Beginning this 21st April 2025, all Malaysian school students will be required to wear a national flag badge on their school uniforms. The requirement which was approved by the Cabinet on 14 February 2025 is intended to instill patriotism amongst Malaysian students.
So instead of finding ways to improve our education system, the Ministry of Education choose to wear a bandaid, and not too dissimilar to the white shoes to black shoes effort.
Failed Patriotism
It is unfathomable from where did the idea of wearing the national flag badge would instill patriotism amongst Malaysian school children. Every Malaysian student has been taught about the national flag, the meaning behind the colours and the design, the national anthem, the Rukunegara for decades. There is also the “Fly the National Flag” campaign for the last couple of decades.
In fact, even free flags provided during the National Day could instill patriotism. Just walk around the parade ground after the National Day parade and you will see some flags being thrown into the rubbish bins.
Yet, Malaysians do not generally wear patriotism on their sleeves. If these campaigns and measures are successful, we would not have 52,225 individuals renouncing their Malaysian citizenships from January 2020 to 15 February 2025.
Where are the Problems?
What Malaysia needs are an improved education syllabus, more teachers, and more schools.
Our school syllabus, especially the KBAT (Kemahiran Berfikir Aras Tinggi or Higher Level Thought Process) have been criticised as being too heavy for primary school students, killing off their interest very early.
The teaching profession in Malaysia has not fared any better. In 2023, the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) claimed that the country is facing a shortage of more than 20,000 teachers nationwide. In the same year, 6,394 teachers went on early retirement, further compounding the issue. Many of these teachers opted early retirement due to various factors, such as nonsensical instructions, the need to do clerical work, and being forced to stay apart from their families.
We have not even touch on the topic of students skipping the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) papers. In 2024, 8,076 students skipped their exam.
The Elephant in the Room
All these and we have not touched on the elephant in the room. Despite the promise that the Ministry of Education will be providing two free badges for every Malaysian students, there are two questions remain. Who will be providing these badges at what cost? And the fact that these badges will now constitute as recurring costs for families with school-going students.
Patriotism
Back to the question of patriotism. For patriotism to be instilled, it must come with pride and the willingness to be patriotic. Any form for patriotism other than the willingness to be patriotic, are just a form of paytriotism.
Danny Liew is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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