Jawi is not Language but a Script
After reading this news report, I opine that Datuk Boey Chin Gan does not fit to be a Kedah MCA Youth Chief. Datuk needs to read up and talk to/listen to/discuss with his grassroots more often.
Chinese characters have been used to make it sound like “Kuala Lumpur” and “Melaka” while conversing in Mandarin or any Chinese dialect. That is how Jawi is like using Arabic characters for Bahasa Malaysia.
If Public Bank has Jawi, Romanized-Malay, Chinese and Tamil on their business signage even to this day (just like businesses in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s), is there anything wrong if a Malaysian uses Jawi to write although he is a Menteri Besar of Kedah?
While Datuk Boey is correct that Jawi is a not Malaysia’s official or national language, Jawi (not the Australian Aboriginal language) has never been a language! Jawi is not the Arabic language but a Malay script. Among Malaysians particularly the Malay community, it is called “tulisan Jawi” and not “bahasa Jawi”.
It is understandable that majority of Malaysians would think Jawi is Arabic to a certain extend because Jawi has all Arabic characters with a few fabricated characters. However, it is not acceptable for a political youth leader to be ignorant that Jawi is a script and not a language.