For this Sabah teacher, Jawi is a bridge between cultures

Lorenica Frenila Masundim, a 36-year-old Bahasa Melayu teacher at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bawang in Beluran, teaches Jawi as a way to help students grow more comfortable with the script. Initially, some non-Muslim students viewed Jawi as foreign and associated with Islam, but they gradually became more confident as they recognized its place within the wider Malay language heritage.

Lorenica's own journey with Jawi began in 2009 during a teacher training course in Kota Kinabalu, and she has since dedicated herself to learning the script, eventually incorporating it into her doctoral research. She sees no barrier between her Rungus Christian background and her role as a Jawi teacher, describing it as a 'national treasure' that all Malaysians should learn and preserve.

To facilitate easier learning, Lorenica developed the PANtaS baCA application as part of her research, which uses transliteration techniques and interactive exercises to help students read Jawi more quickly. Her efforts have been recognized with several awards, including the Tokoh Ibnu Uraiqith Maulidur Rasul 2024, Jawi Cross-Cultural Inspiration Teacher 2025, and Sabah Education Excellence Award 2025.

One particularly impactful achievement was a viral 12-second video of her teaching Jawi on social media. Lorenica believes that studying another community's language or writing system can foster empathy and reduce misunderstandings, emphasizing that education serves as a bridge to unite people despite their differences.