Skateboarding is a popular hobby and it is even recognised as an extreme sport in sporting events such as the Olympics, Asian Games and SEA Games.
However, it appears that skateboarding did not sit well with the Malaysian education system as a picture taken from a Form 2 Moral textbook seemingly implied that skateboarding is an immoral thing to do.
The matter was brought to light after the SkateMalaysia Instagram page showcased a snippet from the textbook.
The picture showed a group of students with skateboards and stated, “The situation below showcases teenage behaviour that does not appreciate religion or beliefs in life.”.
The three questions posed to students are:
- How do you feel when you see the picture above? Why?
- Predict what will happen if the teens continue behaving like that.
- Explain the proper values that you need to practice to build good character based on religion or beliefs.
The local skateboarding community shared, “Astargfirullahalazim. What is the motive of the publisher of this textbook? What’s wrong with skateboarding activities?”
“Are they aware that skateboarding has also competed in the 2018 Asian Games in Palembong, the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines and most recently, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a sporting category?”
They then questioned the motive of the book publisher to choose the particular image and puts off a negative impression against the skateboarding community.
“Even educating our society is biased towards skateboarders. Why educate the wrong way? Skateboarding is a recreational sport. Not an immoral activity, or more so written as ‘no appreciation of religion or belief in life’, and including a picture of teenagers skateboarding,” SkateMalaysia added.
The community then called out to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu to resolve this matter.
“We, on behalf of the skateboard community in Malaysia are not satisfied and hope that all of these textbooks are disposed of and edited/reprinted,”
“This is slander to all of us. Educate the people, especially the younger generation in the right and smart way,” they ended the post while tagging the Education Minister, Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin.
In the comment section, netizens said the publisher could have use a better picture to demonstrate truancy such as mat rempit or people taking drugs instead of falling back on a negative stereotype about skateboarders.
What do you think about this? Share your thoughts in the comment section!
