THE National Jawi Congress has adopted seven resolutions which would be handed over to the Education Ministry tomorrow.

Congress organiser Seni Khat Action Team’s (Sekat) Arun Doraisamy said he hoped that would persuade the government to agree to a dialogue with the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sabah and Sarawak groups.

“We have achieved our objective today. We successfully showed the country that this is not a racial issue. No chaos or riots and we even invited our friends from a Malay NGO to join and listen to us.

“All we wanted was a dialogue with the ministry but the discussion must involve the Malay, Chinese, Indian and Sabah and Sarawak (representatives).

“The seven resolutions passed today will be handed over to the ministry at 11.30am tomorrow,” Arun said.

Sekat states in its resolutions that it opposed the compulsory introduction of Jawi lessons without consultation as well as the inclusion of Jawi into the Bahasa Melayu module as a “must pass subject”.

It states that Jawi should be an elective subject; that Bahasa Melayu be prioritised as the national language; that the rights of vernacular schools be recognisedl and that the move to teach Jawi in the vernacular schools be deferred.

Sekat member Siti Kassim later told reporters that Putrajaya needed to consult the people more on sensitive issues.

“The approach by the ministry was good. There were some improvements. I can say it is better than the previous government. They listen but they can be better and I hope they will continue to improve.”

“They need to consult the rakyat more especially in cases like this, which is sensitive,” she said.

The congress today was held at the Crystal Crown Hotel in Petaling Jaya. About 1,100 people showed up, including a group of Malays who wanted Jawi to be taught in school.

Police officers from the Petaling Jaya district were deployed to monitor the congress which ended peacefully after three hours.

A day ago, a similar conference to be held in Kajang was cancelled at the last minute after the district police obtained a court order to stop the meeting, on the grounds that the event organised by Chinese educationist group Dong Jiao Zong could cause racial tension and unrest.

Rightwing Malay groups had made it clear that any opposition to Jawi lesson in schools would be met with retaliation and could cause a repeat of the May 13 racial riots

Several Malay groups had also lodged report against Dong Jiao Zong.

In August, Putrajaya said it would proceed with the teaching of Jawi for Year Four pupils next year but with some adjustments, including fewer Jawi lessons and that the lessons would only be introduced with the approval of the respective school’s parent-teacher association. – December 29, 2019.