National Service (PLKN) 2023 Gets A “Facelift” But…

Graduating high-school for Malaysians back in the day was a stressful time because not only did we have to worry about our SPM results, but we also had to worry about potentially being drafted for National Service (NS) a.k.a PLKN. 

Established in 2003, teenagers at the time felt like they were in The Hunger Games, since being selected meant you had to go through months of mental and physical pain. In case you weren’t old enough to have gone through this, our writer actually broke down her experience with being enlisted in a previous article.

When news broke recently of the NS getting a resurgence after being abolished in 2018, the response on social media felt like we were being told the bubonic plague was making a comeback. It’s safe to say that many people weren’t pleased, simply because so many Malaysians have had bad experiences with NS during their time.

Touted as a summer camp but with extra steps, the purpose of NS was vague and arguably pointless. It’s like when your boss schedules an emergency meeting in the middle of the night when the message could have been delivered in an email, except this time your boss is the government and if you don’t show up, you get fined RM3,000, face six months in prison or both.

It’s not hard to see why the response was so visceral online since NS has also been linked to multiple deaths, health issues, assaults, fights and even rapes, according to Malay Mail.

With all that said, the decision to revive NS probably makes you garu kepala, but honestly, after what we’re about to tell you, you’ll probably want to cabut kepala as well.

 

Whose brilliant idea was it to start this in the first place?

You would think that NS was established during ex-PM, Tun Hussein Onn’s governance due to the communist insurgency in Malaysia during the years 1968-1989, which would be the peak time for national security, but you would be wrong.

In actuality, NS had nothing to do with the security of our nation – despite the name – but it had a lot to do with a certain someone with an affinity towards being called bossku. Can you guess who it is?

If your answer is Najib Razak, then congratulations! You don’t get a prize – or your RM2.67 billion back – but you did figure out who started NS back in 2003.

Acting as the Defence Minister at the time, Najib initiated the compulsory program in December 2003, stating that it would encourage interaction and friendship between youths of different ethnic groups and religions.

It’s important to highlight the word ‘compulsory’ here because as mentioned before, failure to comply could lead to a hefty fine, jail time or both and apparently, Najib also proposed another clause in the National Service Bill that stated that inciting others from not participating in the program could result in a maximum fine of RM10,000, two-year jail term or both. This other clause was thankfully axed due to public outrage.

Being the big spender that he is, it might not shock you to learn that it cost the government RM8.43 billion to sustain NS over the span of 14 years, which was one of the contributing factors of the program’s abolishment.

The other reason for NS getting the boot? According to Muar MP, Syed Saddiq, the program was notorious for racial and political indoctrination that was alleged to have been set up by the previous Barisan Nasional administration.

But that was 20 years ago and we have a new Defence Minister now. Surely, things have improved and there aren’t any fishy similarities between the person who initiated NS and the person reviving it… Right?

 

Which fella is reviving National Service now?

Our current Defence Minister, Mohamad Hasan, or affectionately known as Tok Mat, caused a stir when he recently revealed his plan of bringing back NS for the teens of today.

Distinguishing himself from Najib, he said in parliament that the new NS would cost RM100 million per year compared to the RM500 million per year program implemented by the former-Defence Minister.

Tok Mat suggests that NS 3.0 should be implemented in 3 phases.

1. Training adapted into Form 3 and Form 4 syllabus under co-curricular activities
2. 45-day camp with 90% focusing on military training and 10% focusing on nation-building initiatives conducted at military camps and Askar Wataniah training centres nationwide
3. Welcoming by agencies such as the fire department, civil defence, police force or military force, making them more eligible for a permanent position after going through the normal recruitment process

With this new plan, Tok Mat predicts that the government can cut down on its expenditure, whilst producing a better outcome for the youths.

While he certainly seems to set himself apart from his predecessor in terms of NS, it’s interesting to note that the two share the same – what’s the word that won’t get me in trouble here – habits surrounding money.

If you’re unfamiliar with Tok Mat and his lore, we have an article detailing some fun facts about him, but the only thing that’s missing is his alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme, which was investigated in 2010, involving the RM10 million that he received via a money changer to buy a London property.

The allegations were investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) back in 2011, but the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) decided that no further action on the case would be taken thus the ending the investigation.

