YOUTH and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has called a coalition of groups against the teaching of Jawi in vernacular schools “bodoh sombong” (proud and arrogant).

He used the term on the Seni Khat Action Team (Sekat), which yesterday said it would urge parents to stop sending their children to school if the government did not postpone the teaching of Jawi to Year 4 pupils and discuss the matter with them first.

“To prevent children from getting education just because you are scared of three pages of Jawi, which isn’t even going to be tested in exams and is already made optional… You cannot get more bodoh sombong than this,” Syed Saddiq tweeted last night.

Sanggup menghalang anak dari dapat pendidikan hanya kerana takut 3 muka surat berkenaan jawi yang tidak dimasukkan ke dalam exam & sudah pun opsyenal.

You cannot get more bodoh sombong than this. https://t.co/r9C8iqT4Eg

— Syed Saddiq (@SyedSaddiq) August 25, 2019

Sekat yesterday called for more engagement with the government over the Jawi syllabus in the Year 4 Bahasa Melayu textbook for Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools.

Sekat secretary Arun Dorasamy had said if the group’s demands were not met, it would urge parents not to send their children to school.

While Twitter users disagreed with Sekat’s threat, some also took Syed Saddiq to task for labelling the group as such. 

One social media user, Thevesh, however, called that minister’s reaction inappropriate.

“They have obviously been manipulated by certain parties. Many Indians have already condemned their statement.

“As a minister, you DO NOT call them bodoh sombong. End of the day, they are citizens asking for a dialogue. Engage & explain,” Thevesh said.

In a reply to Thevesh, Syed Saddiq defended himself by saying that the government had already been “engaging & explaining for one whole month”.

“Education is being held at ransom & used as a bargaining tool. If that’s not arrogance, I don’t know what is,” the minister tweeted in reply.

He went silent after that and did not reply to other users who took issue with his labelling of the anti-Jawi writing group.

Another user, @Vishtweets, wrote: “Bro you lost my respect. Nobody elected you to address your own citizens ‘bodoh sombong’ which you have to serve.”

While several users ticked the minister off for his comment, others supported his criticism of Sekat.

This is the second time in as many days Syed Saddiq has been slammed on social media for his tweets.

On Saturday night, he posted photos of a dinner at his residence with Dr Zakir Naik, saying Malaysians should move on as the controversial preacher had apologised for his remarks that offended Malaysia’s Hindu and Chinese citizens.

Twitter user Sharon Pearl reminded Syed Saddiq of this, saying “Sorry, still can’t get that image of you having dinner with ZN out of my head”. – August 26, 2019.