Opposing the teaching of the Jawi Script: What's your thought?
（新洲日报诗巫21日讯）60名来自诗巫、加帛与沐胶省华文小学董事联合会理事、会员校董事及校方的代表今日出席在诗巫、加帛与沐胶省华文小学董事联合会会所会议厅进行的 ”2020年华小四年级马来文科目中教导爪夷文书法单元“ 联席会议。
为表达反对及极为不满的意愿，诗巫、加帛与沐胶省华文小学董事联合众理事在会上除了高举 ”坚决反对2020年在华小四年级推行爪夷文书法单元课程“ 横幅，更双手交叉，作无声抗议。
秘书郑心乐代表该会在新闻发布会宣读文告时说，诗巫、加帛与沐胶省华文小学董事联合会坚决反对教育部在2020年华小四年级推行爪夷文单元课程。同时该会也大力支持全国董教总、华总，坚决反对明年在华小四年级推行爪夷文单元课程的立场。
质疑动机或有隐议程
“捍卫华小以母语（华语）作为教学媒介语，维护华小的教育体系不变质，是本会数十年来不变的立场。本会质疑教育部推行爪夷文的动机，是否含有隐议程，同时这也打开缺口，让更多不具华文资格的教师到华小执教，加速华小变质。”
郑心乐说，华小生已学习三语，若增加爪夷文，将加重学生课业的负担与压力。爪夷文和马来文的学习也没有直接关系，且无法提升学生掌握马来文。因此让华小生学爪夷文，简直是多此一举，加重师生负担。
华小董事部须团结
该联合会认为，有鉴于上述政策的目标不甚明朗，为确保华小的特质不受侵蚀。联合会在尊重董事部各自表达意见的权力之余，希望华小董事部能团结一致、上下一心，坚持反对在华小四年级教导爪夷文，希望当局早日收回此不切实际的爪夷文单元课程。
联合会也吁请全体华小董事部针对此项课题开会，并将董事部的决定转达予校长，副本则提呈予县教育局局长及传真或电邮予该联合会。
福南校友会筹组委员会的想法
筹组委员会秘书马美娟表示，福南校友会筹组委员会也敦促每个校友能团结一致，坚决反对2020年在华小四年级推行爪夷文书法单元课程。
编辑的想法
说到爪夷文，编辑在中学生涯上的寄宿学校曾学过，也算是个过来人。
先说说编辑是怎么看爪夷文。就像我们用中文字拼出英语字或句子，如三Q（"thank you" 谢谢）、欧买尬（ "Oh my God" 我的天），爪夷文就像是用阿拉伯文字拼出国语字或句子。
一个会读英文而不懂中文的人如果学会读中文拼音，看到一篇中文文章也只读得懂当中以中文字拼出的英语字或句子，如人或地点的名字。同样的，我们若学会读爪夷文而不懂阿拉伯语，就算被逼读可兰经里的阿拉伯语，我们也只读得出大部分却看不懂内容。
对编辑来说，学会书写阅读多一种语言其实是有益无害的。就像大家追韩流时学习韩文，或因常去日本旅游而学会了点日文，都会觉得有益于看得懂路标、店名、商品等。
当然，编辑上的寄宿中学是个马来校。教导爪夷文确实有益于提升大数马来学生的可兰经阅读率，所以校方把爪夷文定为必修科目是可以理解的。
不过，若是在华淡小学推行教导爪夷文的话，是有点不解。虽然编辑说了，多学一种语言无害，但联合会秘书郑心乐说得不错，在华小推行爪夷文确实会制造出更多不具华文资格的教师到华小执教的机会及多余的课业负担。
因此，反对在华淡小学推行爪夷文乃是目前为保持华小教育体系质量最明智的决定。
身为校友的您又有何想法？欢迎在下方的评论中分享， 与其他校友在线互动交流。
(Sibu Sin Chew Daily, 21st) 60 Directors, Board Members and School Representatives from Sibu, Kapit and Mukah attended a joint meeting of the United Association of Chinese Primary Aided School Boards of Management, Sibu, Kapit and Mukah Division, Sarawak today to discuss on the issue, “Introduction to Jawi script within the Primary 4 Bahasa Melayu syllabus at the Chinese primary schools in 2020”.
Posing with a banner that writes "Resolutely opposing the implementation of introducing the Jawi script within the Bahasa Melayu syllabus in primary schools in 2020" and their arms crossed, the directors of the United Association of Chinese Primary Aided School Boards of Management, Sibu, Kapit and Mukah Division, Sarawak reinforced their stand as their silent protest.
