DAP accuses MCA of organising protests against Jawi lesson in 2019

 

The DAP has accused MCA of manipulating the issue over the introduction of Jawi script lesson in vernacular schools in 2019 when Pakatan Harapan was the ruling government.

Its organising secretary Anthony Loke claimed the MCA action had sparked widespread anger among the public including educationist groups.

He alleged that MCA had mobilised school boards and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) to hold protests nationwide in 2019.

"Why did the Jawi script become a major issue? It was because MCA was behind the scene, playing up the issue," he said during a live streaming interview session organised by the National Professors Council.

"Back then, the party mobilised all school boards and PTAs of the Chinese (primary) schools to put up banners and hold demonstrations.

"It was as though the nature of the Chinese schools could be changed by including Jawi script in textbook," he said.

DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke

 Loke added that now, MCA has been silent after it became part of the federal government.

"Today, they are with the government, but they have no issue (with Jawi script lesson). I want to ask: has the three-page Jawi script lesson disappeared from the textbook now?" he said.

"I mean the Jawi script is still in the textbook but it has yet to become an issue to the Chinese community. (Educationist group) Dong Jiao Zong does not hold protests.

"I have not heard about the issue for one year even though it was once a double-edged sword to DAP where one side accused us of not taking care of the Chinese, while the other side used the issue to scare the Malays," he said.

"But when we are no longer in the government, this is suddenly a non-issue," he said.

"This showed that someone had manipulated the issue. Without a political player stirring it up, it would not have turned into an issue.

"If we can debate the issue rationally and provide a good explanation, it would not be a problem to me," he said.

In mid-2019, it was discovered that the Harapan administration had agreed to proceed with the previous administration's plan to introduce seni khat or Malay calligraphy into the Primary 4 Bahasa Malaysia syllabus.

The decision was greeted with heavy criticism from the non-Malays, who believed that the move was related to Islamisation and would burden their children.

Then education minister Maszlee Malik initially refused to budge, stressing that khat was part of the Malay heritage and that the lesson involved only six pages in the textbook.

Eventually, the Harapan administration buckled under pressure and switched from an introduction to khat to an introduction to Jawi, involving only three pages.

Vernacular schools had the choice of opting to teach Jawi based on the three pages through the consent of parents via their votes.

Last July, Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said the government would re-study the issue. - Mkini