سجق بيلا مجاهد جادي جوروچاكڤ دوڠ زوڠ؟
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa’s claim that Dong Jiao Zong (Dong Zong) met him yesterday and admitted that the teaching of Jawi was not an attempt to bring non-Muslim students under the influence of Islam doesn’t help solve problems.
Dong Zong simply cannot hope to let Mujahid do the talking and pretend as if “it’s all over.” Since IT was bold enough to fly straight in the face of Malaysian Muslims with racially and religiously toned lies, it should face these Muslims directly, not through Mujahid.
Let’s face it, Dong Zong just wasn’t bothered to set the record straight even though it was pointed out over and over again that Jawi was constitutionally a part of the national language and that its learning was the prerogative of the Ministry of Education.
Not only do Dong Zong’s actions rhyme with prejudice, racism and bigotry, it’s open opposition towards the learning of Jawi was unconstitutional and bordered on national security given that lies were openly spread regarding a very sensitive issue.
SUBANG JAYA: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa’s claim that Dong Jiao Zong (Dong Zong) met him yesterday and admitted that the teaching of Jawi was not an attempt to bring non-Muslim students under the influence of Islam doesn’t help solve problems.
The group should instead issue a public apology for pitting the non-Muslims against Muslims, the religion of Islam, Islamic administration and the Islamic way of life by alleging that the learning of Khat Calligraphy and Jawi would Islamise education in Malaysia.
Dong Zong simply cannot hope to let Mujahid do the talking and pretend as if “it’s all over.” Since it was bold enough to fly straight in the face of Malaysian Muslims with racially and religiously toned lies, it should face these Muslims directly, not through Mujahid.
Don’t be cowards.
Let’s face it, Dong Zong just wasn’t bothered to set the record straight even though it was pointed out over and over again that Jawi was constitutionally a part of the national language and that its learning was the prerogative of the Ministry of Education.
Instead of taking the matter up with then Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik through formal and amicable means, the group preferred to stir the issue up in public and was even supported by the DAP and the MCA.
And when things got out of hand, its representatives refused to budge. It was clear testimony that the group was anti-Islam and racist. And this isn’t the first time this has happened.
On the 30th of December 2019, I wrote:
Back in the eighties, when the Ministry of Education decided to appoint some 100 senior assistants and supervisors to Chinese-medium primary schools, concerns were raised by Chinese politicians and organizations that the appointees were not Chinese-educated.
These politicians and organisations implied that students and parents would be forced to forgo the Chinese language and use English or Malay to communicate with school personnel in Chinese vernacular schools.
The concern was first raised by Dong Zong. Instead of calling for a meeting with the Minister of Education to discuss the concern, the group decided to go public with it, impressing upon the Chinese that the GoM was “slowly nationalising vernacular schools.”
This caused a furore among Chinese educationists and parents. As if things weren’t bad enough, on the 11th of October 1987, Dong Jiao Zong organised a 2,000-strong gathering at the Hainanese Association Building beside the Thean Hou Temple in Kuala Lumpur.
Interestingly enough, the MCA and Gerakan openly teamed up with the DAP during the event and shared a stage to call for a three-day boycott in Chinese schools if the government did not settle the appointment issue.
What was so ironical about the whole affair was the fact that the MCA and Gerakan were both part of government but chose to stand alongside the DAP to call for policy reviews.
And that was at a time when PAS kept a ten foot pole distance from UMNO, each trying to outdo the other to prove it was more Malay and more Muslim.
Not only do Dong Zong’s actions rhyme with prejudice, racism and bigotry, it’s open opposition towards the learning of Jawi was unconstitutional and bordered on national security given that lies were openly spread regarding a very sensitive issue.
Mujahid should stop behaving like Dong Zong’s spokesperson and get the group to issue a public apology instead.
RJ RITHAUDEEN
