KANGAR: New signages and advertisement billboards in Kangar are to include the Jawi script starting 1 February, few months earlier than the scheduled date.

Asrul Aimran Abd Jalil, the state executive councilor in charge of local government, said the new regulation and guidelines to include the Jawi script on all new signages and advertisement billboards are almost completed, and the new rule is likely to be implemented next month.

In an earlier interview with Sin Chew Daily on January 1, Asrul Aimran had said the new regulation was likely to be enforced in the middle of the year.

The reason to include the Jawi script is to let more people know about Jawi, as many young people are not familiar with it at this moment, he explained.

The size of the Jawi script will be smaller than the Romanized Malay language and other languages on the signages and billboards.

To ensure the correct Jawi is used, Asrul Aimran said the Kangar Municipal Council would set up a special committee to work with the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council, Perlis Islamic Affairs Council and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka to review the Jawi script used on signages.

The Kangar Municipal Council will not approve signages and billboards without the Jawi script, he said.

“I must reiterate here that the new rule does not affect existing signages. It applies only to new applications of signages, including changing of existing signages,” he said.

This is one of the new policies the Perlis state government is implementing after the announcement by Menteri Besar Mohd Shukri Ramli last year.

Mohd Shukri reportedly said last November that Jawi was to be included in all new signages.