THE decision to introduce khat, or calligraphy based on the Jawi script, for all Year Four pupils was meant to instil love for artistic writing and complement the Bahasa Malaysia syllabus. But surprise, surprise – like many things in this country, it has morphed into a racial issue.

Sure, some of the points raised are valid and need to be addressed.

Couldn’t khat be included in the art or national civics syllabus instead?

Well, the reason it will be in the BM syllabus probably has to do with phonetics and the suitability of teachers. But perhaps people’s fears would be assuaged if it were.

Do we have enough qualified teachers for this?

Yes, they should have some form of training.

Why not focus on more important things, like English and maths?

But isn’t art or language important, too? If such is the demand, perhaps the music and moral studies subjects could be replaced with mobile programming and principles of engineering.

Can we be sure there’s no racism in this?

Why do we cheer on a Malay student at a Chinese or Tamil national-type school who reads and writes in a language other than their mother tongue, but to learn the basics of another script – one commonly taught and still used in parts of Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, and even the Philippines – is considered “crossing the line”?

Much of the protest against the decision had been from national-type schools. Understandably, Chinese and Tamil schools are viewed as bastions of their respective cultures, but we should move towards inclusion if we are to integrate better as a nation.  

Years of suspicion and the parallel development of syllabi and styles, although supervised to a certain degree, have led to multiple schools of thought on our educational institutions. The matter has grown social, and even political, roots. National schools aren’t viewed by everyone as just that, but some see them as Malay-Muslim schools.

If doing away with national-type schools is taboo, perhaps finding common ground, like khat or calligraphy based on scripts other than Jawi, to learn more about one another could lead to bigger things. Recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate, maybe?

While minority races are rightfully protective of their languages and cultures, they also need to understand that Malays have no other motherland, and that the propagation of Malay culture, including language – without denying others the right to preserve theirs – is a responsibility of the government. We should accept this as part of who we are, our identity as Malaysians. The fact that Jawi, a script used for writing BM, is to this day confused as a language of its own, or worse, exclusive to Muslims, demonstrates how far we’ve drifted apart as a nation.

Knee-jerk reactions will only invite counter-reactions from Malays who take offence to people finding that part of their culture, which is also part of Malaysian culture as a whole, “repugnant” or “useless”.

If anything, the “secularisation” of a language is something natural and should be promoted. This was the argument used in The Herald’s case. It should take more than a little prodding by a newspaper to trigger a national discussion of this magnitude. We really should trust each other more.

If the people aren’t ready for khat/Jawi, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination or anything else progressive, the “politically wise” decision, disappointingly, would be to backtrack. However, every effort should be made to educate – or re-educate – Malaysians on what it means to live together, and that our identity as Malaysians is truly unique, with all the elements of our collective culture, including BM in any form, inseparable from that identity. – August 7, 2019.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.