4 posts tagged “national service”
Honestly was it not agreed that sex education should be done in school?
Students in national service camps are between the ages of 17 and 18, right?
If you want to talk to kids about HIV and AIDS, get the AIDS Foundation to be involved. I'm sure Marina Mahathir would be thrilled.
You don't need to teach kids in a secluded, co-ed, national service facility about sex!
And if they don't know about sex already, what the hell were they learning in their Form 3 Science class and Form 5 Biology labs?!
Seriously, does the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development really think that in this day and age, where Paris Hilton's sex video became the number one searched item online in 2005, that teenagers in Malaysia aren't horny enough to actually view porn?
This was the second dumbest idea to befall on the NS program.
The first one, of course, was to not have a health screening because it cost too much.
Though, some might argue that the whole program was a bad idea to begin with.
I have never understood this. Why the heck would parents want separate national service camps based on sex?
If there was ever a war, or a national emergency, would this actually matter? Would they want to sort the dying victims, buried under debris to be saved by either guys or girls?
Religious taboo be damned in this one. In the case of an emergency, the sex of the person in charge of the rescue operation should not be an issue.
What's more, they want to make this compulsory course non-compulsory for girls. Why?!
You think that if you were ever in a war, the enemy would go "Send the ladies to fight the ladies"...
WTF?!
"Cheney" wants to increase NS to 2 years to instill good values and build character.
Fine by me. Take them for two years.
But answer my concerns first.
Here are my concerns whenever anyone brings up the National Service program.
Firstly, are they instilling loyalty and dedication to the government, or to the country?
This is a sensitive issue that I will not elaborate, lest this post be banned, but I am sure some can see the differentiation in between the two. All I am saying is that these future citizens of our country should be taught to love the country, and leave politics bloody well aside.
You can put anything you want on the NS website, but I would like to see the material and the alignment of the trainers. Make these camps a politically neutral area, or so help me, I will bring it down myself.
This is because I question whether the government encouraging free thinking individuals, or simply making recruits?
Then there's the issue recently brought up that the NS camps are still, after 4 years in implementation. This is intolerable and is not in good faith.
Parents are trusting you with their children's lives. The least you could do is make sure the equipment are all up to par, no matter the cost. The costs for good equipment is expensive, but the costs of a kid dying due to faulty equipment is unforgivable, and will tarnish the image of the entire program.
Thirdly, I agree with "Cheney" that it won't be easy to persuade parents to put off their kids years studying in university for 2 years. However, it is not impossible. Before you go about trying to convince parents, you should open the camp and the curriculum for public viewing. It is, after all, public money that goes into those M-16 shells you use for training rounds.
Finally, I question the medical examinations given to these students, even if our Health Minister sees it as "repetitive" and "a waste of public funds". Not all Malaysian parents know the ailments of their children, thus the need for complete physical checkups for the students not only before attending the program, but also at periodical periods within the proposed 2 year program.
We do not need any more trainees dying due to their unknown health symptoms.
If whosoever is in charge of the National Service program can accomplish these, then I see no objection from my side.
“We do not want to give these trainees a false sense of security and comfort,”
This remark was given when the Health Minister was asked whether or not it was suitable to give national service trainees a medical checkup before being sent for a 3 month course in a national service training camp. This question was posed following the death of one trainee due to breathing complications while attending activities at the camp.
He continues, stating:
“These normal health checks may not identify the kind of illnesses they may contract during their training.”
Well, what about the diseases they contracted before the training camp, like chronic asthma, premature diabetes, sickle cell disease, or even a weak heart. Shouldn't this be taken into consideration before sending a kid to a national service camp?
In my honest opinion, your remarks are shameful and utterly ridiculous, minister.
