Cultivating youths' spirit of patriotism

CULTIVATING and instilling at an early age among the nation's youth values such as loyalty to the country and the monarch are important as it is easier to embed the knowledge when they are young, said the Director of Information Department yesterday.

The Department of Information hosted a "Youth Friend Programme" for about 100 students from four primary schools yesterday, and its director Dr Muhd Hadi Muhd Melayong told The Brunei Times that the reason behind the programme for Primary Six students was to cultivate the spirit of patriotism among young people.

A brief presentation on Brunei's history, as well as a skit and quizzes, were among the activities conducted during the half-day programme held at the department.

After the presentation on Brunei history, the director said, "I feel very happy that students understood the message we were trying to get across, such as having an undying loyalty to our monarch. They were interactive and participated throughout the presentation, which is good."

Dr Muhd Hadi said he hoped the students, especially after the event, would extol the virtues of loyalty, as well as obey their parents when asked to do something.

The four primary schools that took part in the half-day programme were Amar Pahlawan Primary School, Anggerek Desa Primary School, Delima Satu Primary School and Pulaie Primary School. Kassim Hj Abd Rahman, head of the Information Department's Nationhood and Community Section, said he hoped the students learned from the experience and would share the knowledge gained with their peers and friends outside of school.

"This programme is part of our section's responsibility to instill patriotism and nationalism among our youth," he said, adding that students should become agents in distributing positive information about the monarchy to their peers.

Principal Hjh Rabea Hj Mohd Yusof at Delima Satu Primary School said she was pleased the Department of Information had provided further information about the Islamic monarchy to her students.

She agreed it was important to educate Bruneian students about the country, its history and its heritage at an early age.

Hjh Rabea added that the programme was very interesting, and that she too learned things about the country's history that she did not know before.

Hjh Siti Rohaya Hj Besar, principal at Pulaie Primary School, said the programme was "good" because it helped refresh students' memories about what they had already studied in history lessons at school.

"I really hope my students will tell their friends, brothers and sisters about what they have learned today. We hope the visual aids, especially the slideshow presentation on Brunei's monarchy history, will encourage them to share what they have learned with others," she said.

The principal also stressed the need for students to learn about the country's past and how it has developed to date.

As part of the event, a skit titled Bully was performed by local Bruneian artistes to encourage students to avoid bullying their peers, as a part of instilling good behavioural values among them.

After the activities, the students went on a tour of the department's newsprint section as well as its Media IT and Photography section.

The Brunei Times