Now that the tinfoil hat is kept back in the closet for future use, it’s time to figure out why NS existed in the first place and whether this would make any difference to the state of our country, especially since there are several other sectors that could benefit from that funding.

 

Kelas, buka buku teks Sejarah anda

Do you remember the May 13 riot that happened in 1969? Arguably the darkest time in history for Malaysia, the riot spurred due to racial divides, which led to insurmountable casualties – the exact number of deaths is still being debated ’til this day – as well as serious injuries, arson, and severe damages to public property.

As a response to the riot, the Rukun Negara came to fruition in 1970 to foster unity amongst races in Malaysia. You’d think that decades of reciting some words while half-asleep at assembly in school would cure racism, right?

Well, another riot happened in 2001, that you may not be that familiar with. The Kampung Medan riots are comparable to May 13, since it also escalated due to racial tensions and led to 183 deaths, comprising of Malays, Indians and Indonesians.

But this time, instead of another pledge of allegiance, we believe that the government decided to nip racism in the bud by instilling the 1 Malaysia mindset through NS in 2003, which was essentially aimed to impart nationhood knowledge, character development and community service to the youths.

While the idea is there, the execution left much to be desired.

In an open letter to FMT, retired brigadier-general Arshad Raji, did not hold back his punches when he criticised both the old and new NS. He said,

“Millions are wasted, uniforms are wasted. To become patriotic? I think it is a waste of time. You don’t start (instilling) patriotism from Form Five or Form Three, that’s too late. We always believe that if you develop patriotism for children you must start when they’re young.”

Arshad believes that the government should adopt the South Korean and Japanese model of integrating patriotism into the school curriculum, but Tok Mat stated that the revived NS will not be referencing those countries at all.

How Malaysia’s NS differs from Singapore and South Korea

Take a look at the difference between Malaysia’s NS with Singapore (SG) and South Korea (SK) below:

1. Gender: Malaysia requires both male and female to serve in NS, while SG and SK only trains males
2. Age: Malaysia is training youths through co-curricular activities starting from Form 3 and Form 4 (typically 15 and 16 years old respectively) up to the moment they graduate high-school, while SG and SK only start selecting once the youths hit 18 years old
3. Duration: Malaysia only requires you to go to a 45-day camp, while SG takes up to 2 years and SK takes between 18-21 months.
4. Template: Malaysia has a 90% focus on military training with 10% on nation-building, while SG and SK focus on military training 100%

Knowing why these countries enacted their NS programs in the first place is important in understanding the rationale behind their focus on military service.

For Singapore, NS was established in 1967 (two years after they gained independence in 1965) to help build the country’s armed forces. With South Korea, we can take out the guessing game since the answer is so clear: North Korea.

But what about our tanah tumpahnya darahku? While the other countries have their missions all spelled out, the reason for our NS remains up in the air, especially due to the half-baked idea of a 45-day camp where only 90% of the focus is on military training while 10% is still retained for nation-building.

To put it into perspective, yes, you’ll be saving costs by buying that 3-in-1 body gel, shampoo and conditioner, but you’re gonna wake up one day with flaky skin, dry hair and an unhappy partner, who wishes you put more effort into yourself. At that point in time, it would feel like you wasted money on the cheaper, easier alternative when you could have bought these things separately and gotten your money’s worth.

What I’m really trying to say is…

 

Do we really need a National Service software update?

While we’d all love to kumbaya by the campfire and draw cartoons of Ali, Muthu and Ah Hock holding hands with crayons like we did in primary school, we don’t need an entire RM100 million program to do it.

Racial harmony is not something that can be forced, but it is something that can be nurtured, and that can only happen when we teach children the concept of togetherness as soon as they enter schooling age.

If you really think about it, when has a teenager ever done something with sincerity after being threatened, especially when that threat comes from authority? When youths reach high school, they begin to rebel and form their own cliques. In an ideal world, these cliques would comprise of different races, but nothing in this world is ever ideal.

The element of unity in NS should be integrated organically, and not through extra-curricular activities, where they would only participate to achieve good grades.

As for the 45-day camp, 45 days is not even the length of a situationship, let alone enough time to cram military training and nation-building studies at the same time. To really instil proper training and knowledge that will benefit the nation’s security in the future – should we need it – the program needs to narrow its focus and structure it in a way that makes the most out of these youths’ time.

It’s either you go big, or you let the youths stay home.