Malaysians still showing their ugly side
NEGATIVE behaviours and attitudes shown by some ugly Malaysians prove that there is an urgent need to organise a new campaign to promote courtesy and noble values among the people.
The unending cases of road bullying and breaking of traffic rules, littering and vandalism are clear evidence that Malaysians are still far from being courteous and polite.
Inching into the yellow box when the traffic light is already red shows the lack of patience and decorum, and even selfishness of our drivers. It has now become a habitual offence among motorists who cause obstruction by driving into and staying in the yellow boxes while waiting for the light to turn green.
Despite our country’s technological progress, we are confronted with gross impatience and decaying morality in our daily lives.
Judging from the deplorable behaviour and attitude of a substantial number of Malaysians, I have serious reservations about the effectiveness of past campaigns to promote courtesy among the people and making it a way of life.
The time has come for all strata of our society to ask whether they have done enough to promote courtesy and noble values among us.
Based on my observations, cour- tesy, politeness, patience, humility, tolerance and respect have yet to become our way of life. A lot more remains to be done to inculcate these virtues among Malaysians, particularly the young generation today.
Many school children these days do not even say thank you when they receive something. For example, I have on several occasions given out certificates or awards to students to recognise their academic achievements and they just walk away without saying thank you. It’s not that I want them to thank me personally but it is a matter of courtesy.
It is also common to see inconsiderate driving and parking on roads ( pic), littering in public places, vandalism, queue jumping and people not apologising when making mistakes.
Other issues that need to be addressed are talking rudely to customers, smoking in non-smoking areas, spitting in public and not giving up seats to the elderly, disabled, and pregnant women.
It is time for all Malaysians to address these issues and ask ourselves to what extent we have been courteous and are practising good noble values.
Having a campaign to promote courtesy and noble values is important. What is even more essential is to put into practice in our daily life courtesy and the noble values we are hoping to promote.
The civil service, for example, should promote courtesy among the counter staff dealing with the public, and basic civilities and courtesies such as responding to calls and replying to letters promptly among all of its employees.
Any courtesy campaign must start in schools in order to be successful. In this regard, the Moral Education (Pendidikan Moral) subject should be reinforced to emphasise the importance of learning and practising the 36 noble values in schools. Just memorising the 36 noble values for the sake of passing the subject is certainly not desirable. What we need to do is to practise these values in our daily life.
The attainment of a developed and high income country status will only be meaningful if Malaysia is able, among other things, to inculcate a culture of courtesy and noble values among its people.
Hopefully, the government will take appropriate steps to inculcate a culture of courtesy and noble values in the country.
TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE Kuala Lumpur