Debate on the National Service programme over the last few months seems to have cooled down. This is not a new phenomenon in Malaysia but we are known to have short attention span and weak stamina to continue paying serious focus on any issue. Moreover, this programme may have a significant impact on young Malaysians especially those who are eligible for compulsory enrolment this coming February 2004.

During the forum on 'National Service: Objectives and Implications' organised by Sedar Institute, panelists from various background and affiliations have voiced their concern over lack of information on the programme's curriculum, participants' selection process and other implementation issues such as lack of suitable trainers, religious and cultural sensitivities and facilities to perform rituals, prayers and ceremonies, food, concern over unisex inter-mingling and others.

Acting as a moderator, Sedar has also compiled and put forth to the Defence Ministry and the National Service Training Council several recommendations for consideration. They are:

The ongoing national education review process should also take into account the areas of reform identified during the national-service discussions and during debates with various bodies. The inputs can form the basis of pre-national service programme which is to be introduced in schools.

Religious, cultural and social sensitivities and norms should be addressed with extra care and discussions should be held with all communities concerned in order to avert any unnecessary misunderstanding.

Safety procedures should be clearly spelled out so that measures can be taken by parents, participants and organisers to guarantee the safety of participants.

'Live' weapons training should be excluded from the national-service curriculum because the focus of the programme is not on national defence but on national unity, patriotism and character building

In this coming September 2003, the validity of the programme and the preparedness of the Defence Ministry and the National Service Training Council will be tested, to a certain extent, by a trial run which will involve 200 participants over a month period.

While the trial run is essential in fine-tuning the programme syllabus and training methods, the organisers should take cognisance that this pilot project is not indicative of the actual session which will kick off in February 2004 especially in terms of infrastructure, manpower and coordination requirements. The February batch is expected to involve 27,000 participants over 45 campsites.

Hence, there are several immediate concerns which must be addressed to ensure the smooth running of the programme. They are:

The training syllabus should be balanced, meaningful, comprehensive and interesting so that participants do not catch the 'bored' syndrome, which would affect motivation and focus over the three month period. As such, specialists who work on youth development programmes should be consulted on the draft final syllabus or during the trial run to further strengthened it.

Implementation processes and procedures must be clear, well-coordinated and fully documented to ensure that there are consistent and understood by all trainers, coordinators, volunteers, participants and parents. It is by no mean a simple task to manage, supervise, train and coordinate 27,000 participants in 45 different locations nationwide

The organisers should also ensure that trainers, coordinators and volunteers are carefully picked to assist in the running of the programme. It is pertinent that they must have the right qualifications, skills, knowledge and intention to work with youths. We should endeavour to avoid the case of entrusting "a wolf to take care of a herd of sheep".

Other processes such as provisions and contingencies for injury or even fatality, sickness, disciplinary problem, social problem, criminal activity and others are equally important for the smooth running of the programme. These provisions ought to be succinctly noted in the participant's manual or guidebook. Similar set of procedures should also be made available for the trainers, supervisors, coordinators and volunteers of the programme for accountability.

After the trial run, the organisers should compile an evaluation report so that any weakness(es) identified can be addressed immediately to avoid any possibility of programme failure or unwanted incidents from happening. Interested parties should also be given an access to the report for the purpose of providing constructive feedback to the organisers.

Finally, I hope that the organisers are sincere enough to let the government and the people know the truth if they are not yet ready to launch the National Service programme in February 2004. A programme of this nature and proportion must be inclusive and engaging.

The success of this programme cannot be determined by compulsion alone but the people must truly believe that they want to support and participate in an activity which can help to bring about better national unity, ethnic relations and patriotism.