Friday, August 19, 2005

National Service Story

I really really like to hear stories like this. Here's a short excerpt from the national service diary of 17-year old Jolene Lai. :)
Our character building teacher, Mr Jason ushered us back into our class and motioned us to gather around him. He had his hands on top of Kim Seng's and Iman's bald heads. He said, "Di Kompeni Delta/Dermaga, kita tidak mahu bergaduh okay? Tiada pasal-pasal perkauman. Jangan bergaduh sampai berdarah."(In our comapny, we do not want anyone fighting. There should not be any racial issues. No blood shed, please. )

He went on, "Cikgu datang sini bukan kerana gaji tetapi cikgu ingin mengasuh anak-anak malaysia ini supaya kelak orang Melayu boleh meletak tangan atas bahu orang Cina ataupun orang India tanpa perasaan kekok. I want us to be like brothers outside. Because, satu hari nanti, anak Cikgu akan masuk national service juga dan saya tidak harap anak Cikgu bersikap menyingkirkan sendiri. Saya sedih melihat kejadian sebegini. Sedih, cikgu, tau??"

And with that, tears sprung to his eyes. What a true Malaysian. He is actually a scientist but he chose to assist in the formation of the young Malaysians. Very inspiring indeed.
This is what National Service should be about and why its concept should be supported whole-heartedly by all Malaysians.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If only there are more like him. No wait, there are alot like him when we were kids but as we grow up, most are influenced and would have opposite views. Sad but true.

Anonymous said...

If you read the rest of her blog, you will find that the rest of the trainers aren't anything like that. Most appeared weird and I really rue the day my children gets called up for NS and ends up with a bunch like that.

..listen to an UMNO debate in Angkasapuri.. what?

The hygiene standards are atrocious eg. using a razor for all and sundry? Having the boys "close their ears"??? when talking about sanitary pads? Where the heck did they find these trainers from? Some 18th century junkyard (do they have junkyards those days? hehe)

All this NS hogwash is a waste of time and resources. It would be more effective to de-islamize the national school system to cater for the multi-racial mix, teach a certain number of hours of mother tongue each week, and teach the students starting from primary schools a non-religious non-ethnic version of civics (like the version we were taught in the '60s and early '70s).

Most important of all, treat ALL the students as Malaysians, and give them the opportunities ALL of them rightly deserve. They will then grow up to appreciate and love their country and when then time comes for them to demonstrate their patriotism (not flag waving and slogan chanting, mind you) they will, willingly.

Anonymous said...

as an ex NS trainee.. bravo to the CB teacher.. i hope we can have more of his kind in NS insyallah

Anonymous said...

NS is just an opportunity for some cronies to make more money. I just hope my kids don't get called up for this bulls***.