https://www.nst.com.

my/opinion/letters/2017/11/298118/implement-massive-programme-instil-
values-young

By TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE - November 2, 2017 @ 8:46am

One important aspect of the 11th Malaysia Plan that should be addressed is enhancing social
development based on noble values, which can help strengthen human capabilities and the role of
family institutions in achieving a balanced society.

The success of our nation depends not only on economics, science, and information and
communications technology, but also on how we can build a society which is morally, spiritually and
mentally strong.

This can be a bulwark against the many social and moral issues besieging our society. Our nation’s future
depends on a strong and cohesive moral foundation. Despite the many accomplishments, the social
progress of our society is lagging.

It is time we addressed the country’s social capital. All Malaysians must take responsibility for declining
values and social standards.

High crime rates, the unresolved drug menace, corruption in the public and private sectors, indiscipline
in schools, truancy, and a culture of bullying and violence all point to an urgent need to address the
country’s social capital.

Unless and until we succeed in doing this, no amount of economic development can strengthen our
social fabric in the face of new challenges.

Social ills are the symptom of an unhappy society. Many factors have been said to cause social ills,
including the lack of parental supervision, lack of moral and civic education, urbanisation and the oft-
discussed delinquent behaviour of teenagers.

It is time the nation developed an effective and sustainable blueprint to address the multifarious social
ills in our fast- changing national landscape through a special task force with the full participation of all
stakeholders.

I am pleased to note Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has also advocated a new social
agenda for the nation.

Counselling programmes for family institutions and the promotion of noble values are in great need
today.

When a nation progresses, the family institution could be the first victim with children not getting
enough attention and guidance, leading to social ills, especially among teenagers.

Parents must focus on the quality of family life and take steps to instil in children basic moral values
needed to build the foundations of a strong, stable and cohesive society.
When modernisation and economic development take place, problems such as declining human values
and moral degradation occur. To arrest the situation, a massive programme to inculcate values is
required at all levels for children, youth and teenagers. Values such as obedience, filial piety, respect for
elders, patience and tolerance, truth, responsibility and honour need to be emphasised.

Strong human values, along with strong families, are key to building a peaceful and stable community
which will lead to a strong and stable nation. The need for this has never been greater.

TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE

Senior vice-chairman

Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation

https://www.nst.com.my/news/2017/02/209191/restoring-moral-values

By DR ABDUL WAHED JALAL NORI

February 3, 2017 @ 9:37am

In thinking about the features of a good society, different people will emphasise different traits that
they consider to be important, such as egalitarianism, personal freedom, moral values and spirituality.

Yet, what makes a good society? How do we know if a country, region or city is a good society? How can
a society be the agent for promoting moral behaviour? Is it possible for a society to have a shared
formulation of the good?

We have to acknowledge that the evaluation of a proper moral stance will vary according to
circumstances of time and place. But, in general, the success of our political, economic and social
systems depend on building shared values, habits and practices, which assure the respect for one
another’s rights and fulfilment of one’s personal and collective responsibilities.

Successful policies are accepted because they are recognised to be legitimate, rather than imposed.
Although some of the rights and responsibilities are identified through legal terms, when we reach the
point at which these responsibilities are largely enforced by the power of the state, we are in deep
moral crisis indeed.

The diversity of culture and religion in Malaysia is not a threat to the integrity of our society as long as a
core of shared values and institutions — constitutions, the democratic way of life and mutual tolerance
— are respected. The shared memory and mutual aid are rich resources of moral voices. To build our
moral foundations is to bring our regard for individuals and their rights into a better relationship with
our sense of personal and collective responsibilities. We must, therefore, begin with the institutions of
our society.
People can become increasingly virtuous if proper processes of value-internalisation and reinforcement
of undergirding social institution — the “moral infrastructure” — are in place. Whether various elements
of the moral infrastructure reinforce, neglect or undermine the moral infrastructure, three elements
help determine the state of the moral infrastructure in a given society — families, schools and society.

The best place for each new generation to acquire its moral anchoring is the family. In today’s world of
turmoil and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to make our families the centre of our lives and
at the top of our priorities. The family is the nucleus of civilisation and the basic social unit of society.
Aristotle wrote that the family is nature’s established association for the supply of mankind’s everyday
wants. How is it possible to have a good society when the family system is broken or even disappearing?

