DAP disappointed at police's different treatment of Jawi and Malay dignity pow-wows

• UPDATE 4.40PM | Additional comments from Lim on gov't's position on the Jawi lessons.

DAP expressed its unhappiness today with the police for barring last Saturday's Chinese Organisations Conference on Jawi but allowing the organisation of the Malay Dignity Congress to proceed two months ago.

"DAP is disappointed with the police that barred the conference held by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong (Dong Jiao Zong) because we believe the freedom of speech in the era of New Malaysia.

"There is no reason why this conference is prohibited when the Malay Dignity Congress was allowed," DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng told media after attending a financial literacy activity today.

"Some quarters might disagree with the views (of Dong Jiao Zong) but this is one of the aspects of New Malaysia," he said.

He said the latest development of the Jawi script lesson in vernacular school, including the police treatment, will be discussed in the next cabinet meeting.

"We feel what was done by the police (to obtain the injunction) was incorrect and inappropriate as this wasn't brought to our attention," he said.

He also demanded action to be taken against the extreme Malay groups which responded with threats to Dong Jiao Zong's Jawi conference. 

Last Friday, the police obtain a court injunction to bar Dong Jiao Zong from proceeding with Chinese Organisations Conference for safety reasons.

The Oct 6 Malay Dignity Congress, attended by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was accused of spreading racial remark against the non-Malays.

At today's conference, Lim (above) said the government has no intention to teach Jawi via the three pages of Jawi script lessons in the Year Four Bahasa Malaysia textbook.

He said Jawi has a total of 37 letters while the Bahasa Malaysia Year Four textbook introduced a total of only 14 Jawi letters.

Lim said the inclusion of Jawi script in the Year Four Bahasa Malaysia textbook is merely to introduce the origins of Bahasa Malaysia.

He said nobody should have a say in the Bahasa Malaysia textbook given the special status of the national language.

Despite this, Lim said the government still allowed parents to decide on the Jawi script lesson.

This showed the government has loosened in its stance where the Jawi issue is concerned, he pointed out. 

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