Govt leaders urged to attend Jawi congress

Group wants govt to resume talks on introducing Arabic script in primary schools

KUALA LUMPUR: The weekend after Christmas is turning out to be quite eventful.

On Sunday, there will be a congress to pressure the government to resume talks on the introduction of Arabic script in the school curriculum.

This comes a day after a Chinese education group, Dong Jiao Zong, holds its own assembly to protest the teaching of Jawi in schools.

The Gabungan Seni Khat Action Group said that all the issues pertaining to the teaching of Jawi would be explained in detail at this Sunday’s event, dubbed the National Jawi Congress.

Its national secretary, Arun Dorasamy, said this was to ensure that all quarters have a better understanding of the group’s reason and rationale for protesting its introduction at the Primary 4 level in the school syllabus beginning next year.

“This congress will complement the Dong Jiao Zong congress. Unlike the Dong Jiao Zong one, which focuses on the Chinese community, the National Jawi Congress will be for all Malaysians,” Arun said.

“This is because we felt the issue of Jawi is not a racial one, but a national issue which must be discussed and addressed together.

We will discuss the matter in a more academic and united way,” he told a press conference yesterday.

The congress, which will see various non-governmental organisations and parent-teacher associations attending, will be held at the Crystal Crown Hotel in Petaling Jaya beginning 10am and is open to the public.

The announcement of the congress came just a week after Dong Jiao Zong announced that it would also hold a “Chinese Organisation Congress” on Saturday, citing their unhappiness with the latest teaching guidelines for the Jawi script lessons in school.

Meanwhile, Arun said he expects at least 400 people to attend the congress, adding that six speakers would be taking the stage, including activist Siti Kasim, to touch on various aspects implementing Jawi in schools.

He said the congress would also table and pass six resolutions which would then be handed to Education Minister Maszlee Malik.

On whether the congress has received the approval of the authorities, Arun said: “We have notified the district police, and we are always in touch with them. We have briefed them on the agenda.”

“Also, since it’s a closed door event, we actually don’t need a permit,” he said.