Umno-themed school event: It’s indoctrination, say youth activists

PETALING JAYA: A student activist has accused the government of emphasising political indoctrination over basic education, in the wake of a school event which saw students wave Umno flags and sing the party’s song.

In a Facebook post, Anis Syafiqah Mohd Yusof said the incident reflected the reality that indoctrination of partisan politics began in schools and continued after that at the tertiary level.

“History textbooks at the secondary school level do not tell the true Malaysian history. It’s as if Malaysia’s history is about Umno’s struggles,” she said, adding that much was also “blacked out”.

Because the government paid more attention to political indoctrination than to basic education, she said, many youth were not interested in national issues as they did not have a sense of belonging.

She added that even though students are taught about administration, economics, social issues and politics at the tertiary level, the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA) prevents them from applying their knowledge in the outside world.

Last year, Anis along with other students organised the Tangkap Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) rally at Dataran Merdeka to call for the arrest of “MO1”, named in the first US Department of Justice (DoJ) civil suit linked to 1MDB in July last year.

Following the rally, she was suspended for a semester from Universiti Malaya (UM).

Anis said schools and universities should not be places where thinking “dies” through indoctrination.

“As institutions of learning, schools and universities should be places where the mind can grow, and where students can learn to think rationally and do something when the country is facing problems.”

Meanwhile, UM Association of New Youth (Umany) deputy president Tan Jia You said the group strongly condemned the event.

“This is political invasion of a school and a clear misuse of power. Schoolchildren are very impressionable, and they are being indoctrinated.”

On Wednesday, videos of teachers and students at Sekolah Kebangsaan Putrajaya Presint 14(1) in Putrajaya, singing the Umno song and waving the party’s flags during an independence day event, drew sharp criticism from several quarters who accused Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor of turning the teachers and students into political tools.

In his speech, Tengku Adnan, who was there to present prizes to the winners of a competition for the best Merdeka decoration, also urged the teachers to join Umno.