Letter to editor
THERE is no shred of doubt that MCA is supportive of the Palestinian plight as they endure bombardment from the Israeli ground troops. Our stance on the current Gaza conflict is based on humanity and Palestine’s right to freedom and independence.
Nevertheless, we are not on the same page with the government, especially with the Education Ministry (MoE) on its method, notably its instructions to schools to organise a “Palestinian Solidarity Week” without clear guidelines initially.
This lack of clarity resulted with certain schools going overboard in parading violence and war cries upon the untainted minds of minor children within school premises.
To indoctrinate children with hatred and aggression is to distort vengeance and carnage as justified and contravenes the entire noble mission of education.
Any miscomprehensions that arose from the educators toting replica machine rifles or launching flaming arrows need to be corrected.
It is unfortunate that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) Alor Setar MP Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden who is also the PAS Youth chief had questioned why Chinese vernacular schoolchildren were allowed to don costumes with replicas of weapons while Hamas-inspired costumes worn during the Palestinian Solidarity Week were considered extreme.
Similarly, UMNO Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh reportedly questioned if this “is not extremism and terrorism?”, referring to a now deleted Chinese school’s account showing its pupils wearing costumes while holding samurai swords.
Exploiting primary school pupils, these comments are provocative, aimed at dividing society along racial lines and should never have been uttered.
There can be no comparison at all in role-playing performances which mimic animation characters or games versus an outright cry to war by educators which leads to maiming and extinguishing life.
Similarly, children pretending to be Ninja Turtles is purely for fun and entertainment. These are fictional characters bearing no harm at all.
However, dressing up as soldiers, brandishing toy-fire arms or lobbing a flaming arrow at a flag – these schools have conveyed a confusing, even manipulative message to youngsters.
The PAS and UMNO Youth chiefs are urged to refrain from disparaging quarters who have criticised the glorification of firearms and violence by educators in the former’s attempt to alter concepts to mislead the public to score political mileage.
Political figures score points when they emphasise the values of peaceful co-existence, compassion and empathy in a multi-racial country and not play the race card. – Nov 2, 2023
Saw Yee Fung is MCA Youth secretary-general.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
