After khat and other controversies, Harapan told to vet policies before rollout

In light of the ongoing controversy over the introduction of khat for vernacular schools, an academic has urged Pakatan Harapan to improve how it formulates and communicates its policies.

Speaking at a forum last night, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia principal research fellow Denison Jayasooria said that recent events reveal that the government seems ill-prepared when implementing its initiatives.

“Basically, I can’t understand how Harapan can get policy formulation so wrong," he said during the 'Rethinking Multiculturalism in the Malaysian Education System' forum in Kuala Lumpur.

“How could they get into so many political messes in terms of its unpreparedness in public policy discussions?

“Because if you look at (what happened with) the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd), Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and some appointments, the internal processes have some major weaknesses.” 

Earlier this year, Putrajaya had announced its intention to ratify Icerd and the Rome Statute, but later backtracked on both decisions following protests.

Denison thus urged Harapan to establish a committee to review, scrutinise, troubleshoot and engage different stakeholders on proposed policies before announcing it to the public.

"I’m not saying hush it up, but I think you need to formulate (policies) quite extensively and thresh it out among yourselves (before making an announcement).

"Because it is creating a sense of political insecurity, as well as political immaturity on the part of policymakers, and people are losing confidence in the policy process.

"If we don’t strengthen this process, we will be stuck with another controversy that you will have to do firefighting (for)," he cautioned.

Risk of further division

It was recently revealed that the Education Ministry plans to include khat in the Year Four Bahasa Malaysia syllabus at national-type vernacular schools next year.

The move courted strong opposition from Chinese educationist groups and even from DAP grassroots.

To Denison, the khat controversy is just the latest example of Harapan’s lack of preparedness.

"They are showing how on the ringgit and uniforms that (Jawi is) already there... But should the script of the national language, after 62 years in the way that it has been taught, shift?

"This is where the people within the Education Ministry and (in) the political process did not have sufficient consultation.

"We are in a mess today and it is dividing us in a very bad way,” he said.

As for his personal take on the move, the academic did not believe that Jawi helped improve students’ command of Bahasa Malaysia.

Denison proposed that the calligraphy style be introduced in the form of a "cultural campaign" rather than be incorporated into textbooks.

Also speaking at the forum were UCSI University architecture professor Mohd Tajuddin Rasdi and Chan Kheng Fai, an aide to deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching.

It was moderated by United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong) curriculum division director Khei Yok Man.

Teo had pulled out as a panellist as she had to attend a DAP meeting over the contentious khat issue. - Mkini