Warga Emas (Ah Peh) hails return of Jawi news

Translation: 'warga emas (ah peh)' = 'senior citizens' in Malay (and Chinese)

Hello there. I thought I was the only - well I exaggerate as usual, maybe one of the few - Chinese Malaysians supporting the resurrection of the Utusan Melayu Mingguan in the jawi script. The Culture, Arts & Heritage Minister, Dr Rais Yatim, has promised that after the jawi-script newspaper stopped its publication 3 months ago due to economic reason.

Utusan Malaysia reported that several senior Chinese Malaysian citizens in Kampong Fikri, Setiu, welcomed the return of the Utusan Melayu Mingguan, albeit only as an insert in the Utusan Malaysia newspaper. These old timers were educated to read and write in the jawi script since the 1930s, and are delighted that they can read the news in that script again.

Most of them are in their 80’s but their children at around age 50s are also capable of reading in jawi.

The only point I would criticise the Utusan Malaysia report is the sentence "... walaupun berketurunan Cina tetapi dia turut berbangga dengan kelahiran semula akhbar itu yang menyajikan bahan-bahan menarik melalui tulisan jawi yang sudah sinonim dalam hidupnya sejak berusia 20-an lagi."

Rough translation: "... although of Chinese ethnicity, he has been equally proud with the resurrection of the [Utusan Melayu Mingguan] news which presents interesting articles in the jawi script, that has been synonymous with his life since he was in his 20's."

Dai kawan (hellooooo friend), he's a Malaysian too! Besides, isn't Utusan Malaysia contradicting itself in the same breath, by pointing out the jawi script has been virtually synonymous with the Ah Peh's life for the last 60 years, yet reporting him as being (strangely) delighted despite being a Chinese?

Oh dear, oh dear Utusan Malaysia, you haven't change, have you?

By the way, where’s Setiu? East coast?

Related: Nice Kind of JAWI