Why politicise academic input on khat?

Threats and intimidation are not the way in trying to resolve problems in our country.

We can have disagreements and arguments on a variety of societal and political issues, but these cannot be turned into threats or used to intimidate.

Academic S Vijayaletchumi is in the education ministry’s primary school curriculum committee that drafted the khat calligraphy for the Bahasa Melayu syllabus for vernacular schools for next year.

I understand she has written a number of books on the promotion of Bahasa Melayu for Tamil vernacular schools.

A few months ago, I gave some financial support for her to promote the teaching of Bahasa Melayu at a Tamil school event in Penang.

I think it is important for Tamil school students to be properly equipped with skills and knowledge about Bahasa Malaysia so that their transition to Sekolah Kebangsaan in Form 1 would be smooth.

However, whether khat (the Malay-Arabic calligraphy) will enhance the teaching of Bahasa Melayu remains unclear.

As a language expert, Vijayaletchumi could have given an academic input on the introduction of khat, purely from the perspective of language improvement.

There is nothing wrong with this as this advice was given some time back.

But in a public TV panel discussion, Vijayaletchumi might not know the political consequences of her comments.

In fact, the discussions about the inclusion of khat in schools started in 2015, long before Pakatan Harapan came to power.

So the Barisan Nasional parties, particularly the MCA, MIC and Gerakan, cannot “throw stones at DAP and hide their hands behind their backs”.

Due to the lack of information and extreme secrecy of the education ministry, many of us in PH parties were surprised to know that khat was in fact the brainchild of the BN.

When the non-Malay communities have this kind of experts, do they really need enemies?

I am not trying to cast blame on the culprits of yesteryear but DAP, as one of the component parties of PH, seems to be bearing the brunt of attacks for not rejecting the introduction of khat in vernacular schools.

The party is trying to manage this crisis situation in the best possible manner by engaging with the public.

Whatever the faults of the party, it was able to convey the public’s disenchantment with khat to the relevant parties to the point of its dilution in the Bahasa Melayu curriculum.

Given the tension regarding khat, Vijayaletchumi might have slightly exceeded her expertise by agreeing to be on the TV panel to discuss the khat matter.

Knowing very well that the discussion might be politicised, she should not have agreed to this in the first place.

Whether she was naive or not, I am not sure but, fortunately or unfortunately, she had to decline after having received a threat from an NGO.

If this was the case, Vijayaletchumi should do the right thing by making a police report.

Academics being academics, they sometimes live in “rarefied atmosphere” that is cut off from the happenings of the real world.

Whether it is Vijayaletchumi or her replacement, UKM professor Teo Kok Seong, in the panel there is nothing to be gained by proceeding with the discussion.

Teo is a pro-establishment man who will find ways and means to justify the learning of khat.

Recently, he had gone on record to reject the establishment of Tamil secondary schools in the country on legal grounds.

What is the necessity for a panel discussion by including non-Malay academics who might end up supporting controversial policies and measures and, as a consequence, face the wrath of the public?

This is what happened to language expert Vijayaletchumi and it might happen to linguist Teo.

These experts, by going public on a controversial matter like khat, may contribute to the perception that they have been “bought”by those intending to implement controversial policies and measures.

P Ramasamy is deputy chief minister II of Penang. - FMT