We must insist, once again, that bringing children into the world requires a moral responsibility to
provide, not only material necessities, but also moral education and character formation. Moral
education is not a task that can be delegated to babysitters, or even professional child-care centres. It
requires close bonding of the kind that typically is formed only with parents, if it is formed at all.
Parents, who are preoccupied with personal achievement — often going home late from work and too
tired to attend to the needs of their children — cannot discharge their most elementary duty to their
children and fellow citizens.

It follows then that work places should provide maximum flexible opportunities to parents to preserve
an important part of their time and energy to attend to their educational-moral duties, for the sake of
the next generation, to build their civic and moral character, and their capacity to contribute
economically and socially to the society. Above all, what we need is a change in orientation by both
parents and work places. Child-raising is an important and valuable work — work that must be honoured
rather than vilified by both parents and the community.

Unfortunately, Malaysia is experiencing an increase in single-parent families as divorce becomes more

common. The number of divorces in Malaysia has more than doubled in just 10 years from 2006. The
number one reason for divorce and relationship issues is money. According to Sonya Britt, a Kansas
State University researcher, “arguments about money are by far the top predictor of divorce… It’s not
children, sex, in-laws or anything else. It’s money — for both men and women.”

Families with children under the age of 5 spend a large percentage of their household budget on child
care. The burden on low-income families, who make less than RM2,000 a month, is especially heavy.

Therefore, it is very important to rethink our welfare system and put in place a proper policy to insure
that citizens are able to satisfy their basic needs such as (shelter, education and healthcare). The
government must ensure wellbeing of citizens by providing, regardless of income, child care, schooling
and healthcare.

Dr Abdul Wahed Jalal Nori is senior analyst (social policy) of Institute of Strategic & International
Studies Malaysia
https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/views/2017/08/11/practise-good-values-campaign-promoting-
courtesy-will-only-work-if-malaysians-address-their-shortcom/

Practise good values

 VIEWS

 Friday, 11 Aug 2017

NEGATIVE behaviour by some ugly Malaysians prove that there is an urgent need to revisit or review the
national campaign to promote courtesy and noble values among the people.

Such a review will help determine how far the campaign has achieved its objectives as some Malaysians
still show negative behaviour as seen in the recent vandalism cases at the MRT stations and on its trains.

Cases of road bullies, traffic rule breakers, litterbugs and vandals etc show Malaysians are far from being
courteous and polite.

Inching into the yellow box on the roads when the traffic lights have already turned red proves their lack
of patience and selfishness.

image: https://content.thestar.com.my/smg/settag/name=lotame/tags=Demo_BahasaAudience,all

Based on my observations, the virtues of courtesy, 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.

Many school students these days do not even utter “thank you” when an award or certificate is given to
them.

I have on several occasions given out certificates or awards to students to recognise their academic
achievements and they will walk away without even saying thank you.

It is not that I want them to thank me personally but as a matter of courtesy which they should learn
from home or school.

It is also common to come across inconsiderate driving and parking on roads, littering in public places,
vandalism, queue-jumping and people not saying “sorry” when they made 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 noble values.

Having a campaign to promote courtesy and noble values is important but what is even more essential is
to put into practice the values we are hoping to promote.

The civil service, for example, should promote courtesy among frontline staff dealing with the public
besides practising basic civility and courtesy such as responding to calls and replying to letters promptly.

Any courtesy campaign must start from school and in this regard, the Moral Education subject should be
reinforced to emphasise the importance of learning and practising the 36 noble values.

Memorising the 36 noble values for the sake of passing the subject is certainly not desirable.

What we want is to put the noble values into practice in our daily life.

The attainment of developed and high-income nation 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 include efforts to inculcate a culture of courtesy and noble values in the
National Transformation 2050 (TN50) Plan .

TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE,

1 Malaysia Foundation trustee

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/views/2017/08/11/practise-good-values-campaign-

promoting-courtesy-will-only-work-if-malaysians-address-their-shortcom/#uBxRZMiyvrcvbucy.99

https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/35683

Morality standards must reflect pluralist Malaysia

Working Committee | Published: 27 Apr 2005, 1:46 pm | Modified: 29 Jan 2008, 6:21 pm

A+ A-

In light of the recent debate over our call to repeal religious and municipal laws that attempt to regulate
moral behaviour, Malaysians Against Moral Policing (MAMP) would like to clarify and reaffirm our
position.
It goes without saying that there should be standards of decency and morality in the public sphere. We
recognise that individual rights are not absolute, but subject to limitations based on respect for the
rights of others and our collective responsibilities to the community.

