Jawi

[Updated : Kedah MB defends usage of Jawi, which stupid Kedahan MCA politicians assumed as religious fundamentalism. He said, "I personally like the Jawi script. It is artistic. We have to defend our heritage"]

I share Faisal Tehrani's disappointment with Teresa and DAP in general, whom expressed ignorance to the Jawi script, a precious Malaysian heritage since times of the Terengganu Batu Bersurat 1303AD and the Malay Malaccan and Johorean Sultanate in the 17th century.

Jawi script, while being an adapted Arabic alphabet for spoken Malay, existed in the Nusantara for many centuries as the Nusantaran tradition evolved from an oral to a written one. While it has its roots from the middle east, it is not Arabic nor a product of 20th century Arabisation. One who claims to understand and represent the Malaysian society carefully should be observant enough to differentiate this distinction.

Only after the arrival of the Jawi script, which become a form of the Malay heritage (together with the Malay Sultanate, language and culture), came European as well as Chinese and Indian languages which added up to the cultural diversity. During pre-independence, Jawi is the script for official documents in the British colonial government and the Sultanate alongside English. During independence, the Malay sultanate, language and official religion is acknowledged in the the constitution with acceptance of a free citizenship to all residents of Malaya.

Sadly what little national heritage we have left, is being politicised by some quarters to gain popularity. Instead of trying to appreciate the culture, language and heritage of the land and the Malay culture it has shaped, we forgo history, in the name of pragmatism and our own brand of the so-called 'multiculturalism'. To claim multiculturalism while abandoning indigenous heritage is totally absurd. The Malay language is both expressed in romanised and arabised scripts.

We can raise the question, why don't we include the Mandarin and Tamil script in our road signs since it reflects the demography of the local community? Then why don't we include Thai, Iban, Penan or even Urdu for 'multiculturalism' sake, to be so-called more 'inclusive'? Even if there are many who can't read Jawi, what's the proportion of people who can read other scripts anyway? Since many people can read English, why not just turn all the road signs to English for the sake of its utility?

Without this Malay construct as the backbone of society, Malaysia is not what she was, what she is and what she will be in the future. Only with this construct, in engagement with minority and emerging cultures, we seek a meaningful common vision for a unified society shaped by the values of the people Malaysia represents. A bangsa Malaysia without the Malay heritage is something that I do not look forward to.

I am not against efforts of reconciliation and intercultural understanding, but to sideline the national heritage in vain attempts of gaining narrow communal political score is just appalling.

A nation without a soul, the Malay soul as the basis of the common heritage and identity, will leave us soulless and cold, in the prison of pragmatism, blown by whatever wind of the day.

Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa