Friday, March 10, 2006

Khidmat Negara Ver 2.0

The last time I saw Isaac, he was flushed with life. Over bottles of microbrew, he related his experiences at Habitat for Humanity, Portland OR. He had come back to college-town Eugene for a short break, and to catch up with his Malaysian housemate. Isaac was helping to build houses for the lower income; that’s what the non-profit organization is all about. He’d made new buddies there, he told me, and he was amazed at volunteer turnouts especially on weekends.

“Guys were just streaming in with hammers and saws just asking if there was anything they could help out. Fat, fair, scrawny, they all came. And damn, some of those women can build as fine a wall if there ever was one,” he said, “There was much love.”

At some point in that autumn evening of feel-good stories, it struck me that this was what my country was all about, too – you know, the whole gotong-royong, Rukun Tetangga thing. At least my teenaged memory of it, rose-tinted no doubt. In my memory, all that seemed a very natural process back home. Berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing. Ya ‘bang, berganding bahu.

I mean, those were the years before Malaysia Boleh, before the continued refraction of the light of our people into race and religion, before the big-money scandals, before the sacking of Chief Judge Salleh Abbas and the subsequent emasculation of the Judiciary, before many, many things.

“There was much love,” Isaac had said. And now being back, I’m a mite sad. And I’m just picking through the fragments wondering if there may be a bona fide path we can take to being more integrated again. You know, those Sudirman days, those P Ramlee and Saloma days. I think there is. I think it lies in the hearts of youths.

Along the muddy banks of Malaysia’s many government schemes lies a gem waiting to be really discovered. If harnessed well, I believe Khidmat Negara could possibly pave the way to the ideals you and I uphold for this land. Its current form is limpid and reaching a dead end. Rather it will take creativity and will to reach its true potential. Plus learning from others, if we’re not too proud that is.

Which brings me back to Isaac. Isaac hooked up with Habitat via AmeriCorps (http://www.americorps.gov/about/ac/index.asp), one of the most inspired ideas to emerge from the Clinton Administration back in 1993. It is the US’ version of national service without the military crap. Instead it focuses on community service and rewards each participant with education funds. So at the end of the day, my buddy Isaac came out richer in soul and lighter in financial debt. Win-win, if you ask me.

We can take a cue from all this.

When Malaysia first mooted Khidmat Negara (http://www.khidmatnegara.gov.my/utama.htm), it was framed with noble values. In 2003, the government espoused the virtues of such a program with a five-point objective:

  • Develop patriotism

  • Enhance unity

  • Instill caring spirit in society

  • Produce well-rounded people

  • Reinforce good values
Now, let’s ask ourselves this – can this objective only be met through a military-style modus? I can understand a military-based national service in Singapore. It is an elite citystate not entirely in sync with its Nusantara cousins. I can understand Israel and Korea. I don’t understand Malaysia’s approach. Really, why did we choose the regimented path? It strikes me that there wasn’t enough rigour exercised in thinking through the program.

To make national service fruitful, we must first dig deep into our society’s psyche and core values and ask what is the cultural makeup of Malaysia. Who are our youths and what are their characteristics, their aspirations and concerns? How do we meld these together? Only with such findings can we come up with a scheme that is genuine to our goals of integration.

Alas, not equipped with any solid data, I can only intuit an alternative idea. It’s something I’ve been pondering over a bit and suffers from rough edges. For lack of expertise, I shan’t try to sand those down. Just explore the core idea.

Overview
I think our national service should be structured more like a Liberal Arts stint in real life in real Malaysia – sorta learn more about the world and yourself while giving back to society. It should offer as much exposure to individuals who are otherwise limited because of family funds or opportunities to see and experience the many layers of our land and its people. It should invite youths to explore and tap their skills.

Call it an internship on Practical Civics. Formal education in school supplies the basics, developing real values come from direct experience.

Many essential and community services in Malaysia need support but are not getting it. Whether because of funds, manpower or imagination, we find ourselves stunted. National service can help plug unique gaps that exist in our society: the maintenance, governance, research and development of these services. It should seize the booster shot of energy that youths bring. Hence, Khidmat Negara should be moved out of the Defence Ministry’s portfolio and into the Ministry of Youth and Sports. And it should be a program of substance not patriotic songs, physical training and foot-drills.

National service should be lengthened to approximately a year, say. To be fulfilling, it has to be substantial. Three months doesn’t get anybody anywhere.

But first, who are we. What are our blocks?

The youths among us – General Observations
Compass points: Compared to developed countries, I believe in general we find our bearings later in life. It's tied to how and where we are brought up. It was certainly true for me. In Form 6, I wanted to be a doctor la, an engineer la, Indiana Jones la …I honestly didn’t know what I wanted. Same went for many of my friends, and I suspect the same goes for many teenagers today.

Talent suppressed: I met many people in school and university who were really talented musicians, dancers, sportsmen, or artists who ended up doing medicine, law, economics or a runs a gerai in a pasar malam. Kim Loke was a fantastic footballer, captain of his state team. He became a civil engineer. Adnan, whom I knew in Form 2, could paint the most wonderful portraits. Last I heard he was selling nasi campur in Kuantan. Many among us choose to turn away from our calling for a more secure profession. No market lah. I think it’s because because there were not many avenues. I still hear news about these folks every now and then and many have switched dreams and are busy feeding their family. For them, the music died. Our socio-economic landscape could do with more diversity.