We agree that the government has a vital role to play in shaping and strengthening public morality in
Malaysia. But it does not follow that the government should have the sole authority to set these
standards and compel adherence to them.

Public morality cannot be defined or imposed by the government alone or by a small group of
individuals, regardless of their political, academic or religious credentials. Attempts to do so are anti-
democratic and prone to failure.

This is as true whether a massive state apparatus is used to enforce moral laws, such as in Iran under
their Islamic Republic or Afghanistan under the Taliban or where state resources are used in more subtle
ways to advance a narrow moral viewpoint, such as in the US by right-wing evangelical Christians or in
India by extremist Hindu puritans.

All Malaysian citizens, therefore, should play a role in defining public morality in a way that is consistent
with an open and democratic process.

Such moral standards should be conceived more broadly than how we dress or socialise, and should
include respect for others, ethics and public accountability in governance, disdain for corruption, and a
striving to live in a socially responsible way.

In the past, implementation of morality laws has often led to public outcry because there was little
consensus on what constitutes a violation of public morality. Morality fundamentally involves personal
choices based on one's ethical and religious commitments. Moreover, society's values evolve over time,
adapting to historical and cultural changes.

Together, these influences lead to differences of opinion within our multi-religious and multi-cultural
society, not only between Muslims and people of other faiths, but also within the Muslim community
itself.

Therefore, any attempt to define public morality, especially when it is codified into law, must take into
consideration these diverse values and standards. The search for a single right answer will always
remain elusive precisely because of this diversity. To limit the scope of debate would be counter-
productive and unnatural.

Some have argued that weaknesses in the implementation of religious and municipal laws should not be
a basis for repealing the laws themselves. However, the use of coercion to regulate behaviour is neither
effective nor enlightened, no matter how well-meaning or well-implemented.

Instead of relying on punishment to induce good behaviour - especially among young people - the
government should adopt supportive policies to ensure individuals, families and communities develop
the capacity to promote moral behaviour through education, discussion, family involvement and
positive role modelling.

In addition, the government and civil society should engage in ongoing consultation with youth and
families to understand the needs of today's young people and to help them learn the best path towards
becoming responsible members of society.

Through an open, inclusive and collective effort, all Malaysians can together focus on promoting a
common foundation of moral values that encompasses the religious and cultural diversity of our society,
rather than letting the government use its power to enforce a separate set of standards among the
Muslim population.

We reiterate our position that religious and municipal laws must be reviewed with a commitment to
repeal provisions that overlap with the federal Penal Code, that contravene basic Islamic principles, that
are in conflict with the Constitution, or that provide excessive latitude for interpretation and abuse by
enforcement officers.

The review and revision process must represent the broad spectrum of communities within a
democratic, multi-racial, multi-religious, and pluralist Malaysia.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2014/09/28/raising-ethics-and-efficiency/

Raising ethics and efficiency

 EDUCATION

 Sunday, 28 Sep 2014

 by datuk mary yap

image:
https://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/online/2014/09/27/21/14/1214027.ashx/?w=620&h=413&crop=
1&hash=6F18F80EF69E2C23A462B3A55D51A719D2F6F886

Integrity, responsibility and trust are among the values government servants must have for
departments and services to run smoothly.
TIME marches on but will never fade the exciting memories of a young girl when the vibrant shouts of
MERDEKA rang loud and clear followed by a thunderous round of applause in the Tawau town padang
(field) on Sept 16, 1963 ... the day Sabah achieved independence through the formation of Malaysia.

I can still visualise the lowering of the Union Jack which in turn saw the hoisting of the Malaysian flag
followed by the Sabah Flag.

My classmates and I sang the Negara Ku and Sabah Tanah Air Ku standing at attention and with a sense
of pride even at the age of 12.

image:
https://content.thestar.com.my/smg/settag/name=lotame/tags=Demo_BahasaAudience,all,Int_Busines
s_Finance,Int_Business_Finance_SME

As an adult, I now look back at our celebrations and can understand better why there was so much
jubilation and hope amongst the people. Malaysia was our nation, our home.

Responsibility

With hope comes a very special sense of responsibility from the government, particularly government
servants.

Every government servant plays a special role in providing hope. It is thus vital for them to be
subservient to the government of the day.

The word “government” defined in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (3rd
Edition) is the act or process of governing, especially the control and administration of public policy in a
political unit.

