A recent directive issued by the Ministry of Education requesting school students to participate in a show of support for Palestine is nothing but weaponising education and politicising schools with ethnocratic overtones to influence the minds of school-going children who have nothing to do with the prevailing Middle East crisis.
The Attorney General or Solicitor General must find and make time to explain to Putrajaya that Chapter 8, Application to ‘States’ of Sabah and Sarawak that includes Articles 95B, 95C, 95D, 95E of the Federal Constitution needs careful analysis as to what laws or which part of the Federal Constitution applies to Sabah and Sarawak despite the dubiously misleading label ‘States.’
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school,” remarked Albert Einstein.
What wounds, scars, fears and doubts are being planned and portrayed by Putrajaya when it demands school children’s participation in a show of support for a distant conflict that is killing thousands everyday? Is this necessary? Were parents consulted? Don’t the decisions of parents matter in what their children participate in and out of school?
The irony of this planned show of support for Palestine is that the governments of the United Kingdom, France, the United States and other stakeholders in the socalled Palestine-Israeli conflict are at a total loss as to how to resolve this issue which these imperialists began during the turn of the 20th century when the Ottoman Empire was waning.
This is the realm of geopolitics, not educational policies to be shoved down the throats of Sarawak’s schools and school children.
Requiring school-going children to participate in a show of support and solidarity for Palestine is meaningless and ridiculous as this exercise, and other diplomatic acts of persuasion, will never resolve the conflict that began because of European nations’ focus on the greed for Middle East oil, and the establishment of an anchor state in the region to safeguard western imperial interests.
Why does Putrajaya believe in exposing school-going children to a confused sense of hatred for a distant adversary and friendship and support for a distant ally? Is this part of their homework? What durable benefits and advantages do schoolchildren gain by showing such political support?
To expose their secret desires and wishes, diplomatic wiles and whims were unleashed by western imperialists to facilitate the return of Jews to Palestine following the furtive plans of the assurances to Shariff Hussein by the British, the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declarations that were urged, inspired, encouraged and motivated by the unquenchable economic greed of European powers for precious oil and gas.
If Putrajaya wants Malaysian schoolchildren to get involved in this conflict, it’s best that the Malaysian educational curriculum and syllabus include dedicated courses in the Palestine-Israeli political imbroglio. Make it a compulsory subject. Pass adequate amendments or laws to complement the existing Education Act. But that has not happened. Yet. Putrajaya demands schools’ unhealthy participation in a highly toxic political conflict fuelled by race, rage, referendums, religion and region.
The Preamble of the Education Act 1996 (Act 550) of Malaysia waxes grandiloquent on the objects, aims, objectives, goals and purposes of education in ‘achieving the country’s vision of attaining the status of a fully developed nation in terms of economic development, social justice, and spiritual, moral and ethical strength, towards creating a society that is united, democratic, liberal and dynamic.’
Discerning minds do not require deciphering of these above-captioned lofty and noble ideals that is the expected expression of a need for education in the business of nation-building. The Preamble contains many other admirable and practical agendas for Malaysian education policies.
Another item in the Preamble of the Education Act says that ‘the purpose of education is to enable the Malaysian society to have a command of knowledge, skills and values necessary in a world that is highly competitive and globalised, arising from the impact of rapid development in science, technology and information.’
Parents are mortified that this ideal is not on all fours with the calling for the Palestine solidarity movement with the participation of schools and school-going children. Putrajaya seems bent on breaking and breaching the borders of the Act. The Act does not promote the advancement of political objectives and goals.
Directing schools and school-going children to show political support to the ongoing Palestinian conflict does not comport with the enumerated policy decisions of the Education Act. It, in fact, insults it by making a mockery of established values and beliefs of a young nation like Malaysia that ostensibly shed its colonial mantle not so very long ago.
In a secular nation like Malaysia where all religions are given somewhat limited freedom, space, time, effort, energy and expression, it is unthinkable that Putrajaya wants its schools and school-going children to support Palestine without understanding the anthropological, historical, socio-economic and geo-political facts and realities of that troubled region.
