An ex-senior staff member of former Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim expressed ‘awe’ that Lim Kit Siang felt more Malaysian after learning the Jawi script.
Faekah Husin, former Chief Executive at Selangor Menteri Besar Incorporated, took to twitter yesterday to ask if the senior Lim was in damage control mode following criticism by netizens over a racist remark posted by fellow DAP member Lim Lip Eng.
If indeed Kit Siang feels more ‘Malaysian’, he should have been the first to reprimand Lip Eng for posting a Facebook comment that equated the introduction of Khat Calligraphy to “rubbing cow manure on our faces.”
He should then have used his newfound “Malaysianness” to explain to the Dong Zong and Jiao Zong groups the merits of learning khat caligraphy and the Jawi script. But he didn’t.
SUBANG JAYA: An ex-senior staff member of former Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim expressed ‘awe’ that Lim Kit Siang felt more Malaysian after learning the Jawi script.
Faekah Husin, a former Chief Executive at Selangor Menteri Besar Incorporated, took to twitter yesterday (see twitter post below) to ask if the senior Lim was in damage control mode following criticism by netizens over a racist remark posted by fellow DAP member Lim Lip Eng on Facebook.
Her jab at the Lims came on the heels of a statement issued by Kit Siang who claimed that the jawi he learned under ISA detention may have left him feeling more Malaysian.
@limkitsiang: I learned jawi and that did not make me less Chinese and may have helped in making me more of a Malaysian. Great sir. Pls tell that to your "muka tahi lembu" @limlipeng. Or its merely a damage control exercise? https://t.co/WDroLNmWKk
— Faekah Husin (@faekah_qkn5) August 4, 2019
“It (certainly) didn’t make me any less of a Chinese,” he said.
Lim was referring to a decision by the Government of Malaysia to introduce khat calligraphy to year four pupils.
The decision drew scorn from the Dong Zong and Jiao Zong groups that claimed the art form – which is what it is – was in no way related to the Malay language and would not help pupils master it.
But not only is this a misconception, the core essence of the language is derived off khat calligraphy and the Jawi script.
The linguistic skills were first introduced to locals by twelfth century Arab and Indian Muslim traders who also brought along with them the influence of Islam.
Thanks to these traders, the Malays quickly became masters in khat calligraphy and gradually began writing history, scriptures and trade agreements in jawi.
The widespread use of the script affected the manner in which words were enunciated and played a direct and monumental role in the evolution of the Malay language.
But all this changed with the arrival of the colonialists.
When the Portugese came, they insisted that the locals use the Latin alphabet and laid foundations to the development of the Malay language on that alphabet.
That gave rise to crude and informal ways of writing and spelling in Malay that didn’t quite capture the physiological and acoustic qualities of the language as it evolved through Jawi.
The British took off where the Portugese left and helped formalise the phonetical development of the language.
That ended up adulterating the language with pronunciation endemic to the British and ‘christianised’ it to a certain extent.
It follows, the spelling of a Malay word using the Latin alphabet may not necessarily deliver its core essence as it was meant to be delivered by the early linguists.
That explains why the introduction of khat caligraphy and the Jawi script is fundamentally correct and necessary in helping pupils master and appreciate the Malay language in its purest and truest sense.
The move will help preserve the language from further adulteration, much like the Chinese alphabet helps the Dong Song and Jiao Song groups preserve the core essence of the Chinese language as it is spoken and written in Malaysia.
Faekah probably understands this as well as the better half of the Malay-Muslim scholars do and is likely bemused by Kit Siang’s claim that he became more Malaysian by learning Jawi.
If indeed that’s the case, he should have been the first to reprimand Lip Eng for posting a Facebook comment that equated the introduction of Khat Calligraphy to “rubbing cow manure on our faces.”
He should then have used his newfound “Malaysianness” to explain to the Dong Zong and Jiao Zong groups the merits of learning khat caligraphy and the Jawi script.
But he didn’t.
That probably explains why Faekah asked if Kit Siang’s “Malaysianness” was nothing but damage control to offset the scorn poured by netizens over Lip Eng’s rant.
THE THIRD FORCE
