The Seni Khat Action Team (Sekat) has threatened Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman with an RM10 million lawsuit for labelling them as "bodoh sombong".
The Bersatu Youth chief made the remark on social media after the group threatened to stop vernacular school pupils from attending classes to protest the teaching of Jawi khat (calligraphy).
Sekat secretary Arun Dorasamy said the group delivered a letter of demand to the Youth and Sports Ministry in Putrajaya this morning.
The NGO is demanding the minister to issue a formal apology within 14 days, failing which, a defamation suit would be filed.
"We delivered the letter of demand to the ministry and an officer received it on behalf of the minister.
"We demand the minister to retract his remark calling us 'bodoh sombong' (foolishly arrogant) which has created a lot of prejudice and a racial slur against us," Arun told Malaysiakini.
"We have a right to oppose the implementation of Jawi Khat. As a sitting minister, such statement is uncalled for and is wrong," he added.
According to the legal notice sighted by Malaysiakini, no further action would be taken if Syed Saddiq agreed to publicly withdraw his remark which had gone viral through various media reports and social media.
Sekat – which comprises 24 pressure groups – called for the implementation of Jawi khat lessons in the Standard Four Bahasa Malaysia syllabus to be postponed, and is seeking a dialogue with the government and relevant stakeholders to reach an amicable solution.
"If our demands are not met, we want parents to not send their kids to school. We will hold a campaign to convince the kids to skip school," Arun told a press conference on Aug 25.
Their call was made despite the Education Ministry announcing a compromise – with Jawi khat lessons only being taught in Standard Four with prior approval of parent-teacher associations, parents and pupils.
The ministry has also cut down the Jawi khat lessons from six pages to three. - mkini
Wow 10 million. How did they come up with that amount? Like the courts has nothing better to do
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