KUCHING: The Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) should be inculcated among the younger generation who play important roles in nation-building.
A public relations officer at Undi Sarawak Adillah Zaki pointed out that children and youth are agents of change for the future.
Hence, knowledge and understanding of the MA63 must be passed down to ensure it remained sustainable.
Undi Sarawak is a campaign powered by Undi18, spearheaded by Sarawakian youth with a focus on political and civic literacy in the Sarawak context.
“There are currently many experts on board MA63, but the question is who is going to take the baton after that? Who is going to continue the protection of the state’s rights?
“Thus, for the protection of our rights to continue, the knowledge and understanding must be passed down to those who are going to be the future leaders,” she said.
She was speaking at a webinar ‘Navigating the Impacts of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 on National Integrity’ organised by Yayasan Perpaduan Sarawak (YPS) on Thursday (August 12).
Adillah who is also president of ‘Monsters Among Us’ stated that the youth and children must be tapped into because they are part of the nation who have something to contribute.
“The youth and children nowadays are prepared to have this kind of conversation. If you can create these agents of change, they will be able to reach out to their respective communities and peers.
“The best approach is to break down and simplify the information in a way that they can understand. You would not lose anything if you tap into the youth and children because we are here and we have something to contribute,” she explained.
At the same time, she pointed out that there were several challenges in empowering the youth and children in the issue.
“A lack of interest among the youth and children on history is a problem. History is where our origin lies, we cannot truly appreciate where we come from if we do not know our history.
“There is a low appreciation for history and perhaps the syllabus does not cover the matter comprehensively which will affect the level of understanding and awareness,” she said.
Adillah also said that other challenges included lack of accessible resources like trained teachers, availability of materials and whether the materials were child-friendly as well as the lack of constitutional literacy.
“I would also like to suggest for platforms to be provided for the youth and children because we have something to say. It is really important that what we have to say are being taken into account as it is the only way to get a holistic view on the matter,” she said.
