Loving the flag – and the people

EVERY time national footballer Faisal Halim scores a goal for Harimau Malaya, you can expect him to clutch his chest, pull up his shirt and kiss the national crest there.

Many footballers do it, both for clubs and country.

The crest means a lot – it brings a sense of strength, unity and love for the club and country they represent.

But you can never celebrate if you are not scoring.

To do that, you need the team behind you; to know that you belong and that you are an integral part of the squad.

On Monday, schoolchildren in the country will be wearing the national flag on their chest as they go to class. They, too, are expected to show the same kind of love for the nation.

The national flag – any national flag – is special.

Children will have to learn to care for it, love it and ensure that they wear it with pride. It’s our national identity.

I hope our children, like many of our sportsmen and women, will cherish the badge.

Once upon a time, school uniforms were actually designed to make us all feel equal, like we all belong. That does not seem to have worked. Now, we have the national flag as a badge.

By itself, it may still not be good enough. Like the goalscorers, the students need to feel like part of the team.

They should not feel discriminated against or that they have been ignored by the system.

You never get to score – or kiss the badge – if no one passes the ball to you.

Footballers, when faced with situations like that, often change clubs and kiss the crests of their new clubs. In the real world, people move – and we have a brain drain.

We don’t want that for our children. It is important that when they go to school, they are accepted as part of the team.

For too long, we have heard of bullies in schools, teachers practising racism, and cliquish behaviour among students.

Then, there is that other problem – matriculation places.

The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) results are due in a few days, so we have to start preparing for many crying foul even after scoring straight As in their exams. It’s a lament that should never happen.

That is why I think what Sarawak is doing is like a breath of fresh air.

The state government has decided that all those born in Sarawak will qualify for the Free Tertiary Education Scheme (FTES).

Not only will they get free education at that level, but those in households with an income of RM1,500 per month and below will also get a stipend of RM15,000 per year.

This is for “anak Sarawak” studying at Sarawak-owned institutions – Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, Curtin University Malaysia, University of Technology Sarawak, and iCATS University College.

That is not all. All Sarawakian students in higher education institutions throughout Malaysia will also receive RM1,200 in pocket money from the state government.

Those kids will kiss the state flag without hesitation, I tell you.

Sarawak is also being clever. It is targeting programmes in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), law, medical, accounting and finance.

These are subjects that will matter in making the state more savvy in a globalised world. And if the students stay grateful and loyal, we can expect Sarawak to excel.

In the peninsula, we seem to be going the other way.

There seems to be more interest in history – but without any discussion or arguments over the different versions – and religion.

In a globalised world, we need STEM education, we need to be AI-savvy, and we need to embrace the next generation of technology. There is really little time to stop and worry about communalism.

We also don’t need guns and swords – even toy ones – in schools or, worse, students in outfits of far-right hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Maybe our students should not be the only ones wearing national flags on their chests. Our teachers, lecturers and civil servants should, too.

They need to know that they are there to serve all Malaysians, not just a select few or only those of their own community.

Immigration officers should know they cannot slap a man at the counter, not while their colleagues work in cahoots with human traffickers to smuggle in foreigners.

Council workers have to know they cannot bully the poor and weak who trade on the streets while kowtowing to those with money and allowing them to get away with far bigger offences.

The police have to understand they cannot just ignore hundreds of reports against certain powerful or powerfully backed people while rushing to arrest those who “offend the sensitivities” of one group only.

Maybe wearing the Jalur Gemilang will remind these officers that they are Malaysians working for all Malaysians.

Needless to say, the flag has to be correct, too.

Double standards against certain parts of the citizenry do not help. Fairness and just treatment are keys to patriotism.

Talking of patriotism, we should also know more about our many states, our fellow citizens and their practices.

There was this lady who mistook the Perak national anthem for a Chinese version of the Malaysian national anthem. It shows just how little we know.

That ditty started out life as La Rosalie, a French song in the Seychelles, before becoming Terang Bulan and then the Perak anthem Allah Lanjutkan Usia Sultan.

It was only later that it became Negaraku. So, all four versions are actually kosher. And singing La Rosalie will not make you a traitor.