She said all decisions on the school signboards involved the education ministry and the Pahang state government.

“Since this matter involves the education department, I think we should get the response from the ministry and the state government,” she told reporters after the launch of the National Unity Action Plan 2021-2030 and KAMI@Pelan Perpaduan Keluarga Malaysia 2021-2025.

Sinchew Daily had reported earlier that the Pahang education department had supplied signboards with the names of the SJK(C) Yoke Hwa and SJK(C) Kee Wha in Malay and Jawi script, but not in Chinese characters.

Yesterday, however, deputy education minister Mah Hang Soon was reported to have instructed the education department to design new signboards for vernacular primary schools with Chinese or Tamil scripts, while allowing the existing signages to remain.

The issue arose following a Pahang government policy that stipulates that government agency signboards had to use the Jawi script.

Halimah, when asked whether excluding Chinese characters was in line with national unity, responded by saying that Malay was the national language, and that the decision to use alternative languages was up to the education ministry and state governments.

She also declined to comment when asked whether the action by the authorities in Pahang could be considered as being disrespectful to other races.

The issue has sparked concern among education groups and political parties, with DAP leaders criticising the move as an insult to the nation’s cultural diversity.