Students speak about extremism, racism and role in national unity
Student leaders from various universities and colleges vented their frustration and concerns over education, extremism, conversion and their identity at a roundtable discussion with Global Movement of Moderates Foundation chief executive officer Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
It was lively discussion, where the youth, encouraged by the informal setting and Saifuddin’s willingness to respond to their questions, spoke on issues that mattered to them, including national unity, and listened attentively as he addressed their concerns.
As Saifuddin said later: "Their questions are a reflection of what young people are thinking about today.”
A student from a private university asked Saifuddin what youth could do to push for national unity in Malaysia.
Saifuddin suggested that they could join non-governmental organisations such as Friendship Group for Inter Religious Service (FGIS) which fostered unity through understanding each other’s religion.
"This is one good group to join. The message is to do things together. Discussing issues is also important but doing something together is more important," he said at the roundtable yesterday held at Sunway University.
The roundtable on national unity was organised by Selangor MUN, the first independent Model United Nations (MUN) programme in Malaysia and GMMF.
The roundtable was part of its third annual conference for more than 200 youths from Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Singapore.
At MUN conferences, students role-play world leaders to simulate proceedings at the various UN affiliated organisations.
Another student asked if identifying themselves by race could be synonymous with national unity while several wanted to know why non-Muslims had to convert to Islam when marrying a Muslim, to which Saifuddin said that it was a law of Islam.
Many of the youth pointed out how race-based policies were seeping into education, with scholarships and places in public universities being prioritised for certain races first and asked what the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) was doing about this.
Saifuddin, who is also the NUCC's law and policy committee member, said that it had decided not to include education as one of its areas to work on because at that time, the National Education Blueprint had just been introduced.
"We wanted to give it time to take into effect. So we decided not to include it," he said.
Addressing concerns over introducing one stream for all schools, the former deputy higher education minister admitted that although that was the ideal to foster unity, in practicality, "choice was better".
"So, we need to balance between the national curriculum and the choice we allow parents to make on whether or not to send their children to national schools or vernacular schools," he said.
"My take is, unity is not about uniformity. If we have to live with two systems in Malaysia, so be it. It doesn't mean we cannot achieve unity if we also have vernacular schools.”
A student, a basketball player, said how sports played a big part in bringing Malaysians together.
"There is that unity when people get together to support Malaysian teams competing in international games," he said.
Saifuddin agreed, adding that sports were the best area to foster national unity.
"When we go to a stadium to support Harimau Malaya (Malaysia's football team), we wear the team's colours and we are united in cheering them on," he added.
Several students also told Saifuddin that they were disturbed by the voices of extremists, such as Perkasa and Isma, which were getting louder than those of the moderates, with some saying that such issues have been sensationalised by the media.
"I only wish there is some platform where all religious authorities can sit down and address these issues," Saifuddin said.
He later said the issues highlighted by the student leaders had been raised in dialogues organised by the NUCC.
"They were quite candid in their observations. One or two issues that might normally be considered sensitive were raised but in a civil manner.” – TMI
It was lively discussion, where the youth, encouraged by the informal setting and Saifuddin’s willingness to respond to their questions, spoke on issues that mattered to them, including national unity, and listened attentively as he addressed their concerns.
As Saifuddin said later: "Their questions are a reflection of what young people are thinking about today.”
A student from a private university asked Saifuddin what youth could do to push for national unity in Malaysia.
Saifuddin suggested that they could join non-governmental organisations such as Friendship Group for Inter Religious Service (FGIS) which fostered unity through understanding each other’s religion.
"This is one good group to join. The message is to do things together. Discussing issues is also important but doing something together is more important," he said at the roundtable yesterday held at Sunway University.
The roundtable on national unity was organised by Selangor MUN, the first independent Model United Nations (MUN) programme in Malaysia and GMMF.
The roundtable was part of its third annual conference for more than 200 youths from Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Singapore.
At MUN conferences, students role-play world leaders to simulate proceedings at the various UN affiliated organisations.
Another student asked if identifying themselves by race could be synonymous with national unity while several wanted to know why non-Muslims had to convert to Islam when marrying a Muslim, to which Saifuddin said that it was a law of Islam.
Many of the youth pointed out how race-based policies were seeping into education, with scholarships and places in public universities being prioritised for certain races first and asked what the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) was doing about this.
Saifuddin, who is also the NUCC's law and policy committee member, said that it had decided not to include education as one of its areas to work on because at that time, the National Education Blueprint had just been introduced.
"We wanted to give it time to take into effect. So we decided not to include it," he said.
Addressing concerns over introducing one stream for all schools, the former deputy higher education minister admitted that although that was the ideal to foster unity, in practicality, "choice was better".
"So, we need to balance between the national curriculum and the choice we allow parents to make on whether or not to send their children to national schools or vernacular schools," he said.
"My take is, unity is not about uniformity. If we have to live with two systems in Malaysia, so be it. It doesn't mean we cannot achieve unity if we also have vernacular schools.”
A student, a basketball player, said how sports played a big part in bringing Malaysians together.
"There is that unity when people get together to support Malaysian teams competing in international games," he said.
Saifuddin agreed, adding that sports were the best area to foster national unity.
"When we go to a stadium to support Harimau Malaya (Malaysia's football team), we wear the team's colours and we are united in cheering them on," he added.
Several students also told Saifuddin that they were disturbed by the voices of extremists, such as Perkasa and Isma, which were getting louder than those of the moderates, with some saying that such issues have been sensationalised by the media.
"I only wish there is some platform where all religious authorities can sit down and address these issues," Saifuddin said.
He later said the issues highlighted by the student leaders had been raised in dialogues organised by the NUCC.
"They were quite candid in their observations. One or two issues that might normally be considered sensitive were raised but in a civil manner.” – TMI
