Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka supports the government’s decision to popularise Jawi script.
He said the government’s decision provided the opening for the Jawi script to be placed in its legitimate position as the official script for Bahasa Malaysia for nearly a thousand years before Roman alphabets were accepted as the official writing for the national language. “The letters and the agreement between the governments in the Malay world with foreign powers such as the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the English were written in Jawi. Jawi and the Malay language were accepted by all nations, even during British colonial rule.
Awang, who is also the incumbent holder of the Za’ba Chair of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris said, as an initial effort to popularise it, Jawi writing should be used for the display of information in public places, business premises and offices, as well as documents in addition to Roman alphabets.