National Service

I don’t get it. Why do some Malaysian parents make so much noise over good intentions? Why do we look more on the negatives than the positives? I am an all out supporter of the national service programme, I think it is a good idea, and I believe the duration of the programme should be least for a year instead of the current three months.

Our kids are a pampered lot, especially those who have the privilege of growing up in the urban middle class homes. From the day they were born, most things are taken care of nicely: they have their servants, they are driven to school, to tuition class, and to other extra curricular activities. Life is sweet and easy and self help is a foreign word to most of them.

Many don’t appreciate the sacrifices made by the parents , and most take things for granted, as a result many are physically and mentally weak.

Of course, we are told that the national service is for getting our young people to interact with one another. Our school system is not helping much in helping to integrate the various races into one cohesive Malaysian unit. Our young people in this country prefer to go to their own language-based schools, consequently, only those of the same cultural origins interact with one another and they are at loss with other cultural groups. This is bad for the country.

A recent visit to one of the camps on the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu convinced me that national service is what the young people of Malaysia need. While the facilities at this particular camp did not look that impressive, seeing some of the participants looking lost in the corridors, many away from home for the first time, and their lack of self confidence and social skills to interact with their peers are signs for any impartial observers to conclude that national service programme is the only way out for these young people to further grow as human beings. It was obvious that the school system has not delivered the E.Q. side of the coin.

Young people in Korea or Thailand who have to do proper national service training see the sacrifice as something they have to pay for being citizens of the country. Something to be proud of. In Malaysia, we prefer to pay people to do things for us, as long as you leave us alone, we are fine with that. Patriotism, what’s that? In many sports, young Koreans and Thais are more resilient and better fighters, and they have become world champions in some of them. We too have some world champions, but, fighting spirit is a nagging problem. We get carried away easily by little success when we should be proving that we are the best in the world forever and ever.

A change of mind set is needed by the parents, after all, it is for the good of our children, we cannot hold their hands forever. Have faith in them, they might surprise us yet .So, parents should not worry unnecessarily, the kids are in good hands. Things will only get better with time. The national service programme is as good as any to prepare the young people to be confident to face this ever increasing borderless and competitive world.