Khat lessons to also teach values to Chinese, Tamil school pupils

Updated 4 years ago · Published on 4 Aug 2019 7:07PM · 7 Comments

Starting next year, children in the vernacular schools will join their peers in the national schools in learning Jawi. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, August 4, 2019.

“RINGAN tulang,” “buah tangan,” “ambil berat,” “ibu kandung,” and “baik hati.”

They mean helpful, gift, caring, natural mother and good-hearted, in the same order.

These are the five Bahasa Melayu terms that Chinese and Tamil primary school kids will be taught to spell using Arabic script, or Jawi, next year.

These words and examples of how they are used are the only lessons contained in the six-page khat section of a Bahasa Melayu textbook that has triggered a firestorm of protest among parents, teachers, politicians and educationists.

The debate over these six pages is the latest controversy that has exposed the fault lines between Malaysia’s Muslims and non-Muslims over its school system.

According to photos of the six pages seen by The Malaysian Insight, the section on khat has two aims – to show pupils how Jawi is used in Bahasa Melayu and to impart the values behind the terms.

It is learnt that the lessons are proposals and that the ministry is still finalising the versions that will be used in the Bahasa Melayu Primary Four textbooks in Chinese and Tamil primary schools next year.  

In the lessons, pupils are taught to how draw and spell out the words using Jawi characters which read from right to left. For instance “baik” is written as ba, alif, hamza, ya, qaf and “hati” as ha, alif, ta, ya.  

These terms are also used in passages to illustrate what they mean and how they are meant to be used.

A passage using the terms “baik hati” and “ambil berat” reads:

“Ibu Mei Fung mengusahakan taman didikan kanak-kanak atau tadika. Nama tadika beliau adalah Tadika Si Buah Hati. Tadika Si Buah Hati sangat maju. Banyak ibu bapa menghantar anak-anak mereka ke tadika itu. Ibu Mei Fung sangat baik hati dan ambil berat kanak-kanak di tadika beliau.”

(Mei Fung’s mother runs a kindergarten. The name of the kindergarten is Si Buah Hati Kindergarten. Si Buah Hati Kindergarten is very successful. Many parents send their children to the kindergarten. Mei Fung’s mother is very good-hearted and care deeply for the children in her kindergarten.)

A footnote for the teacher at the bottom of the page says the value that is meant to be imparted is “kegigihan”, or determination.

A passage to explain the terms “ibu kandung” and “buah tangan” reads:

“Chun Han dan ibu kandungnya pergi ke carnival innovasi teknologi hijau. Di sana mereka berpeluang menekap simpulan bahasa dalam bentuk khat. Khat yang dihasilkan telah dilekatkan pada replica Bandar hjiau. Chun Han telah membeli replica itu sebagai buah tangan untuk abangnya.”

(Chun Han and his biological mother went to a carnival on green technology innovations. While there, they had the chance to trace out idioms in the form of khat. The tracings were pasted on a replica of a green city. Chun Han has bought the replica as a gift for his elder brother.)

The footnote for this lesson states that it is meant to teach “menghargai”, or appreciation.

The lesson for “ringan tulang” is illustrated using the following example:

“Encik Johan membantu Encik Gunalan memasang pagar di kawasan rumahnya. Dinesh pula sedang mencatat langkah-langkah memasang pagar dalam bentuk khat. Aidil yang ringan tulang dan mahir khat membantu Dinesh menghasilkan tulisan tersebut.”

(Mr Johan is helping Mr Gunalan to put up a fence at the latter’s house. Dinseh is writing down the steps to assemble a fence in the form of khat. Aidil who is helpful and skilled in khat is helping Dinesh to do the writing.)   

This lesson is meant to impart the value of “keprihatinan”, or conscientiousness. – August 4, 2019.

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Comments

  • Mazlee will start with tis n slowly softly pin the non muslim non malays Down to their WAYS. Like they hv done in previous govt . SOFT CHEAT BITTER RESULT.

    Posted 4 years ago by Mindy Singh · Reply

  • Go ahead with khat but add Chinese calligraphy and Sanskrit writing as well. All are ancient forms of beautiful writing. Why must it only be Malay/Muslim centric?

    Posted 4 years ago by Gerard Lourdesamy · Reply

    • Agree 100%. The Malays can also learn good values, maybe even more, by learning Chinese calligraphy and Indian Sanskrit writings.

      Posted 4 years ago by Rupert Lum · Reply

  • Teach coding better since vision 2020 is now vision 2030.

    Posted 4 years ago by H. Mokhtar · Reply

  • Cant even get the BM right, want to teach Jawi pulak now BANYAK ibu bapa??!

    Posted 4 years ago by Anne Louis · Reply

  • This will be an opportunity to teach the children about the Civil Disobedience. They can boycott the lessons and refuse to participate.

    Posted 4 years ago by Yoon Kok · Reply

  • May children also be taught Chinese calligraphy and other ethnic writing forms? As an optional course it will be better accepted by the population.

    Posted 4 years ago by Malaysia New hope · Reply