Amanah veep says highlight Chinese calligraphy too

Amanah has welcomed the Ministry of Education plan to introduce the art of khat (a form of Malay-Arabic calligraphy writing) as part of Bahasa Malaysia subject for Standard Four students next year.

Its vice-president Mahfuz Omar said the government’s intention was viewed as efforts to revitalise khat or jawi writing and to ensure that students were not missing out on the art form.

“For me, there shouldn’t be a problem for the art of khat to be introduced, it just that sometimes we are bombarded with sentiments as if it we want to induce the non-Muslims into Islam, which is not true because it is a very beautiful art of writing.

“Not only jawi writing, but other types (of writings) including Chinese calligraphy can also be highlighted as it relates to the art of writing that brings good and can be used to generate income,” he told reporters at a Social Security Organisation (Socso) open day in Alor Setar today.

Yesterday, the ministry said in a statement that the introduction of khat was part of the Bahasa Malaysia subject for Standard Four students to be implemented next year as planned.

Mahfuz, who is also Human Resources Deputy Minister, said he was confident that the Education Ministry would provide an explanation to all parties on the various issues arising from the implementation.

Meanwhile, Mahfuz also said his ministry planned to work with the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation to provide single mothers nationwide with the opportunity to undergo sewing classes provided by the agency.

“The ministry is also ready to issue the Malaysian Skills Certification (SKM) to recognise the courses or training provided so that these single mothers can generate their own income from the skills obtained,” he said. - Bernama