Youth group welcomes return of National Service

Youth group Architects of Diversity (AOD) has lauded the return of the National Service Training Programme (PLKN) but recommended the inclusion of more social cohesion-focused programmes.

"Malaysia is in urgent need of social bridges to rebuild ties between segregated communities. Racial and religious segregation among youth has reached an all-time high in the past decade.

"Since 2015, only around four percent of Chinese students attend national primary schools in addition to the proliferation of private and international schools that have divided Malaysian students across socioeconomic and religious lines," the NGO said in a statement today.

Earlier today, Defence Minister Mohamad Hasan announced that the government will bring back PLKN, which the Pakatan Harapan administration stopped in 2018.

Mohamad told a press conference that now with a different training scheme, over 20,000 youths will undergo training at existing military camps for 45 days.

Elaborating, AOD said the downsizing or abolishment of the Student Integration for Unity Plan (Rimup), which previously connected students of different education backgrounds, has also resulted in further segregation.

In addition, it said the advent of social media has exacerbated the potential of 'hate echo chambers' and made the youth more susceptible to extremist narratives - evident from the sharing of TikTok videos themed around the May 13 racial riots.

Five factors

AOD then recommended five factors to strengthen the latest iteration of PLKN, beginning with having programmes to strengthen interracial relations.

Secondly, the group said there should be a one-year pilot stage for stringent testing prior to scaled implementation to prevent monetary wastage.

"Independent evaluations should be permitted by opening partnerships with universities and civil society organisations to carry out appropriate assessments on the efficacy of PLKN in achieving its various goals.

"The PLKN Establishment Committee and Council members should be non-partisan to maintain programmatic distance from partisan capture and balance competing views of its design.

“Additionally, youth representation on the committee and council is required to ensure youth concerns are heard for equitable decision-making,” it said in the statement.

The group also mentioned that there should be ethnic diversity among trainers to model positive interracial relations and promote healthy dynamics in PLKN camps.

"Prior studies have recommended greater diversity in camp trainers to ensure a 'safe, non-threatening environment' for minorities. We recommend emulating the Peace Corps method of recruiting top university graduates as trainers for one to two years to ensure the highest quality of PLKN delivery.

"Procurement of material goods must be subject to strict supervision with bipartisan review processes. Additionally, we recommend the establishment of an independent ombudsman with investigative and corrective powers to protect the welfare of participants," AOD said.

According to the group, the Defence Ministry and Parliamentary Select Committee should engage with the youth and civil society organisations during the planning and prior to implementation.

The group's White Paper containing its full recommendations can be found here.

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