Dong Jiao Zong conspicuously absent from Jawi dialogue

De facto National Unity and Social Wellbeing Minister P Waythamoorthy held a meeting with various stakeholders this morning to discuss the controversy over the introduction of Jawi lessons in vernacular schools.

However, the meeting was marred by the conspicuous absence of two key opponents to the new policy — the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) and the United Chinese School Teachers’ Association of Malaysia (Jiao Zong).

Dong Zong chairperson Tan Tai Kim told Malaysiakini that they only received Waythamoorthy’s invitation to attend the meeting via email at 8.30am today.

He, however, acknowledged that Dong Zong was earlier invited to the meeting by Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Jawi Teaching Special Committee coordinator Eddie Heng, but Tan did not respond directly on whether he had rejected the invitation.

Meanwhile, Dong Zong secretary-general Ng Chai Heng said Heng had never contacted him but was unsure whether Heng had invited Dong Zong on the minister’s behalf.

Nevertheless, he said Dong Zong will be organising a dialogue on the Jawi issue and will send invitations to the various parties.

Earlier, the meeting ran from about 12.30pm to 3.15pm. According to Waythamoorthy, 45 representatives from 32 organisations attended.

Among the participants who opposed the introduction of Jawi lessons in vernacular schools include Heng, who represented the Malaysian Chinese Language Council (MCLC), and Seni Khat Action Team (Sekat) secretary Arun Doraisamy.

Meanwhile, proponents of the new lessons who joined the meeting include Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia, and Semangat Gelombang Rakyat Malaysia chairperson Ellie Suriati Omar.

At a press conference after the meeting, Waythamoorty said the meeting was originally intended as a closed-door session, and they did not expect reporters to gather outside the venue upon hearing about the meeting.

Hence, he said a press conference was called to explain the situation, but participants would not be entertaining any questions from reporters.

Sultan Idris Education University professor and Malaysian Linguistics Association advisor Awang Sariyan read out five outcomes from the meeting, which were:

1. Participants held positive and in-depth discussions on the Jawi issue.

2. Participants agreed to hold dialogue sessions with all stakeholders.

3. National unity should be prioritised in the implementation of all government policies.

4. All parties urged to cease provocation on the Jawi issue.

5. All government policies must respect the spirit of the Federal Constitution.

Meanwhile, when asked about Dong Zong’s absence after the press conference, Heng told reporters that since Waythamoorthy was unfamiliar with the various education groups, the task of inviting various stakeholders to the meeting was left to the MCLC and Sekat.

In particular, MCLC was responsible for inviting Chinese groups to the meeting.

Heng said that upon receiving news of the meeting, the first thing he did was to invite Dong Jiao Zong.

“I did invite them. The first thing I did was to contact the Dong Zong chairperson and the Jiao Zong secretary-general Tan Cheng Suan. 

“At the time, they said they want to hand over a memorandum to the Education Ministry on Jan 2 and would discuss (attendance at the meeting) later.

“Then, the Jiao Zong secretary-general said they have other arrangements to meet other departments and ministers, and would not attend the meeting,” he said.

Heng added that due to the short notice for the meeting, he had only sent invitation letters to groups that had already agreed to attend the meeting.

He acknowledged that at the meeting, many participants had asked why Dong Zong was absent.

He urged Dong Zong to attend meetings in the future, saying that face-to-face discussions would help clarify matters and allow opposing groups to find common ground.

Meanwhile, Sekat’s Arun also expressed regret over Dong Zong’s absence.

He said that through today’s meeting, he found many Malay groups had been misled to believe that Dong Zong were “racists, chauvinists, and communists” due to misinformation spread through WhatsApp and social media platforms.

The meeting, he said, was a huge missed opportunity for Dong Zong to set the record straight.

“It is a shame that we didn’t have Dong Zong here. We are trying to deracialise the issue — that this is not about the Chinese or any one group, but about the national education system," said Arun. 

"That’s why we roped in Sabah and Sarawak groups into the discussion. So, when our big NGOs are not participating, they are losing out quite a bit.

“Today we have 32 NGOs, 15 of those NGOs are the hardcore Malay NGOs. They are the NGOs that we want to convince,” he said.- Mkini