Jawi – who wants to retreat?
Today I attended a forum entitled ‘Jawi – Saling Memahami’ organized by GBM – Malaysia Action Coalition at the Chinese Assembly Hall, Selangor. The forum was excellent as it was also attended by Dong Zong, the Tamil Foundation, IKRAM, ABIM and the Chinese Assembly Hall. What makes this Forum complete is that it is also attended by Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim of the Ministry of Education.
I speak in a forum attended by all races, so all views of all panelists make sense and are rational. They were speaking with open hearts and transparently. I also began to understand Dong Zong’s point of view as well as a very good and professional explanation by the Ministry representative.
But I imagine, if the forum was attended by only one race and panel members of that race, then we could imagine the demands and screams of slogans that would be greeted with high emotion and high pitch aiming to win the gold medal for the most radical view.
I can also imagine that even though Dong Zong has repeatedly argued that their rally is actually a closed-door meeting and they have no problem with Jawi but want to discuss the School Board’s role in this issue, all of their arguments will fall silent because many people feel when people The Chinese gather together, for example, the “Communists” gather. The same goes when non-Muslims think that every time a Muslim gathers, there is a “Taliban” gathering. When the Indians gather, it must be a gangster rally. And so is the stereotype by Malaysian society
Whether you like it or not, there is only one way to alleviate the situation. If all groups can take one step back, then the issue can be resolved more civilly. The problem is who’s going to back off first? There are several ways to resolve this problem.
The Government itself has withdrawn from the ICERD and the Rome Statute, so it is not my fault for Dong Zong to take a step backward as the Government itself has retreated several times in this Jawi issue from 6 faces to 3 faces, Khat’s writings were changed to Jawi , in addition to the choice for parents and PIBG and finally 3 pages to teach. It shows that the Government is ready to accept the views on this issue. So I’d like to suggest a win-win situation like below
1. Dong Zong postponed their program and at the same time held dialogues with ready-to-speak groups such as ABIM, IKRAM, PAS, COVER, etc. in a cohesive setting. Dong Zong’s actions will see this group as a dialog where they call it several times. Then this is the best chance.
2. YB Minister Mazlee meets with the Dong Zong Committee or attends the Dong Zong program to provide information and seek joint solutions. This is because Dong Zong recently requested an appointment and this can be solved well. I remember during the great tense moment of BERSIH 2, the DYMM Agong itself met the BERSIH 2 leaders. So I do not see why YB Minister cannot take proactive steps to meet.
Because of the tension, there is, it is very unreasonable to continue this program because the main issue here is not the Jawi 3 pages but the dignity of the ethnic groups who do not want to retreat, do not compromise and feel that if they step down, they lose. In fact, Malaysian heroes – those who retire for unity while others, can only be heroes of their own race. Then who’s going to step down? Another major drawback is how PH addresses this problem.
The Cabinet of PH has exchanged views at least three times on this issue. What makes PH weak is that whenever a decision is made by the cabinet, PH leaders and members will continue to take the position of keeping their people at heart. So the syndrome of being a racist is a bigger agenda than being a national. The PH leadership also seems to be slow to address this issue and let it fail to play its role as a peacemaker. If the three pages to be taught are presented in advance and when I look at the 3 pages to be taught, I don’t think there is any problem, since all those Javanese words we see every day but do not know the meaning.
In the past, we at PSM have never supported a one-race rally, no matter which race. The hypocrisy is that all races feel threatened when other people hold a rally and when they do, they feel it is their right. Earlier when I was attending a forum, a man asked a Panel member how he could help women who face discrimination.
The answer given by the women panelists is, we know how to take care of ourselves but can you help by talking to men so that they don’t discriminate. In this racial issue, I think the best way is to stop telling other people what they should do and so on. It is better for us to urge our own people to be more rational, to speak and to understand the issue.
This will help alleviate the situation and reduce competition among the braver and so on. During the First World War, when all European nations began to fight each other. Lenin at that time called on workers from all over the country to boycott the war and focus on the issue of bread and their lives.
When they go to war, only sellers of war equipment and capitalists profit, while thousands of poor people die. If we use the same formula that we all boycott community gatherings and focus on issues of common interest such as living, reasonable wages, and the environment, then we can all live in peace. We can all be our countrymen and the losers are our people.
S Arutchelvan is the deputy chairperson Parti Sosialis Malaysia
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of The Leaders Online.