Is this the way to prepare school-going children for future leadership roles? Is this the way to sharpen and hone the minds of our future leaders? There was another video that went viral showing school children stomping on what looked like an Israeli flag. Does this act aid, assist and advance the Palestine cause? If you need to stomp on anything, stomp the corridors of world bodies en masse, stop the motor of government, and demand redress the civilised way.
‘It is the mission to develop a world-class quality education system which will realise the full potential of the individual and fulfil the aspiration of the Malaysian nation,’ declares another part of the Preamble to the Education Act. Again, Putrajaya’s call defeats another core element of the Act.
If the motive, inspiration, reason and purpose of the government include the political participation of schools and school children, then amend the Act accordingly.
‘AND WHEREAS the National Education Policy is based on the National Philosophy of Education which is expressed as follows: “Education in Malaysia is an ongoing effort towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God.
Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards, and who are responsible and capable of achieving a high level of personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the betterment of the family, the society and the nation at large.’
This section of the Preamble says it all about why our future leaders need education.
It is self-explanatory from the core to the hilt. ‘AND WHEREAS the above policy is to be executed through a national system of education which provides for the national language to be the main medium of instruction, a National Curriculum and common examinations; the education provided being varied and comprehensive in scope and which will satisfy the needs of the nation as well as promote national unity through cultural, social, economic and political development in accordance with the principles of Rukun Negara.’
This is an interestingly revealing part of the Act’s Preamble. The Rukun Negara does not validate, acknowledge, demand, instruct, direct or recognise any government right to excite and agitate schools and engage school children in political participation.
Where are we heading as a nation? We have had ten administrations with ten different ideals as emotionalised in the minds of ten prime ministers. And yet, we are unable to strengthen our ringgit, contain inflation and unemployment to name a few travails. Our ‘experts’ write copiously about economic woes but seldom offer solutions and remedies. And yet we are involving the entire nation in exhibiting disgust for Palestine.
Tweak, adjust, amend and institute new laws in education to teach school children how to avoid disputes, conflicts, controversies, battles and wars because of race, religion, rage and region. That will make our future leaders ready, poised and polished to teach the global war-mongers and agitators that the path to lasting peace is not war.
Malcolm Forbes suggested that ‘the purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one’. Is Putrajaya preparing school teachers, educators and the Education Ministry to open the minds of our future leaders, or to infiltrate their minds with empty premises and promises?
Putrajaya must be proactive about making political science a compulsory subject in school curriculums and syllabi. Teach school children during their formative years what politics is all about. Teach them how to make decisions. Forcing them to participate in a political demonstration or protest of support for a faraway spot in the Middle East is not the proper way to inculcate a sense of proportion in young minds.
In reality and actual fact, this demand for support for the Palestinian conflict is a legalised way to express hatred and animus against an unknown enemy. And the fact and truth of the matter is that this Palestine-Israeli-Egypt-Haganah-Hamas-Hezbollah-Lebanon-Jordan-ISIS-Iran politics is about expressing anger, distrust and enmity towards American and European hegemons. Notice the quiet alertness of Turkiye.
Imagine the participation of millions of schools and school children in the west gunning for Israel’s success while millions of others support Palestine. How on earth does this resolve the bloodshed and fatalities in Palestine? Meanwhile protest marches disrupt traffic and frustrate the daily routines of the public on our major roads.
Putrajaya walked away from the Rome Statute when PKR ruled the roost post-May 9, 2018 which means it is no longer a signatory of the treaty and is thus disqualified from protesting for an ICC hearing of the Middle East conflict-causing element(s).
So, Putrajaya decides to employ the education system of Malaysia to cry foul without teaching the school children as to the cause and effects of the Middle East conflict(s).
When ‘leaders” mislead and mis-feed their people with false narratives, we, as a nation, die in instalments. The truth is too bitter. Facts are too resilient. The future, too, is uncertain and confused if we as a nation do not stand for equality, equity, justice and fairness in dealing with local, regional, national and international issues that directly and indirectly affect us.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
