Expose ethnic study since young

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 -- The lack of teaching materials and textbooks on cultural history and racial identity in the market for both teachers and students today, could lead to the Malaysian younger generation to not being fully exposed to the cultures and sensitivities of the other ethnic communities.

Director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA) Professor Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin said this situation might not help the nation to achieve the ‘Bangsa Malaysia’ concept. 

Thus, he urged book industries to increase the number of such books, especially on the ethnic minorities to ensure our education reflects the communities that we serve.

“Good race relations must begin at the early age as early as in the kindergarten because if we start at the tertiary-level it was too late already and this would merely be an academic exercise with no real-world significance.

“For me, school should be made the second home for the young generation where they can naturally mix freely with one another without identifying their friends by race, religion or skin colour,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Praxis Conference 2019, here today. 

Shamsul Amri said if our children grow up in such an environment, Malaysia would be able to enjoy better race relations and be more tolerant in the future.

Earlier, in a concurrent session Shamsul Amri shared his views on the topic of Achieving “Bangsa Malaysia”: Socio-Political Considerations Beyond 2020.

Meanwhile, an academic said some Malaysians do not assume that they are a component of the ‘Bangsa Malaysia’ project.

“Why so? Well I think the whole concept of Bangsa Malaysia was created in an urban centre, in the corridors of power and these policies and ideas don't necessarily translate down to the people, and how it is implemented to the people in the ground,” Dr Serina Abdul Rahman of ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore said.

The visiting research fellow highlighted there has to be something on the ground for the people to understand and experience the comprehensive concept themselves.

“People on the ground, I mean from rural areas and the B40s, and (it) really doesn't matter what race they are. For example, look at Johor and they are well committed with the ’Bangsa Johor’ concept.

“When their Sultan says Bangsa Johor, the Johoreans feels it and they appreciate it. They believe the Sultan is trying to protect them from those who are trying to make their life more difficult. Maybe the same concept can be applied to the entire nation, ” she said.

Serina also noted how vital it was to dismantle the hierarchies, to remove the middlemen who were actually blocking in between as the deserved community does not benefit from certain government programmes.

-- BERNAMA