30 March 2004

Politics and the homeschooler

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Uncategorized.

Malaysia’s 11th general elections may be over, but that hasn’t stopped people from talking about the resounding mandate voters gave to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the ruling Barisan coalition. In a conversation with 15-year old Derrick (not his real name), our son Ethan was told that politics was taboo at his home. “His parents won’t talk about elections - they say he’s too young to understand politics.” His parents vote so we learned, but they just didn’t feel comfortable talking about it, especially to children.

It was lunch, and our two boys (now 14 and 12) were talking about the upcoming elections and their preferred parties. It wasn’t our children’s first encounter with the country’s democratic tradition, but this time they were old enough to ask what if PAS won. The frenzied appearance of thousands of banners and flaglines displaying moon, rocket and ‘dacing’ all over our streets had taken on an air of desperation, and we discussed the pros and cons of Barisan and Opposition politics. Almost overnight, every bare wall and free standing structure had been claimed by posters of candidates we did not recognise, and whose benign stares we did not invite. The calls for and promise of a ‘clean’ government seemed ironic as we commented on the unsightly mess that was sure to be ignored once the carnival was over.

In Malaysia where conversations about politics invariably gravitate towards what’s wrong, what’s not allowed, and ISA, cynicism is the voice of free speech. But at least, Derrick’s parents vote, I thought, unlike some other friends I know (Christian and non-Christian) who chafe at the political process – and I am not referring to political activism. If you can’t beat the system, why bother beating around the bush?

I don’t know how far left, right, centre, or outfield Malaysian Christians are generally, but it gave me pause when I read the report on a recent survey commissioned by the U.S Home School Legal Defence Association.Dr Brian Ray (President of the National Home Education Research Institute - NHERI) who conducted the study reported that U.S homeschoolers were more civic minded than their non-homeschooling counterparts. In terms of involvement in community organisations, over 71% said they were active participants as compared with 37% of U.S adults.

The 2003 study also revealed that 74% of 18-24-year-old homeschool graduates exercised their citizenship responsibility and vote. That’s twice the percentage for the same age range in the general U.S. population. Dr Ray noted that the high rate of civic consciousness could be due to the fact that only 4.2% of homeschoolers found government and politics too difficult to understand as opposed to 35% of the general population. (Read the report)

These findings may rebuff the ‘socialisation’ myth, but it does make me wonder: How involved are Malaysian homeschoolers in their community anyway, and how many are conscientiously exercising their citizenship rights? Not many people are aware that in most democracies, there is a discernible downward trend in voter turnout and a 60% turnout is not uncommon. Voter apathy is just as prevalent here and the local National Elections Commission lamented to the Press that out of 2 million eligible new voters, only 45,000 bothered to be registered. (Voter turnout in the last 2 General Elections in Malaysia: 1995 - 71.8%, 1999 - 68.7%) However, preliminary reports do indicate a better response this year, and not just in Terengganu!

Here, at home where politics has its own cadence, there is no less a need to teach our children the importance of civic obligation. Jesus’ words to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s,” suggest a responsibility to abide by the legitimate laws of the land, so far as they do not oppose the word of God.

Among other passages of Scripture regarding the authority of government (Rom 13, Titus 3, etc), one passage in the Old Testament bears closer scrutiny. In Jeremiah 29:4~7, we read:

‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”’

No government is perfect and no system is faultless, which explains the need to be salt and light where we are placed. As Christian homeschoolers, that translates into a call to responsible citizenship and civic duty. For peace and prosperity in the land, add prayer and participation.

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