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What are the ways to show patriotism?

Patriotism is kind of strong passion which inspires one to serve ones country. As part of the society in Malaysia, we should always show loyalty and gratitude to our country. However, in Malaysia, do the people really love or respect the country? Based on the facts in Malaysia, newspapers and television news broadcasts have been full of calls by government ministers and officials for greater patriotism in the country. Malaysians, it seems, do not love Malaysia enough. Regarding this important issue, they are some certain parties playing main roles to overcome it. First and foremost, the government must play the most important part to handle this problem. The government will choose randomly to decide who are going to undergo the three months to National Service course. Through this program, the youths will have the opportunity to mix with different people from various races, religious and culture background. By going through the National Service course, the young citizens will have a better and deeper knowledge of other races and eventually they will respect others people customs. Respecting the uniqueness of every culture, can help us promote racial solidity and enhance national unity. Other than that, schools are always said to be the second home for pupils. Therefore, school play their roles in order to promote the spirit of patriotism among Malaysians. For example, schools can organize camps or campaigns which help to improve self-consciousness among students related to the importance of showing patriotism to their country. Besides that, schools must ensure that there will be a singing session for Negaraku during assembly. Although this is a simple action, it would be a great way to show our devotion to Malaysia. During the week before the National Day, school can take the chance to hold several activities, such as drawing Jalur Gemilang competition, class decoration with the theme of patriotism, essay writing competition and so on. Last but not least, parents responsibility on this issue is important. Parents are the ones who have the biggest effect to their children as they spend the most time with their children. Therefore, parents should teach their children about the concept of patriotism and teach them to practice it since young. Take for example, they can send their children to Vision Schools' where they can mingle with all races, join multiracial community activities and others. Hence, by educating the young on patriotism, we are ensuring that national unity will continue to exist in the future. What are ways to further promote and strengthen national unity? There are many ways to strengthen national unity among these different ethnic groups such as through campaign, education and social activity. The Malaysian government can promote national unity through campaigns like Open house, 1 Malaysia concept and advertisement. Open house is usually held during major festivals in the country. This program has served to promote unity among Malaysians when they visit each other in their home. The government can also organise national-level open houses for the major festivals. In addition, 1 Malaysia concept is the path that can lead to political stability, economic growth and social enhancement for all Malaysians and the country. The purpose of this concept is to complement the existing approach to strengthen national unity. The core elements of unity are the attitude of acceptance among races and have the sense of belonging together. Advertisement through radio, television and newspapers is one of the best ways to promote unity. Most people can be affected virtually to unite among races because of slogans about unity that they can hear and see on radios and televisions. Newspapers must publish

materials on unity that can help citizens to understand the importance and advantages on unity. National unity also can be fortified via education such as the vision school concept, teachers role at school and the education system. Vision School concept involves putting a national school and one or two other vernacular schools together at the same site to share common facilities such as the school canteen and sports ground. The close proximity among the students of various races as well as organised activities of the schools will encourage greater interaction and foster national unity. Students who have been a part of a vision school can contribute more to the country when they grow up because of their strong bonding and understanding of each other. Moreover, students nowadays spend most of their time at school rather than at home. Teachers, especially, play a significant role in encouraging racial understanding outside the home. In this situation, teachers must play their important role to educate and nurture the spirit of unity among them. Teachers must show a good attitude because they are role models for their students. In addition, with a unified education system, the government can use education as a tool to build the nation and foster unity through a common syllabus and curriculum. This could be further achieved with a single national language as the main medium of instruction in schools and university. Teachers also must be provided with a standardized form of training in teachers' training colleges. Hence, national unity can be strengthened via education such as vision school concept, teachers role at the school and the education system. Social activities like gotong-royong programme, sports and community service can contribute to the improvement of national unity in Malaysia. The gotong-royong programme such as cleaning up particular areas like mosque, church and graveyard will make the neighbourhood cooperative and more united. This programme also can make the resident become closer and help their neighbour when they are in difficulties such as house fires and robberies. The resident can also develop watch groups to protect the community from intruders and make the neighbourhood peaceful. On the other hand, sport is another way to spread unity. Sports are all forms of physical activities that contribute to fitness, mental wellbeing and social interaction. In sports, there is no racial segregation as the people will become one when they participate as a team or when they support a team. Malaysian citizens do support teams based on skin colour, race or religion and there are no racial borders in sports where different races join forces to form teams to compete. This will automatically cause the athletes and fans patriotic and united. Community service means work that people do to help other people without payment. In this case, all Malaysians must have the spirit of unity because there is no wage when they do this work. Community service can also lead to unity when all the citizens get together to help the people in need. Thus, social activities like gotong-royong programme, sports and community service can improve unity among Malaysians. As a conclusion, national unity can be strengthened through campaigns, education and social activities. The Malaysian government can promote national unity through campaigns like open house, 1Malaysia Concept and advertisement. Furthermore, national unity can be fortified via education such as vision school concept, teachers role at the school and the education system. Moreover, social activities such as gotong-royong programme, sports and community service can also improve unity among Malaysians. Thus, everyone must play their important roles actively to ensure the unity among Malaysians can be strengthened.