DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy) today proposed that the National Service Training Act 2003 be abolished so that legal provisions are not used to "kill" the future of thousands of youth.

The act was passed by Parliament last year to enable implementation of the national service programme.

Dapsy national secretary Loke Siew Fook said the youth wing would table a Private Member's Bill in the Dewan Rakyat to abolish the act when the new parliamentary session begins on May 17.

The bill will be tabled by the party's Batu Gajah member of Parliament, Fong Po Kuan, who also heads a five-member DAP committee to deal with problems in the national service prorgramme.

"Instead of continuing the programme with more problems cropping up day after day, the government should immediately call it off and admit its failure," Loke told a press conference at the DAP headquarters in Petaling Jaya today.

Other Dapsy leaders present were Susann Chan, John Chung, Ean Yong Hian Wah and Ooi Leng Hang.

The Private Member's Bill will have to be filed 14 days prior to the sitting and will have to go through three readings before it can be passed. However, it is unlikely that the bill will even be raised for debate since the government's bills will take priority.

Loke said the government should not waste the taxpayers' monies amounting to RM500million to implement a "failed" programme again next year.

The programme was mooted by former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to foster national unity and instill patriotism.

National unity?

However Loke, who is also the Lobak state assemblyperson, said the recent series of fights between trainees of different races reported in various training camps has defeated the purpose of the programme and affected racial unity.

"If the authority cannot even prevent cases of fighting and bullying between the senior trainees and the juniors after the seniors have gone through 50 percent of the programme, isn't there something very wrong with the curriculum and the modules?" he asked.

"Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Najib Abdul Razak when presenting the programme to Parliament last year said the programme would completely change the character of a trainee from negative to positive after the three-month stint. Has this assurance been convincing up to now?"

The Dapsy leader stressed that the programme could not provide solutions to the country's social ills.

He also described the National Service Training Council's earlier decision to take action against some 10,000 youths who failed to turn up for the compulsory programme as "most unfair and undemocratic".

Under the act, the absentee will be charged in court and could face up to six months' jail, a fine RM3,000 or both.

However Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday announced that absentees would be given " a second and last chance " to attend the programme, failing which action will be taken.

Commenting on the premier's announcement, Loke said the youth wing has always maintained that criminal sanctions and legal punishments are unacceptable because the programme should be based on volunteerism.

He said, however, that the programme has failed and should be scrapped. He also called on Abdullah to step in and determine where implementation had failed.

On Perlis Menteri Besar Shahidan Kassim's suggestion to ban mobile phones in the camp to curb the spread of "inaccurate information", Loke quipped that it was a "funny character making funny remarks".

"I think he is still living in the Stone Age, he is not a leader of the 21 st century. The issue is the safety of the trainees. If communication are cut off for three months, is Shahidan prepared to take responsibility for anything that happens to the trainees?" he asked.

The Perlis MB had made his comments after " random observations" that trainees felt more comfortable attending the programme at camps where mobile phones reception was not available.

'Political tool'

DAP chief Lim Kit Siang, met at the headquarters, welcomed the decision to give absentees a second chance, but could not resist a jibe at the government.

"I think it is not a second chance for the so-called shirkers, but it is a second chance for the government to save themselves from embarrassment," he said, adding that there would be public censure if the government prosecutes the thousands involved.

In a related development, PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub also criticised the government's proposal to punish those who have not reported for the programme.

"It is inappropriate to force the youth to participate especially since the programme is in an early stage of implementation. The people are not clear about the real purpose of national service, apart from the fact that it to be used as a political tool by Barisan Nasional" he said in a statement today.

In another statement, Parti Keadilan Rakyat information chief Khalid Jaafar called on the government to hold a full consultation and review of the programme as the absence of the 10,000 youths indicates that the programme is not attracting the youths.

Some 85,000 youths are participating in the programme and are housed in 41 camps nationwide. This pioneer batch of trainees was randomly chosen from 480,000 eligible youths aged 18.