KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — MCA Youth has today slammed its counterparts in Umno and PAS for comparing the display of mock firearms and military-theme costumes in schools with the act of cosplaying.
In a statement, MCA Youth secretary-general Saw Yee Fung said the two parties have exploited primary school pupils by delivering provocative comments aimed at dividing society along ethnic lines.
“There can be no comparison at all in role-playing performances which mimic animation characters or games versus an outright cry to war by educators which leads to maiming and extinguishing life.
“Similarly, children pretending to be Ninja Turtles is purely for fun and entertainment. These are fictional characters bearing no harm at all. However, dressing up as soldiers, brandishing toy firearms or lobbing a flaming arrow at a flag — these schools have conveyed a confusing, even manipulative message to youngsters.”
Saw's statement followed Umno and PAS' Youth wings' attempt to justify the viral photos and videos of teachers and students brandishing mock and toy firearms while in military-themed costumes for the Palestine Solidarity Week proposed by the Ministry of Education.
PAS' Alor Setar MP Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden and Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh had claimed that the students were treated differently compared to ethnic Chinese students who were displayed cosplaying as cartoon characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and also from anime with mock edged and bladed weapons.
“The Youth chiefs of PAS and Umno are urged to refrain from disparaging quarters who have criticised the glorification of firearms and violence by educators in the former’s attempt to alter concepts to mislead the public to score political mileage.
“Political figures score points when they emphasise the values of peaceful co-existence, compassion and empathy in a multiracial country and not play the race card,” Saw said.
A portmanteau of “costume play”, “cosplay” is an activity and performance art in which participants wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character in a fiction, usually films, TV series, anime or video games.
Saw also reiterated MCA's criticism of the Education Ministry for not coming up with clear guidelines before instructing schools to organise the event in solidarity with Palestine.
“This lack of clarity resulted in certain schools going overboard in parading violence and war cries upon the untainted minds of minor children within school premises,” she said.
“To indoctrinate children with hatred and aggression, is to distort vengeance and carnage as justified and contravenes the entire noble mission of education. Any miscomprehensions that arose from the educators toting replica machine rifles or launching flaming arrows need to be corrected.”
Earlier this week, the ministry was forced to issue a list of dos and don’ts for schools organising events for the week-long campaign with “refraining from extremist rhetoric” topping the list of don’ts, with firearms and weapons that could be seen as symbols of provocation and violence being expressly prohibited.
On October 26, the Education Ministry announced a Palestine Solidarity Week will be held at all education institutions nationwide under the ministry’s purview from October 29 until November 3.
Calling it a necessary intervention to be implemented among students, the ministry said the programme is in support of the Malaysian government’s stance to continue together defending the rights and freedom of the Palestinian people.
However, controversy erupted last week over the initiative when pictures and videos emerged online of school students wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh and brandishing replica guns, including some that showed the children pretending to shoot imaginary targets.
