Are we not mature enough? – Agkillah Maniam

The recent case of a 17-year-old who was investigated for liking a “I love Israel” Facebook page stirred my thoughts.

I occasionally do the same too, not as an expression of my likings literally but just to keep up with stories from different or opposite viewpoints.

What other options do we have with Facebook pages anyway? The social network site does not have a “dislike” or “following” option.

Apart from violating the student’s rights, what was more perplexing was the attitude of the teacher whom quickly judged that this action was wrong and “reprimanded” the student.

The act of posting a screenshot with cynical comments as well as getting other students to boycott is totally unnecessary. Upon lodging a police report, the student was investigated under the Sedition Act.

This leads to the bigger question running in my mind is: why must we conform to only one perspective?

With all due respect, I do understand the sentiments among Muslims with the happenings in Gaza but to get a 17-year-old charged with sedition is totally out of context.

Lately, Malaysians have been showing their support for Palestinians, especially by boycotting a list of Israeli or Israeli-linked products. But even this is a choice.

Would you equate someone who has not boycotted these products with those who support Israel? If they are to be equated, then all of them should be charged with sedition, too. In my opinion, those who have yet to boycott these products would still need their rights and decisions to be respected.

Ignorance among people hampered most from thinking objectively. Emotional decisions have had them carried away, boycotting these companies without thinking about its after effects, about their fellow citizens who are its employers.

The Sedition Act does not have provisions for liking a community’s Facebook page. Even if the act of the student was of one which was ethically incorrect or culturally wrong, the teacher could have used better platforms to engage the student and correct him.

The issue has been blown out of proportion and perhaps has served as a reminder for many students to stay away from liking Facebook pages. But do take a step back and ponder on this: you can stop students from liking Facebook pages but you cannot stop them from reading its content (you cannot even keep track of that!).

What is at stake here is how does one manage and form an understanding towards all these issues that are going around us, especially our young adults or teens.

If they are not allowed to have different opinions, or even read about the different perspectives around them, they cannot be taught to manage them. The youth of today should be allowed and at the same time guided to voice their opinions.

If the teacher did this out of concern that the teenager may not be mature enough to handle or form perspectives of certain issues (especially controversial ones), this should not be the case at all.

Malaysia has banned hundreds of books, movies and publications. All are banned with the belief that the society is not ready for it, that it would cause unrest and disrupt peace.

But some of these materials are available online, even better, free of charge. So, what are we trying to keep our people away from?  If at all, the censorship is for the good of our society, why do we still come across people who are racist, sexist and religiously intolerant?

Students should instead be encouraged to read different perspectives or opinions to issues. They should be taught to read more, to hang on to values like respect (regardless of race, colour and creed), to filter news and to read them in the most sensible sense.

I believe no man can improve maturity without life experiences. Like the proverb which says: give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

If we cannot create a well-read society and at the same time, one which is psychologically liberated, we are far off from reaching the status of a developed country by 2020.

* Agkillah Maniam reads The Malaysian Insider.