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Inculcating humanity in us all – Prof. Dr. Rosnani Hashim

9 MAY 2020 / 12:00AM

https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2020/05/591027/inculcating-humanity-us-all#.XribmqfkPcY

Our education places great emphasis on religious and moral education to inculcate good common values. -NSTP/File pic

LETTERS: COVID-19 will be deeply etched in human history for its global impact.

The current worldwide lockdown has forced practically everyone to stay at home.

The media has focused a lot of attention on the economic impact of the pandemic but little on its effect on education, on how it reminds us of the importance of education in humanising human beings, which is the major goal of our FPK (Falsafah Pendidikan Kebangsaan or National Philosophy of Education).

What we have observed in the past two months of the Movement Control Order (MCO) is that the pandemic has been able to draw out the best of Malaysians’ humaneness, values and spirit.

Where would we attribute this if not to our values-based national education system which stems from the FPK.

It is without doubt that the FPK has been internalised by Malaysians who are generally educated, as evident from their actions during this pandemic.

Our citizens are morally excellent, knowledgeable and competent. The nation is at real peace physically and spiritually. Our common curriculum to realise FPK has worked despite Malaysians being schooled in separate institutions at certain stages of our education.

The good citizenship is manifested in Malaysians obeying the MCO which has caused a lot of difficulties, following regulations dutifully instead of being disciplined by sticks and ammunition.

Staying home means working from home or no work which mean no income to survive on, no school, no friends, no regular walks, no physical exercises, no social get-together and no congregation in mosques, churches and temples.

Many are without jobs, without food, shelter and savings. But the generosity of Malaysians in helping the poor and supporting the health services was overwhelming.

We witnessed unity, cooperation and the humane side of Malaysians on the ground either individually or through non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Malaysians have been doing their part, whether sewing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), cooking meals, distributing food and ensuring everyone, including the homeless, have food on the table, regardless of race, colour and religion.

Furthermore, neighbourliness has improved. Our environment, the air and the water are cleaner since no humans and not much vehicles are out there to pollute.

There was no panic buying, no violence and people patiently queued up to get their groceries. There was no conflict or crisis in the Covid-19 pandemic but so much civility. It does pay to have our humanising FPK.

Our education places a great emphasis on religious and moral education to inculcate good common values.

In fact, some have questioned why we spend so much time on religion and morality and not on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.

Sometimes we are harsh in our evaluation of our own education system because we are only eyeing academic performance.

But with Covid-19, we have seen our humanity is more valuable than all the great strides in STEM.

It is our depth of humanity that enables us to sacrifice and share with others who are not as fortunate as us. These arise from the humanities — arts, moral and literature, and religion.

Even those nations that surpass us in STEM seem not to be able to rise to the occasion.

In fact, the people of these countries have lost faith in their leadership as well as medical and public health capability to save them. On the contrary, our health and medical services have received accolades.

A few have criticised the FPK for weaknesses such as not emphasising national unity or including human social dimension but we believe the critics have not understood its philosophical underpinning well.

We suggest that everyone read the works of our great scholars in Pentafsiran Baharu FPK dan Pelaksanaan Pasca 2020 for a better understanding.

In all honesty, we have to acknowledge our FPK and its formulators, and our national education system for helping us move in the right direction.

ROSNANI HASHIM

KULLIYYAH OF EDUCATION, IIUM

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