Civic awareness is an important aspect of life.

However, this attitude is less

practiced in the community. These are the causes of this condition and the ways
to help the community more civic minded.

Civic awareness can be defined as deep and continuous consciousness as well as

emerging from the heart of a person on the basis of responsibility to preserve
the rights and interests of the public. Civic awareness will make an individual a
sincere and earnest citizen to defend the public interest to be shared. Today, we
are proud to say that our country has developed and rapidly developed in line
with the era of globalization, however, unfortunately without us realizing civic
awareness among Malaysians is so low and even fading in the current of
modernization. This is evident when there are still in our society, individuals
who still do not respect each other. The words, "The young are loved, the old
are respected," cannot be seen from their behavior. The proof is, the rubbish
dumped everywhere has stained and hurt the eyes as it is no longer a foreign
thing in our country. Where is the mistake that until the time the country takes
steps towards becoming a developed country, the negative phenomenon that
shows the low civic awareness of our society is still widespread and we can see
everywhere? Therefore, we must examine and deepen the root cause of this
problem so that effective and effective measures can be implemented to nurture
this civic awareness among our society.

It is undeniable that everything starts from home. The lack of civic awareness in
our society stems from the collapse of family institutions. It is undeniable that
there is a society now making home a hell for their children. A study by the
Department of Social Welfare found that divorce rates and troubled households
are increasing day by day, especially in big cities such as Kuala Lumpur,
George Town and Johor Baharu. Divorce shows marital problems between
husband and wife as a result of enmity, strife and infidelity between husband
and wife. Who is the witness to all these problems? Of course the answer is
children. Witnessing parents like dogs with cats, will affect the mental growth
of children especially adolescents who are growing up. This feeling of anger
towards these parents will push them to vent their anger outside the house, that
is, by scratching places waiting for the bus or damaging public property such as
toilets and public telephones. This attitude can be likened to angry massage,
mosquito nets burned. All these actions are proof of how low civic awareness is
in our society. So, it is not an exaggeration to say that one of the causes of lack
of civic awareness in society is due to the relaxation in the household institution
itself that causes the souls of children to be infertile or stunted which will
impact their immoral behavior.

In addition, low patriotic spirit is also the cause of the fading of civic
awareness among our society today. Today's children are less educated
to be proud to be Malaysians. Therefore, the feeling of love for the
country and pride in being a Malaysian citizen is still very low in our
society. A clear example of this statement is when the National Anthem,
Negaraku, resounds in the air, how many of us stop and stand up
voluntarily to honor the song? It is no exaggeration to say that the
number is too little; that is, only among our ‘senior’ citizens. When the
level of awareness and love for the country is low, as a result, the feeling
of 'Our Country, Our Responsibility' is also lacking in each individual. As
a result, some do not feel guilty when they throw rubbish in inappropriate
places, such as into the river or wherever it is convenient for them to do
so. The obvious thing is the existence of attitudes, ‘I, I’ and ‘you, you’ in
our society. Therefore, the common sense of public property, the sense
of respect for various races on this basis is where we are and this
country is our country and we who are responsible for its harmony, well-
being and beauty, do not exist in those involved. So, to this day, we still
see negative behaviors that show that the level of civic awareness of
society is still low.

In this era of globalization, our country is so passionate about achieving

the goal of making Malaysia a developed country by 2020. In the
passion to pursue progress and the mirage of life, especially in the
material aspect has created an individualistic and materialistic society.
Progress and rapid development have also robbed the spirit of
neighborhood and warmth in society. The attitude of 'who lu who cave' is
becoming more widespread. Living like ‘enau in the bush, just letting go
of each other’s shoots’ has become commonplace in society. As a result,
the importance of this material causes one to act without regard for the
feelings and welfare of others. On the pretext of not wanting to take care
of other people’s fabric edges, society, especially those in big cities are
just busy with their respective careers and affairs. The gotong-royong
activities held will only be attended if there are big people officiating it.
Otherwise, the practice of gotong-royong will not be well received. As a
result, we see people in big cities holding parties and weddings in hotels.
By doing so, they have actually killed the spirit of cooperation that
creates friendship and harmony in society. The opportunity to get to
know each other and greet each other between neighbors is also not
practical. So, it is not surprising to say that civic awareness in our society
is declining.

Although the signs of low civic awareness in society are becoming clearer, we
can not just hug the body and let this problem get more serious. Therefore,
before rice becomes porridge, before the crooked continue to be broken,
measures to restore civic awareness among the community need to be
implemented immediately. In this case, we have to place this important
responsibility on education. This is also noticed by our Minister of Education.
Therefore, he has directed that the curriculum of all existing subjects be revised.
If through the New Secondary School Curriculum (KBSM), the element of
noble values must be applied in every subject, then in the new revised
curriculum, this is compounded by placing the element of patriotic spirit as
something that must be applied in teaching. In addition, Civics and Citizenship
subjects have been included in the school curriculum and must be studied by all
students. Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed once stated that
we need to emulate the attitude of Japanese society. Although their country is
more developed, however, their society still maintains noble values while
practicing the culture and customs of their nation. It is this spirit that brings
their country to progress because its people are willing to sacrifice their lives
and bodies for the sake of their beloved country. He stressed that in order to
inculcate a high level of civic awareness in our society, then changes in the
education system must be implemented.

The next way to form a society with a high level of civic awareness is through
firm action and law enforcement. If we look at our neighboring country,
Singapore, we will be amazed at the people who are so obedient to the rules and
very responsible for public property. However, the real basis of this attitude is
from the determination of the Singapore government to educate its people.
Anyone found violating public rules will continue to be fined. In fact, even in
the matter of using public toilets, Singapore always ensures its proper use.
Anyone found not pulling the water pump after using the toilet will be punished
at the same time. Our country also needs to enforce rules and laws involving the
people who lack this civic awareness. If Singapore mandates community service
activities to anyone found violating the rights to use public property such as
public telephones, and garbage disposal, why can't we implement it? These
people who are 'stubborn' and overly selfish need to be subjected to stern action.
So far, no action has been taken against those who could not distinguish
between the rubbish bin and the bus stand. In this case, the action of some local
authorities (PBT) to arrest people who pollute public places and oblige them to
clean the place again is highly commended. This is because, through the
implementation of the strict rules, the public will always be careful when using
all public facilities provided by the government for their convenience. Izharlah
that strict and severe punishment or action can instill civic awareness in our
society.

In short, there are several causes that cause the civic awareness of Malaysians to
fade and some steps can be taken to address these problems. Although the
problem of lack of civic awareness in our society has not been so serious, we
still need to work to improve it. This is especially among our young generation
because they are the ones who will shape the future direction of the country. We
want the progress we make to be in line with the development of the soul and
personality of the children of our nation. In realizing the fact that civic
awareness among the community is still low or fading, all parties must open
their eyes and play their respective roles to build a successful Malaysian nation
and have a high level of civic awareness because our country is our
responsibility. Therefore, together we all these beloved citizens cultivate the
attitude of working together and being united so that the desired progress is
achieved without sacrificing the values and morals of our nation and religion.
Do not ignore the message of the Taoist philosopher that if we want to live a
year plant wheat, if we want to live ten years plant a tree and if we want to live
forever plant human soul. If we want to see the civic awareness of our society
strong, let us together cultivate the human soul with civic awareness without
waiting for tomorrow.