Development of Patriotism among Multiethnic Youths at Commemorative Heroic Site

Abstract

The study is relevant to display a determination in showing commitment and enthusiasm to achieve unity goals in the country through ethnic heritage representation at a gallery. The spirit of patriotism needs to be inspired and motivated into the tourists especially among Malaysian youth since children. It was reported that majority of Malaysian youths scored a moderate level of patriotism with negative attitudes. This signified an alarming situation since youth is the future leaders. However, there are limited studies that examined the level of patriotism among Malaysian youth tourists at a commemorative historical site. It is still unclear how youth develop their patriotic spirit during a visit to a memorial historical site. This is because they never understood the colonial dominance that devastated many of our forefather's happiness. The study utilized quantitative approach by employing systematic random sampling using intercept technique that every fifth respondent who exit the historical complex was approached. Overall, only 252 respondents were used for the study, which recorded 72.8% responses from overall sample size. Results revealed that after visiting commemorative historic site, they identified that historical sites were important (𝑥̅ =4.5794) that made them become a loyal citizen (𝑥̅ =4.7054) and appreciated the sacrifices made by the past warrior. Dimension of national pride, connection to countrymen and national belonging were all statistically significant at P<.005. Further research should be conducted at a more holistic level among multi-ethnic communities nationwide to identify their patriotism based on the shared cross-cultural immersion that have been long practiced in the country since independence.

Youth in Nation-Building: A Qualitative Study on National and Local Participation in Socio-Political Issues among Students

“…With the participants' statements, the researchers can infer that the youths still believed that nationalism and patriotism are instilled through participating in socio-political issues. Strong characters among youth who love the country are capable, credible, and confident (Johari, 2021). The participants also imply that everything will follow, such as engaging in one issue, which will drive the government to give attention or solution through laws, intervention programs, and other forms of support to that particular issue.…”