COMMENT | Are bigoted school pupils Malaysia's future?

"May God protect the earnest struggle for religion, race, and country and protect us from people who use religion and race for personal gain. I am still Malay first before Malaysian, because that is my race which can't be changed before, now, and God willing forever."

- Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh

COMMENT | When Sarawak lawmaker Willie Mongin said, "There are children who do not even want to sit next to other Christian or Muslim children, with some saying ‘I don’t want to sit with them because they eat pork (or) they wear a cross’,” it exposed the bigotry and racism in schools, which are already flashpoints in adult Malaysian society.

This is no surprise for rational Malaysians, as this kind of bigotry and racism has always been mainstreamed in the racial and religious discourse of this country.

In 2017, for instance, preacher Zamihan Mat Zin made racist and bigoted remarks about the “cleanliness” of the Chinese community while advocating for Muslim-only laundrettes.

In 2019, lights displayed in the shape of a cross in Penang caused grave concerns amongst the public, with PAS accusing the developer of a "Christianisation agenda".

The non-Malay political class was quick to assuage fears. Then deputy chief minister P Ramasamy said: "Do not give an opportunity to the troublemakers for an excuse to make a political issue out of something of no serious concern to Malaysians.”

Even Chinese New Year school decorations became a flashpoint in the past, which prompted police to advise their removal.

It was reported in 2020 that then deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching said the police advice was meant to de-escalate the situation after Putra vice-president Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz wrote a letter to the school claiming that the decorations were contravening the Federal Constitution for having religious connotations.

Consider the time non-Muslim schoolchildren were forced to eat in “shower rooms” in 2013. Then deputy education minister P Kamalanathan said, "It is not the right thing to do. The school could have appointed a temporary canteen operator to run the operations during Ramadan."

'Forbidden' knowledge

Teaching students non-Islamic religions in schools and universities is verboten to the establishment, as demonstrated by a former PAS operative.

“There is also concern that (teaching interfaith understanding) could promote religious pluralism amongst Muslims; unless the government is bold and firm in explaining the supremacy and absolute truth of Islam that supersedes all other religions, and Islam’s special position in the Constitution,” said former minister Khairuddin Aman Razali.

This is not only a PAS issue. Remember when then Pakatan Harapan’s religious czar Mujahid Yusof Rawa explained why it was a good thing to teach khat in school, saying, “After all, what is learning khat Jawi if by learning it, we learn our culture, our heritage, history and our pride as Malaysians?”

So these are the ideas which have always been what makes us Malaysians.

What kind of ideas are young people internalising in public schools when our history books are compromised, the civil service is racialised, politicians routinely demonise other ethnic groups, religious operatives demonise other religions and quota systems, as well as the non-existent social contract, determine educational advancement in rakyat-funded education establishments?

Remember when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim berated that young student because she wanted to be treated fairly? What do you think this does to a young person? How do you think this affects how they view their fellow young people?

Model behaviour...

While rich and middle-income Malays ensure that their children receive an education that would make them competitive in this fast-changing geopolitical landscape, the system is designed to keep “rural” Malays and working-class Malays bereft of the opportunities available to that class who control or who serve a political system that enables their privilege.

The kind of class that this system of education engineers makes them perfect as petty mid-level bureaucrats or working-class drones, steeped in religion and racial grievances.

They manipulate the system at the behest of their political masters, always hoping to jump to the next level using corrupt means. A new serf class was created post-May 1969.

Bigotry, racism and communalism are not solely confined to one community. Non-Malay social and political beliefs are reactionary. I am not talking about the non-Malay political class that is all about pandering.

Non-Malay children assimilate bigoted beliefs from their parents and social media and believe that communal protectionism is the only means for economic survival in this political landscape.

The political class dictates the agendas of their respective communities, not the other way round. Our public schools are this way because of this.

How exactly are young people going to forget their differences and forge any kind of "Malaysian identity" when they are constantly reminded that they are either the masters of this land, in which their position is under siege, or they are pendatang (migrants)?

How exactly is an Education Ministry headed by anyone believing in Malay special rights going to formulate an education policy which creates citizens who may be able to get employment but who will never think of themselves as equal citizens of this country?

Looking for true democracy

The Arabisation and Islamisation processes, with the aid of propaganda institutions like the National Civics Bureau (Biro Tata Negara), have created a generation of civil servants who believe that race and religion are first principles and therefore their role in government is to facilitate those principles.

A couple of years back, Pahang Umno objected to people politicising the fact that a school in Kuantan forced non-Muslim students to stay in school until after Muslim prayers were carried out.

All this was justified on the grounds that non-Muslim students could learn about Islam. This was just an overt way to demand compliance.

The solution to problems like this is, of course, more democracy. Refer to Kua Kia Soong’s comment in 2018.

“Few Malaysians have noticed, for example, that the all-important role of local education authorities in the Education Act 1961 is no longer mentioned in the Education Act 1996.

“Local education authorities serve to allocate funds and other facilities to needy sectors, and can serve to dissipate politicisation of education,” he said.

More democracy has always been an existential threat to the political class.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

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

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