all the educational policies, Non-Malays ( educated) are some of the best in the world.
    So our educational system must be run by experts-Not Tok Mat, Tik Tok, or children of former or present politicians. We need to select someone on merit who is not a racist, religious minded, intellectually qualified and can bring Malaysia up.

    Posted 6 years ago by Abdul Rasheed · Reply