KOTA KINABALU: Efforts to instil unity should be focused at an earlier stage when children are still without or unaware of any prejudices amongst their friends of different races and religion.
Kota Kinabalu deputy district education officer Suhaimi Harun said only through this can a genuine sense of unity be effectively cultivated and inculcated in the future generations.
He said this at the closing ceremony of the Student Integration Plan for Unity or Rancangan Integrasi Murid Untuk Perpaduan (RIMUP) camp held at SK Mutiara here yesterday.
“Through this program, the mingling children will understand and learn about each other’s culture. This is the essence of unity because through understanding, they will learn the meaning of tolerance and cooperation. That will promote the existence of harmony,” said Suhaimi.
“The spirit that arises from these children at this level is genuine and this is why the program is among the effective ones in the education system,” he elaborated, while adding that the program is especially useful for the students comprising more than 30 racial ethnicities in Sabah.
“We want them to know the meaning of unity. A minor difference in the education system exists now. There are Chinese schools and there are national schools. There are also students from different backgrounds in national schools. Therefore, the seeds of unity should be planted in students by the empowerment of beneficial activities,” said Suhaimi.
RIMUP, a brainchild program of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when he was the Education Minister in 1986, was revived through the Malaysia Education Blueprint.
The RIMUP camping program is one of the examples of the government’s goal to unite all the different races in the nation through sports, extracurricular and gotong-royong activities, said Suhaimi.
He added the main objective of RIMUP is to encourage the participation of teachers and students in group activities that promote cooperation, create understanding and tolerance between students from different backgrounds and schools by sharing facilities, equipment, efforts and expertise to execute different activities, such as aerobic exercises as well as traditional games and dances.
One hundred and fifty-four students from 56 schools in Kota Kinabalu district participated in the annual program on October 17–19.
Students from primary schools like Saint Agnes and Saint Francis Convent had earlier on represented Sabah at the national level RIMUP held in September this year in Perak.
“I hope this program will be continued in the future. In terms of the program management, I hope the message of unity will not only be expressed through various activities but also through genuine portrayal by members of the organizing committee.
“Instead of words alone, this can be exhibited through their way of communication and behaviour to enable the creation of national identity as aspired for students in PPPM,” he added.