PUTRAJAYA: Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz says she does not see the use of introducing the art of khat – a Malay-Arabic calligraphy – into the school syllabus, apart from adding further burden on students.
The former International Trade and Industry Minister lamented that as it is, students were already having enough problems coping with subjects such as Mathematics, Science and English.
“You are forcing everybody to take khat. If you ask me, I would fail. I don’t have the flair for such artistry. I challenge you all to take calligraphy, you will fail too,” she said in her keynote address at the 21st Perdana Discourse Series, here today.
“We don’t need that kind of skills incorporated as a must-do in our syllabus. Don’t add on to it,” she said.
“What on Earth do we want to do with khat calligraphy? There’s not enough artistry in all of us to make khat our source of living,” she added.
Rafidah said that while the government’s intention to introduce khat and diversify talent and skills among students was good, the topic should not be made part of the curriculum, but should only be offered as an elective.
“Here, our education system is already overloaded by all kind of nonsense. Don’t further overload it,” she said.
Rafidah, fondly known as the “Iron Lady”, said she had recently texted Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik to express her views on the matter, but stopped short of revealing the latter’s response.
The Education Ministry recently announced that khat would be introduced into the school syllabus next year, and incorporated as part of the Bahasa Melayu subject.
This decision, however, has not gone down well with many. Several quarters have argued that students, particularly non-Muslims, should not be forced to take up the calligraphy.
On a separate matter, Rafidah questioned the government’s proposed move into the flying car market at a time when students from some rural areas were made to travel on foot for long distances to schools.
“Flying car is okay, but don’t make it a national project lah. We don’t even have bicycles to give out to students in Sabah who have to walk for miles everyday.
“It is also not as simple to make a car and fly. If it were really feasible, you think Malaysia would be the first to do it? In Malaysia, even to fly a drone we need licence.”
