The
government should not continue with compulsory national service. Do you agree?
Compulsory national service in
Malaysia is implemented for 18-year-old school leavers. In my opinion, national
service is good for them. For one, it is a good way for them to spend the three
month break while waiting for their examination results.
During the programme, the
trainees learn a lot of things like national ideology and history. The
objectives are to instill in them qualities like loyalty, tolerance of others
and living in harmony in a multi-racial society. The trainees will come out of
the three month’s national service stronger and much more thoughtful.
At home, they tend to take their
home comforts and family members for granted. During the training, they live in
camps away from their family. While at the camps, they gain a lot in terms of
becoming more independent and disciplined. These are good traits to acquire.
And such traits will stay with the young people.
One cannot deny that national
service is a great way for Malaysian youths to channel their energy, especially
while waiting for their SPM results. After all, three months is not a long time
compared to Singapore, whose government implements their national service for
two years. Our government has worked hard to make national service a success.
Moreover, it provides them with essential skills in life. Not only will they
learn more about their own country, but it will also build their confidence,
teach them to cooperate in a group and mix with people of other ethnic
backgrounds.
To those school-leavers who
seldom mix with other races, this is then” chance to do so. They should take it
as a challenge. After all, the whole idea of National Service is not so much to
instill a sense of patriotism but more a sense of discipline, courtesy and
civic consciousness, which is very lacking in a lot of young Malaysians.
As for the argument that
school-leavers are going to college three months later, this is rather insignificant.
Many school-leavers do not join a college straight away after leaving school.
Moreover, the trainees learn a lot of skills and knowledge during the national
service. It certainly is not a waste of time. In fact, it is a very good
experience for school leavers before they proceed to colleges for a tertiary
education.
Considering these benefits of
compulsory national service, I am convinced that it should not be stopped. What
should be done instead is to improve the period of training to include a more
challenging curriculum which our youths really need.
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