Its secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng, said this was because the non-Malay community wanted the introduction of the Malay-Arabic calligraphy to be deferred pending consultation with stakeholders in vernacular primary schools.
“However, the Cabinet decision yesterday that it is not compulsory but optional, and not to be tested in exams, would hopefully allow Malaysians to move forward,” Lim, who is also finance minister, said in a statement.
Earlier today, Education Minister Maszlee Malik said the ministry will go ahead with its decision to implement khat in vernacular schools.
Maszlee said khat would only be an activity, not a subject in itself, taking up to three pages of the textbook.
He also said it would be up to teachers to decide how they want to teach it.
The move to introduce khat was met with protests from some, including Chinese and Tamil interest groups, which said it would not help vernacular school students improve their standard of Malay.
Some DAP grassroots office bearers were also against the move.
Today, Lim said the unhappiness among the non-Malay community and educationists, including from East Malaysia, over khat stemmed from what is seen by them as an unilateral decision taken by the education ministry.
“This has led to general suspicion and a trust deficit from the stakeholders in Chinese and Tamil schools that there is a hidden agenda by the education ministry.”
He however added that the ministry has denied any such claim.
Lim went on to call for Malaysians from all walks of life to engage more with each other to understand the concerns that “divide us and aspirations that unite us”.