Monday May 5, 2008
Jawi calligraphy – the dos and don’ts
NON-MUSLIM organisations are allowed to display Jawi calligraphy bearing the name of Prophet Muhammad, as long as the displayed objects are not portraits of the prophet or the Quran, and are not used for worship purposes.
China Press quoted Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman on the issue in its front page yesterday.
On April 30, it was reported that seven religious officers visited the Che Cher Khor Moral Uplifting Association in Johor Baru and took away paintings bearing Jawi calligraphy, saying they had received complaints.
Office bearers of the association lodged a police report after this. On May 3, the association’s branch in Sungai Mati, Muar, received instructions to remove similar paintings.
The dispute was resolved after Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, honorary adviser of the association and Low Teh Hian, vice-president of the association, met Abdul Ghani, religious officers and the police.
The confiscated materials were returned to the association.
The paper reported that the association had explained to Abdul Ghani that the Jawi calligraphy bearing the name of Prophet Muhammad was meant to depict Islam as one of the religions of the world.
Dr Wee: Schools should not be used for political mileage
> Schools should not be turned into a political platform, said Deputy Education Minister Dr Wee Ka Siong, commenting on a Nanyang Siang Pau report that Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy had requested state education officers gather 500 pupils from 12 Tamil primary schools during school hours to present each of them with a pair of glasses.
Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a sub-heading, it denotes a separate news item.
News Poll
- Court ruling takes bite out of local council summonses
- New evidence on MCA snoop squad case arrives at doorstep
- Girl and stepmum held over bid to kill first wife
- Teoh’s body exhumed for second autopsy today
- Rotten fish the cause of cholera in Sabah and Sarawak
- Chin Peng apologises for death of innocents
- Victim’s dad nabs kidnapper
- Six Kota Tinggi Umno members freed on bail
- Johor set to be a medical hub
- Puad faces flak over ‘use Bahasa only’ remark
- Centuries-old Chitty village residents see red over high-rise project
- Ministry seizes pirated discs
- Felda ventures into the sea with new settlers
- Lim shifts blame to Koh on land conversion
- Detailed town census to begin Tuesday
- Sarawak women to be honoured in new book
- Johor set to be a medical hub
- Panel to help Muslim women
- Wanita PKR busy holding meetings
- RM849mil owed by various state agencies
RSS
