COMMENT | The Youth and Sports Ministry has been given quite the task: To turn the National Civics Bureau (Biro Tatanegara, BTN) and National Service (NS) from something poisonous and mediocre respectively, to something positive and dynamic.

This will no doubt prove quite the challenge, but I’m sure it is one the good minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman and his deputy will embrace and face head on, given everything that is at stake.

BTN is a good microcosm of everything that was wrong with the old Malaysia. National Service has been a somewhat more mixed experience - one that definitely had room to improve.

I believe the government’s present decision is informed by two major factors: Firstly, that there is still a pressing need to deepen national unity and awareness in Malaysia; and secondly, that the pre-existing infrastructure that has been built around these two institutions should not go to waste.

In designing the replacement of BTN and NS, it feels like we are facing a blank canvas. This can be an intimidating opportunity, but it is an opportunity nevertheless.

These articles will be a thought exercise in what the guiding principles of this redesign should be (Part 1), and what the major options are with regard to practical implementation (Part 2).

Obviously, a detailed plan would require a dissertation-length exposition, but we shall aim to cover the broad strokes.

For temporary stylistic convenience, we shall call the replacement to BTN and NS the “New Programme” for now.

National unity: Reversing BTN’s propaganda

The biggest problem with the old BTN was that it was insidiously used as a vehicle for bigoted and hateful Umno propaganda, where its facilitators would spew racist ideology and sow division.

The horror stories of what attendees were made to listen to were truly bloodcurdling.

As this is the first thing that the New Programme must seek to reverse, its first major goal should be about fostering national unity.

In essence, the New Programme should aim to encourage young Malaysians to think about Malaysians from different communities in a positive way.

The context for this idea, which may seem fluffy at first, is the reality we face today, where many Malaysians have a negative perception of other Malaysians from different backgrounds - whether it be in terms of ethnicity, religion, class or region.

This of course has been fostered by decades of race-based politics and political parties which survived essentially on notions of racial superiority and creating racial conflict, sometimes out of thin air.

If it was in the interests of political parties then to create this racial strife, it must be in our interests now to undo this strife.

This battle is one of hearts and minds, and there is no better place to gain a foothold, than while our children are young.

If we tell our youth that some races are better than others, or go on long diatribes about the faults of certain races, it should come as no surprise that we breed a generation suspicious about other races.

If on the other hand, we help our children focus on the richness of our diversity, and the many amazing things each culture brings to the table, we stand a much better chance of fostering a generation that has a positive view about Malaysians that are different from themselves in whatever way.

Sticking to genuine explorations of our different heritages in a positive manner will go a long way in reversing the prejudiced, and often ignorant, views we have about one another.

Experiential learning

Any educationist will likely tell you that children learn more by doing, than they do by being told things.

Thus, we cannot expect national unity to come about by repeatedly telling our youth to love thy neighbour.

Rather, we must give them ample opportunity to interact with said neighbours, and discover for themselves their shared humanity.

This should be the next guiding principle of the New Programme: experiential learning.

The good news is that kids are naturally very good at this, as anyone who has been to a playground can probably attest to.

All we need to do is bring together a good mix of Malaysians from different backgrounds, and give them the space and opportunity to interact positively.

As we will expand on in Part Two, activities like sports, community service, and group projects are some excellent ways to give students who may not usually have a chance to interact much, exposure to one another.

In today’s Malaysia, it is not uncommon for youth of a certain race or social class to only interact with others like themselves. Students from Chinese, religious or international schools come to mind.

The essence of national unity will not come from any waving of a magic wand from the top down, but from Malaysians - especially young ones - building real human bonds of friendship with their fellow Malaysians, on the ground, in their day-to-day life from the bottom up.

Shared experience

The above aspects of the New Programme also serve as a common shared experience for young Malaysians.

Such a common experience is valuable in a Malaysia where youth from different backgrounds share less and less in common.

In addition to the shared experience of the New Programme itself, the programme is also an opportunity to cultivate a body of shared knowledge.

Given the vast diversity of popular education systems and streams in Malaysia, the New Programme is an opportunity to ensure that every Malaysian has a basic understanding of a factual, neutral and objective version of Malaysian history.

Knowing where we came from gives us a much better appreciation of where we are today, as a nation.

In high school (in my time at least), subjects like “Kemahiran Hidup” (Living Skills) helped ensure that all of us knew how things like a toilet or an air-conditioner worked.

It would be useful indeed if all Malaysian youth had a similar basic understanding of how our system of government works.

Sometimes even adults do not quite understand the basics of how our parliamentary democracy works, or the difference, say, between federal, state and municipal authorities (it is a source of some amusement to hear people call DBKL officers “police”).

This kind of information is useful not just in terms of fostering national identity, but to help Malaysians go through life armed with knowledge that not only empowers, but can make their lives easier as well as help them function effectively as citizens.

In this vein, the New Programme is also a good opportunity to teach very basic critical thinking skills.

This can include the simple fundamentals of scientific thinking and hypothesis testing - skills that can prove very useful in nurturing a generation of Malaysians who can discern real news from fake.

NATHANIEL TAN will next discuss the different ways a New Programme could achieve all the goals above in tomorrow’s Part 2.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.