Security Challenges and Educational Responses: The Reform of School Defense and Security Education in Malaysia

After the end of the Cold War, Malaysia readjusted its national security objectives based on the historical and current context of regional defense security, aiming to achieve these goals by updating economic policies and stabilizing domestic ethnic relations. The government also believed that school defense and security education can promote economic development and enhance ethnic relationship stability by involving different education contents, and hereby facilitate the realization of national security, which constitutes the new context of school defense and security education in Malaysia. Accordingly, Malaysia implemented PLKN, MFLS and other school defense and security education programs, reformed the Askar Wataniah and maintained the original voluntary defense and security education programs, which have jointly presented the outline of Malaysia’s school defense and security education in the past 22 years. Given Malaysia’s unique geopolitical position and its partial developmental parallels with China regarding security perspectives in the South China Sea, studying the practice of its school defense and security education is not only significant in enhancing China’s understanding of Malaysia, but also providing useful guide to advance school defense and security education in China.