Secretary Zheng Xinle, speaking on behalf of the association, said in a press conference that the United Association of Chinese Primary Aided School Boards of Management, Sibu, Kapit and Mukah Division, Sarawak strongly opposes the implementation of introducing the Jawi script within the Primary 4 Bahasa Melayu syllabus at the Chinese primary schools in 2020 by the Ministry of Education. At the same time, the association also strongly urges the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM) and the The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia to support their stand.
Questionable Motive or Hidden Agenda
"For decades, the cause of the association has always been to preserve the mother tongue (Mandarin) as the medium of instruction and to uphold the quality of the Chinese-medium education system in the Chinese primary schools. The association is concerned with the Ministry of Education's motive for implementing the introduction of the Jawi script, could there be a hidden agenda, as this would open a gap by allowing more teachers without the qualification of the Chinese-medium education system to teach at the Chinese primary schools, hence worsening the deterioration of the school quality."
Zheng added, that the Chinese primary school students are already learning three languages. Learning the additional Jawi script would increase the burden and pressure on students' schoolwork. Moreover, Jawi is not directly related to the learning of the Malay language, and learning the Jawi script does not aid in improving students' mastery of the Malay language. Therefore, it is indeed unnecessary to make the Chinese primary school students learn the Jawi script, increasing the burden on both teachers and students.
Chinese primary school board to unite
The association considers that the objective of introducing such policy has not been very transparent. At the moment, it is crucial to uphold and preserve the quality of the education system in the Chinese primary schools. While the association respects the right of the board of directors to express their respective opinions on the issue, the association hopes that the board of directors of all Chinese primary schools can be united to insist on opposing the teaching of Jawi script in Primary 4 at the Chinese primary schools, and hopes that the authorities will soon retract this unrealistic inclusion of Jawi script within the syllabus.
The association also urges that the board of directors of all Chinese primary schools to hold meetings and discuss on this topic, and to cascade the decision of the Board of Directors to respective headmasters, and submit a copy of the decision to the Divisional Director of Education Department and the association via fax or email.
Thoughts from the Hock Lam Alumni Organizing Committee
Secretary Ma Bee Kuan emphasized that the Kapit Hock Lam Alumni Organizing Committee also urges all alumni to be united in resolutely opposing the implementation of introducing the Jawi script within the Primary 4 Bahasa Melayu syllabus at the Chinese primary schools in 2020.
My Personal Thoughts
Speaking of Jawi, I was actually made to take the Jawi class when I was studying at a boarding school during my secondary education.
Let's first talk about how I personally view Jawi. Just like how we spell out and pronounce English words or sentences using the Chinese characters, such as san-Q for "thank you" or ou-mai-ga for "Oh my God"), Jawi is like spelling out or pronouncing the Malay words or sentences using the Arabic characters.
If someone who can read English but does not understand Mandarin learns to read the Chinese Pinyin, when he reads a Chinese article, he can only understand those English words or sentences spelled out using the Chinese characters, such as the names of people or place. Similarly, if we learn to read Jawi without understanding the Arabic language, even if we were forced to read the Arabic in the Quran, we could only read without understanding unless we learn the Arabic language.
To me, learning to read and write additional languages is actually a gain. Just like how people learn the Korean Hanguel when chasing the Korean wave, or pick up some Japanese Hiragana after frequent travel to Japan, it is always useful to be able to read and understand road signs, shop names, products, etc.
Of course, the boarding school I went is a Malay secondary school. Teaching Jawi is indeed beneficial to improving the majority of Malay students' reading rate of the Quran, therefore it makes sense for the school to set the Jawi class as a compulsory subject.
However, introducing Jawi to the vernacular primary schools is deemed quite incomprehensible. Though I agreed that it is harmless to learn additional languages, Secretary Zheng Xinle said it well that the introduction of Jawi would indeed create more opportunities to allow more teachers without the qualification of the Chinese-medium education system to teach at the Chinese primary schools, as well as the unnecesary burden and pressure on students' schoolwork.
Hence, opposing the introduction of Jawi into the vernacular primary schools would be the wisest decision at the moment to maintain the quality of the Chinese-medium education system in the Chinese primary schools.
What do you think as an alumnus? Please share and exchange your thoughts with the other alumni in the comments below.