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This is an email Damien wrote and wished to have forwarded around. It's a reaction to the government's latest plans: six months of national service made mandatory for everyone 18 and under come 2004. I like what he wrote.
If you're a Malaysian who agrees with what he thinks, copy the text and forward it around too. Who knows, we might be able to convince those who need convincing.
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The National Service Plan: What A Laugh
So now we have a national service plan. Whoopa-di-do-da. How exciting. I really wish I was
an SPM leaver now so, after endless hours spent hitting the books in order to obtain good
SPM grades, I would get the 'reward' of 'serving' my country. Oh, don't get me wrong, I
have nothing against serving my country; quite to the contrary, I think it is a goal to be
proud of. Still, if it was me involved, I think I would rather serve in my own time, and
my own way, rather than being tossed lock stock and barrel into 'volunteer' corps.
Doesn't sound like the corps are very much for volunteers anymore, does it?
Thankfully though, in 2004 I will be 20, not 18, and so I will not be party to this so called effort to 'foster patriotism, unity, national integration, and character building'. Nor would I in any way want to. Anyone could easily see that this is a project doomed to fail. Or maybe certain people in power need to invest in a pair of glasses.
Give the government credit though. For once,
they actually hit the problem right on the head. Patriotism, unity, and national
integration are very much in the lacking, but then again, that is not only among students,
but rather among all age groups. Still, that is not the argument here, for, this time; the
government actually did target the right group of people. For, students, or rather,
children, be they teenager or younger, are the future of our nation, and it is only right
that any effort to encourage patriotism and unity should be directed at them. As for
character building. well, lets just say that perhaps those in power underestimate greatly
how much character we have.
So you see it is not the problem, or the target group, that is wrong. It is the proposed
solution. For, despite being only 18, I have never heard of anything half as silly, or one
tenth as absurd.
In the first place, how would being in
national service differ from being in school? Well, for one, those dragged into it would
be there for six months, instead of the 11 or so years that they spend in primary and
secondary school. Yet I do not see how, if in the 11 years spent in school with people of
various races and many backgrounds, the schools cannot obtain racial integration or foster
some form of unity, a six month stint in the National Service will.
Or does this imply merely that our entire education system is a shamble?
Really, do you think forcing teenagers into
something is going to provide any results other than moans? I certainly know that was I
forced into this 'National Service', I would probably spend night and day hating the
people responsible for it. It is unnecessary. There are better, more efficient ways to
promote patriotism, racial integration and unity, most of them would be through an
education system that should provide all three aspects.
But then again, the National Service will probably provide a great amount of unity. After
all, imagine four hundred thousand teens, all annoyed at being forced into service.
Undoubtedly the similarities of their predicaments would breed a union of hatred.
Pleasant, isn't it?
You see, unity flourishes when people have a common ground to stand upon. A thread of similarity to bind them together. The problem with our nation is that in general, the different ethnic groups have more similarities than their counterparts. And that is largely the fault of our entire system of constitutional 'racism'. Right now, each ethnic group feels closer to its own because it is on the same boat. But do you know when the rift between the groups actually becomes apparent? It is when one finally leaves school, after SPM.
Why then? Well, simply because at that time
the unfairness of the system is felt right to the heart. It is when a straight A student
from minority group is unable to obtain a scholarship, while a merely average student, who
has 'bumiputera'* status, does. You see, governmental
policies right now do not seem to be encouraging students to share their common ground,
but rather, it creates a rift between the races, which slowly expands as one realizes the
full import of it.
Although I fully understand the reason behind the 'preferential' status of bumiputera's,
it still cannot be denied that it is spark that ignites a slow flame that gnaws away at
any semblance of unity we have.
Will a National Service change that? I sincerely doubt it.
It is easier for me than many others. I have friends from various backgrounds, races, and
religions. But then again, that is more because I have been lucky enough to be shielded
from the harshness of the 'preferential' status. It is also partially because I do not
belong to any religion, and therefore am able to be unprejudiced in my views. My friends
know this, and though at times, we argue at great length, we remain friends, purely
because we understand one another.
For someone less lucky, it would be difficult for the National Service to do anything,
save remind them of the rift that exists, as long as one race is held above the others.
Discipline and character building? I will not even bother to entertain those aspects of
the National Service. Discipline is like a smothering blanket. And as for character? Well,
character is formed, not forced onto.
In the end it boils down to this. Unity, patriotism, national integration, and character building, are all fantastic goals. The use of force to obtain them however, is nothing if not downright idiocy.
I am sorry if I offended any of those who harp upon this idea as the greatest thing since the invention of the nuclear bomb. I apologize for trying to break you out of your reverie of mindless and thoughtless madness.
But I am a teenager, and that is what I do.
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* 'bumiputera' -
the Malays, basically. Although Malaysia is a multi-racial country, there is some
considerable favouritism towards the Malays.