Behind costumes and toy gun, a grim picture of Malaysia’s future

 

Malaysia has an extremism problem. This isn’t exactly breaking news, but the recent images that have spread on social media of schoolchildren and teachers toting toy guns at a school ahead of Palestine Solidarity Week expose how shamefully deep the issue runs.

Make no mistake, the people of Palestine – who for years have suffered at the hands of Israel and the West’s brutality – deserve all the support the global community can offer.

While Malaysia may not always compare favourably to more developed nations, our government’s position to stand with the Palestinian people is one to be proud of (just as it is not terribly surprising that the US and UK would endorse modern day colonialism).

With millions of Palestinians dead, the government’s idea of dedicating an entire week for schoolchildren to learn about the conflict and show their support was a good one on paper. I for one was never taught about the atrocities committed by Israel and its settlers in school. Looking back, I wish I was.

But clearly neither were the parents and teachers who allowed these children to parade around their schools holding fake weapons and with scarves wrapped around their heads.

It’s worrying to think that these are the role models that impressionable young Malaysians have to look up to. Shameful, frankly.

This week should have been an opportunity to teach them about one of the modern world’s most complex and fractured conflicts. Instead, it only raises questions about the people entrusted with guiding the next generation.

The dangerous religious rhetoric that’s long been weaponised by our politicians to divide and distract will never be reined in if this is the future populace being created.

But given certain parties’ sympathies towards groups like the Taliban, maybe that’s the point.

The government has said all the right things since the troubling pictures have come to light, but tangible action is another matter entirely.

Because for as much as the spread of radical interpretations of Islam benefits the almost entirely Muslim opposition, Anwar Ibrahim’s government cannot risk disillusioning Malays further by doing anything that could call its Islamic credentials into question.

Since those pictures came to light, I’ve spoken to many friends who’ve pointed to them as evidence of Malaysia’s decline. “This is why we’ve got to get out,” they say, as if a plane to Singapore was the last lifeboat on the Titanic.

Non-Muslims and moderates will never feel truly at home for as long as this sort of radical ideology is not just allowed to exist, but even at times encouraged. Good people will leave and those that have already made a success of themselves overseas will be given more reasons to stay put.

The discourse about Palestine Solidarity Week shouldn’t be about rules, guidelines or who’s to blame for the children’s costumes. What we should all be far more worried about is what this means for Malaysia 50 years from now when those of us lucky enough to make it until then could look around and realise nothing has changed. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.