Do more to inculcate moral values

IN the wake of heinous criminal acts against children, such as abuse, sodomy, rape and even murder, we need to do more to create awareness of such cases apart from educating our children on how to protect themselves.

In the latest incident on Feb 20, a five-year-old boy in Pekan, Pahang, died. He was allegedly abused by his stepfather.

Last month, a nine-month-old toddler, who was in critical condition after being allegedly abused by his babysitter, died at the Sibu Hospital.

On Nov 9, 11-month-old Nur Muazara Ulfa died at Serdang Hospital due to alleged physical and sexual abuse by her babysitter’s husband, a 36-year-old barber.

According to Unicef Malaysia, similar to other countries, only extreme child abuse and neglect cases are reported here and these often involve disturbing injuries, sexual abuse and even death.

International experience suggests that reported cases are likely

to represent only 10% of the total cases perpetrated as most victims and their families are too ashamed or unable to report the violations against them.

We must remember that abuse could affect children’s physical and mental health, impair their ability to learn and socialise, and undermine their development as functional adults and good parents later in life. In the most severe cases, violence against children can lead to death.

Despite awareness efforts conducted by the government and private sectors, cases of child abuse continue to be reported in our media.

Protecting children from despicable criminal acts is everyone’s responsibility. As our society becomes more affluent, ethics and morality are being sidelined. Failure to accord due recognition to noble values and morality has contributed significantly to social disequilibrium and the emergence of many of our social problems.

Social development based on noble values can minimise social problems and also contribute to national development. National development has to be attained through strong family institutions that mould youths who are our future flag bearers. They are our national asset and can help to shape the destiny of our nation.

Nurturing good family values among youths is a major challenge today, hence a collective effort from all sectors of society is needed to achieve this goal.

My view has always been that our country’s technological progress and economic growth should not compromise the importance of checking the degradation of moral and ethical values.

We need to make Malaysia a fully industrialised nation not only in the economic sense but also in other dimensions, particularly the moral, ethical and caring aspects.

Civilisation and progress must not be measured only by the gross national product and technological

capacity. Progress must also be measured by the development of the human conscience and its response when faced with suffering and denial of people’s needs.

A caring society recognises that all of its members are entitled to protection for their personal, physical and psychological needs. It attaches great importance to moulding the human being to be compassionate and have a sense of justice and a generous attitude.

While it is gratifying to note that by and large Malaysians are generous, I feel more could be done by the affluent to help the poor and less fortunate out of their concern for their fellow men.

More could and should be done by fortunate Malaysians either individually or collectively to help build a caring culture and society that is vital for the attainment of a united and harmonious nation.

The spontaneous outpouring of sympathy and offers of help by the public in response to several tragedies involving human lives in the

country and abroad, the continuing financial support given to charitable causes as well as the expressions of concern for victims and disgust shown towards perpetrators of sexual and physical abuse are ample evidence of the caring attitude of Malaysians.

Our caring efforts should be intensified in the days ahead, especially among the young in view of the many social problems plaguing our society now. What is most fundamental in this regard is to strengthen the family institution and establish it as the core of a healthy and stable society.

Moral decay is caused by the erosion of spiritual and ethical values, which can be overcome by improving the quality of family life. Herein lies the challenge of family empowerment towards tackling the nation’s social ills.

TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE Senior vice-chairman Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation