Malaysia's 3-month national service a
flop? By Anil
Netto
PENANG, Malaysia - Some 25,000 Malaysian
teenagers have completed the inaugural compulsory
three-month national-service stint aimed at promoting
patriotism and ethnic unity. But most participants
apparently don't like it and there is widespread public
unease over major and minor incidents, including
violence, gangsterism and truancy. Another 50,000
Malaysians in two more groups are to complete their
national service soon.
The program, which has
military-type aspects of an outward-bound program, included
some military training as well as courses in personal
development and values. Like Malaysian society,
it encountered problems with racial polarization and lack of inter-ethnic
mingling, restlessness and alienation, lack of
discipline and other social issues.
The
national-service initiative was hit by bad news from the start:
a drowning, a rape allegation, brawls and other
violence, a break-in, gangsterism, truancy and other,
mostly disciplinary problems. Trainers and trainees
alike got into trouble and some were arrested for
wrongdoing; others demonstrated over grievances or
walked out.
The program had
targeted some 480,000 Malaysians who were born in 1986.
Of these, 85,000 were randomly selected for service,
but about 10,000 trainees failed to show up - and
in retrospect, were spared some of the woes of life in camp,
which proved to be a reflection of the weaknesses in Malaysian
society.
Critics, meantime, questioned the
financial transparency of the RM500 million (US$131.6
million) program and whether contracts were properly
awarded. A few trainers walked out, complaining that
they had not been adequately paid their salaries and
allowances as promised by the Institut Kepimpinan
Wawasan (Vision Leadership Institute).
A news
report on April 21 quoted a camp commander as saying he
was disappointed that Institut Kepimpinan Wawasan - one
of the rare occasions this little-known body was
mentioned in the media - did not keep its word about
payments.
The institute, which is headed by a
retired brigadier-general, had been tasked with
designing the physical-training module, hiring the
trainers and managing its implementation at 42 campsites
nationwide. For accommodation, planners tapped
university hostel facilities that were vacant during
semester breaks.
Opposition parties and other
groups have called for a suspension of the program
pending a thorough review of the need for the program or
a revamp in its implementation.
Service
initiative takes root The
national service initiative had its roots during the
administration of former premier Mahathir Mohamad, when
a cabinet committee presided over by the defense
minister was formed in October 2002. Four subcommittees were
set up to look into the finance, curriculum,
legislation and logistics for the program.
Last
May, the cabinet approved the national-service
implementation plan and the National Service Training
Act, which were passed in parliament the following
month.
There was precious little time - just
months - to prepare for a program of this magnitude,
which was rushed through as a result. In addition,
Mahathir stepped down as prime minister in October,
passing the torch to new Premier Abdullah Badawi.
In their haste to implement the program,
planners failed to consult a broad spectrum of society
as to the wisdom of going ahead with national service.
Some have argued that many of the national-service
program's activities could have been carried out in
schools and inter-school camps at the local level or
through sporting events or uniformed units such as boy
scouts, girl guides, Red Crescent societies and school
cadet corps.
Critics have complained that the
headlong rush to implement the national service program
compromised detailed planning and preparation. Some
trainers appeared ill-prepared and inadequately screened
for their job, they said. And numerous logistical
teething problems surfaced, such as an insufficient
number of buses in which to transport trainees.
Program shows social weaknesses run
deep Officially, the national service program had
three main objectives: to inculcate patriotism among the
youth, to promote inter-ethnic unity and national
integration and to build character by emphasizing noble
values. Privately, some observers said the program was a
tacit admission of the failure of the education system
to deal with restlessness and alienation, social
problems and the lack of inter-ethnic mingling among the
country's youth.
Though the program's aims
seemed uncontroversial enough, skeptics pointed out that
it would be nearly impossible to realize such goals
during a three-month program. They said racial
polarization and social problems were the result of more
deep-seated structural and systemic weaknesses in
Malaysian society.
Some of these problems had
driven the more disillusioned Muslim youths into the
arms of opposition parties such as Parti Islam
SeMalaysia and Keadilan - as was evident during the
reformasi-inspired peaceful street demonstrations
in 1998-2001.
Analysts say decades-old
affirmative-action policies aimed at giving a lift to
indigenous bumiputras (ethnic Malays) in
education and employment had resulted in pockets of
resentment among the non-bumiputras. This created
a bumiputra/non-bumiputra dichotomy that
could not be easily papered over through a
military-style or outward-bound training program.
In the end, life in the camps proved to be a
microcosm of the social reality in Malaysia with all its
attendant problems. Now, the complaints that rocked the
program have also put Deputy Premier and Defense
Minister Najib Razak, whom Mahathir had favored to
become Abdullah's deputy, in an uncomfortable position
ahead of upcoming ruling-party polls and a general
assembly.
Najib complained that excessive media
reporting on the problems encountered in
national-service camps had given a negative view of the
program. "There are too many reports on every single
thing that goes on and these have given a very distorted
picture of the program," he said.
And for now,
with more teens scheduled to begin their
national-service stints soon, officials and planners
have their work cut out for them if they are to salvage
the national-service program's tarnished image.
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