Lack of exposure: The urban-rural divide is more acute as cities become more sophisticated while the sleepy villages remain their charming selves. Consequently, one half is increasingly ignorant of the other. And a residue of this is suspicion.

In one stroke, national service can and should try to address these issues.

Flexibility in Structure – Providing Choice:
I do not agree with the current camp setup where youths are put through a regiment of modules. It’s Cold War thinking. It’s monoculture.

Conversely, we should believe and invest in our in-built diversity to strive for dynamic integration. The philosophy ought to be about way-finding. If a person is allowed to pursue his/her interests, you’ve just turbocharged that person’s life. At most, conscripts go through a brief orientation period – say two weeks – before they are posted to the department or organization of their choice.

The keyword is Choice. Good structures typically accommodate a larger set of options and possibilities and NS ought to be modeled that way. Involve as many organizations – federal, state and local government, GLCs and non-profits – as practically possible. This also decentralizes the budget needed to run the overall program.

Because some services will be more in demand than others, there should be a ballot method with substitute choices.

Choice of Service
Conscripts get to opt for the kind of service they want. Clearly, there are many ways to organize the categories. Below is only an idea and, I admit, a clumsy one. The bodies mentioned are only a sampling.

Essential services: Customs and immigration, forest rangers, libraries, police force, fire department, Rukun Tetangga and residents committee, local councils, JKR, Drainage and Irrigation, education and schools, Lands and Mines, postal service, Telekom, KTM, LRT, public transport.
Media, arts and crafts: TV and radio stations, Bernama, Kraftangan.
Social work and healthcare: Hospices, orphanages, halfway houses, hospitals.
Sports: Various sports agencies and associations.
Agriculture: Felda, Felcra, RRIM, FRIM, fisheries.
NGOs: Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Red Crescent Society, UNHCR, World Wildlife Foundation, Consumers Association of Penang, Suaram.

The scope of duties in each body can vary. The Land and Mines may want to upgrade its national land survey but have not been able to embark because of manpower and funds. Taman Negara may want to continue its inventory of the flora and fauna in Sarawak’s Mulu Caves. The squash association may have dreams of an energetic outreach program but needs manpower.

It is then the duty of these organizations to package the scope well. They have to if they want to draw the right youths. It is the task of Jabatan Latihan Khidmat Negara to collate these offers into a neat understandable packet, not unlike a university brochure listing all its programs. In fact, JLKN's role approximates a big university's administration.

In the longer term, talent, skill and temperament should ideally be matched. The youths are now a resource. They are now relevant.

Choice of Duration
There should be options for a focused stint versus that for a varied experience.

Single-Post Option: For conscripts who are clear in what they want out of the program. They only seek to pursue that certain activity. A young musician may want to be attached to Dewan Filharmonik, well and good. A sea-lover just wants to be in the Navy, all’s well.

Three-Post Option: For those who want to see more of our land and experience various services. Each conscript signs up for three different assignments of about four months each. For instance, he may choose the Forest Rangers, then a rural hospital, then KTM.

Choice of Location
Conscripts get to choose where they’d like to get attached with at least half the period in a setting different from their current situation. A rural girl has to spend half her service in a city setting and vice-versa. Sabah and Sarawak will get equal opportunity both ways.

Choice of Deferment
Conscripts can spread out the program over three years if they so choose. Perhaps many may opt to overlap with their college experience – using the year-end break and hence gather more focus in their chosen field of study. Yet others, early school-leavers perhaps, may use it to find if there’s another vocation that suits them.

Responsibility to Civil Defence
Conscripts will be mobilized during any civil defence exercise depending on location and magnitude. These may be in the form of natural disaster relief like the Boxing Day tsunami, drought, the TTDI Jaya flood, forest fires, landslides, and possibly bird flu pandemic. They provide the most immediate support to relief efforts from ferrying supplies to first aid.

Net Gain – Lateral Development, Exposure and a Woven Nation
It would be super if NS, like AmeriCorps, could be coupled with the pursuit of higher or continued education via fee vouchers. I believe we could do our country a lot of good this way. We would have provided for a far richer education while simultaneously upgrading our network of services. Our civil service would be conceivably more efficient, our core values actualised, our culture more textured and diverse.

We can begin to cultivate an encyclopedia of experiences based on the collective. We would have ploughed and prepped the fields of the various sectors and can now dream of real innovation.

Out in the swamps of Morib, an 18-year-old girl helps to revitalize a mangrove swamp under a revamped Khidmat Negara. At 20, she decides to major in Marine Biology because she’s excited about it. Up north in the country, a boy helps RTM producers put together a documentary on rice-farming. He may just be carrying cables for the film crew, he may be a makeup artist. But at 20, he’s in film school. In a school for the handicapped, a blind girl helps disabled children read and write. She may end up the prime-mover for a more disabled-friendly built environment.

Of course, Khidmat Negara will not be the miracle cure for our problems. Many will go through it unaffected. Many will still drift around without firm bearings. But it is about placing doors where once there were walls. Whosoever reaches to open, opens into a renewed Wawasan 2020. The net effect can be just wonderful.

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