Don’t worsen the situation for Malaysia by viralling videos from unknown sources

A VIDEO that has been “forwarded many times” showing a group of young children being trained to use firearms, is making its round again.

The video ended with a man speaking in what sounded like Bahasa Malaysia but a careful observation of the lip movements gives the impression that the video had been dubbed by a third party to sound like the man is a Malaysian.

This was followed by an open burning of what appeared to be both Indonesian (green) and Malaysian (red) passports. However, due to the resolution of the video clip, it is difficult to determine the nationality of the people in the video based on just the colour of their passports.

However, according to sources close to the police, this is an old video which was initially published during the early days of Daesh in Syria around 2014.

“This group of boys are the sons of Indonesian foreign fighters based in Syria,” the source told FocusM. “By this time, they may no longer be alive or lived life as nomads in the desert wilderness.”

The source urged members of the public to stop circulating the video if they are not sure of the source. Doing so is to further the cause of propagandists who are attempting to fan anger in light of the on-going protest against the Palestinian Solidarity Week programme in schools.

It is believed that the video was circulated to further shake people’s confidence against Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and eventually force Anwar to step down.

This brings fresh to mind the fate suffered by the late Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman who was forced to step down after the May 13 incident and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Malaysia’s fifth PM) following the defeat of Barisan Nasional (BN) in five states in 2008.

Similarly, former Tenaga Nasional Bhd chairman, the late Tan Sri Ani Arope was also forced to resign after the shutdown of Peka Power Station in Terengganu.

After Ani Arope revealed this in The Star over a decade later, it has now become public knowledge that the reason he was forced to resign was linked to his refusal to sign the concessionaire agreement by then premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad which he claimed to be in the favour of the independent power producers (IPPs).

Guidelines by MOE

The Education Ministry has since issued list of do’s and dont’s on the implementation of the Palestinian Solidarity Week as follows (made available on Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s Facebook page):

This is to provide further clarity on the MOE’s circular dated Oct 21 which highlighted the theme of the Solidarity Week should focus only on peace and humanitarian values without involving any element of extremism or aggression.

Among the guidelines suggested are:

  1. Launch of the Solidarity Week during the school assembly
  2. Launch of the funds to collect donations for the people of Palestin
  3. Projection of video and suitable songs that highlight the plight of victims in Palestine
  4. Implementing religious activities involving Muslim students doing their solat hajat and munajat.
  5. Implementing special co-curriculum activities which highlight the humanitarian issues in Palestine such as competitions involving composition of songs, poems and posters;
  6. Any other suitable activities.

Contrary to what transpired in some schools last Friday (Oct 27), in at least one Tamil school, pupils have been taught the more positive universal values.

Photographs of the children who were taught to design their own posters with words such as “Together we find peace,” “Say, No War”, “Peace”, “We Choose Love” and “Peace is Possible” have since gone viral.

It is also heartening to see teachers belonging to different races and religions coming together to stand in solidarity for peace and ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

In a war, no party will emerge as a winner. Both sides will be losers. And Malaysia should remain independent and non-aligned but continue to urge both Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire instead of further adding fuel to the war-torn region.  – Nov 2, 2023

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