“Servant” refers to one who is publicly employed to perform services and in this context, for the
government.

‘Subservient’ means subordinate in capacity or function; one who expresses submission, recognisance
while “government of the day” means the ruling political party of this present time and “must” means
compulsory.

Stated in Article 132 (1) of the Federal Constitution, the public service and all government servants
including the education service are subjected to the law and regulations made by the ruling
government.

We in the Education Ministry are also subordinate to the government and are subjected to obey all
rules.

Closely related to the act of subservience is the pledge of loyalty to the King, country and the
government and the application of values and ethics like trustworthiness, sincerity, responsibility,
commitment, a caring nature and gratitude.
These values are some of the examples that form the core (teras) and absolute (mutlak) standard of the
public service.

We are also reminded of our duty and loyalty to the government every time we sign official letters that
explicitly state that we are carrying out our tasks under strict orders and abiding by the rules.

To ensure that government servants adhere to the public service standard, the Public Officers (Conduct
and Discipline) Regulations, 1993 under Section V1 (Hukuman Tatatertib) provide:

l Penalties of conduct and behaviour found to be in breach of specified rules or tarnishing the image of
the government service.

The regulations also include procedures for disciplinary action against them.

The documents as points of reference state that every government servant must be subservient to the
government of the day.

How is the act of subservience instilled in all government servants?

Our government sees the answer in educating government servants and ensuring that values and ethics
are observed at all times.

The values and culture promoted in the Malaysian public service are based on the following:

l To set a meaningful direction to guide the thinking, action and behaviour of the public employees so
that they can fulfil their responsibility and trust in the assigned jobs;

l To foster integration and coordination among public servants;

l To inculcate values and ethics of the public service which form the absolute standard in motivating
government servants to serve the nation with sincerity and excellence.

Based on the rationale above, an on-going effort to groom efficient, trustworthy public servants to
effect the implementation of national policies is made.

From 1970 the Rukunegara spelt out five principles for good citizenship which are: Belief in God, Loyalty
to the King and Country, Upholding the Constitution, Rule of Law and Good Behaviour to inspire good
conduct and positive values.

Other major measures taken to enhance the integrity of the public service included the Excellent Service
Guidelines (1978), The Clock-in System (1982) ; The Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy Campaign (1982);
Leadership by Example (1983); Assimilation of Islamic Values (1985); The National Education Policy
(1988), Conduct in the Teaching Professionand Vision 2020 (1991).

If practised effectively, such efforts should bring about quality public service and individual excellence.
Upon reflection, it can be said our government has done a good job in bringing and maintaining peace,
unity, stability and prosperity in our country over the years.

Despite the achievements, those helming the Malaysian public service are aware that the effectiveness
of the efforts taken, may not have reached the government servants at all levels of administration.

The public service provisions on discipline and conduct should be applied stringently without fear or
favour to effect positive results.

I suggest we commit ourselves to “ethics assurance” with the leaders setting an example and monitoring
the practice through audit reviews and ethical behaviour, so that their subordinates will realise how
committed and serious they are.

Our government must continue working towards arriving at the highest ethical standard and sustain it
because if we are to successfully compete globally in the future, we need to understand that being
world-class does not begin and end with building world-class facilities.

Being world class

We need, above all else, world-class management and working practice.

The public service commands influence over the nation’s development and prosperity.

Hence, it is incumbent upon every government servant to be subservient to the government of the day
by practising the stipulated values and ethical standards because we are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit and this is summed up very nicely by Confucius when he said
that:

“If we lead people by laws and then regulate with penalties, there will be no sense of shame.

“If we lead by virtue and then circumscribe them with proper rules of conduct, they will develop a sense
of shame and hence become good citizens.”

Let us work together with our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to realise Vision 2020 and
make Malaysia a country of excellence, glory and distinction just like what’s said in the popular song Oh
Malaysia.

On that happy note, I wish all readers a great weekend.

* The writer, Datuk Mary Yap is Deputy Education Minister. Connect with her via Twitter @maryyapkc
and Facebook.com/maryyapkainching This is the fourth in a series of articles for this column which will
appear every fortnight. It will also see the contributions of Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris
Jusoh and Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan who will share their views on various education-
related issues.

TAGS / KEYWORDS:Education , Mary Yap

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2014/09/28/raising-ethics-and-
efficiency/#oxYulL4y2024IEC5.99