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| NEWS > 28 April 2006 |
Other related articles:
Interior ethics lapses rarely
WASHINGTON -- Officials at the US Interior Department received free golf outings, dinners, hunting trips, and box seats at sporting events from companies they monitored, but were rarely punished for the ethics violations, other than being ordered to attend two-hour ethics courses, the department's inspector general told a House panel yesterday.
Testifying before the House Natural Resources Committee, Earl E. Devaney said the ethical lapses were part of a department-wide culture "replete with a lack of accountability."
Devaney, who for seven years has been the independent ... Read more
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Malaysia Star - Malaysia
28 April 2006
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Moral police?
WINNING WAY BY DATIN T.D. AMPIKAIPAKAN
HAS OUR society become so morally bankrupt that we need to be policed in everything that we do? If so, who do we appoint to police us? Are they fit to do so? Who, in turn, will police the police?
I checked some etiquette books to see what were the “accepted practices” that would work in a “growing but finding your way” multi-racial society. This is what I found:
Manners, morals and ethics are closely interrelated;
Teaching morality and ethics begins at childhood. It is then constantly reinforced in school, college and at work;
Learning about morality depends on the religious and social norms of the society to which you belong. And please remember that we are a multi-racial society;
Morals and manners share some common concepts such as compassion, respect and tolerance.
Look deeper and we find that this is what we all lack. We kid ourselves if we think that we are a genuinely caring society.
The problem many of us face is based on the conflict between ethics (moral principles about right and wrong behaviour) and etiquette (set of customs and rules for polite behaviour).
If we believe that restraint by law is the only solution, then we must redefine simple lapses of etiquette and ethics. We have to look at an insult as slander, someone’s meanness as mental cruelty, smoking and drinking as health hazards, clothes with spaghetti straps and plunging necklines as sexual temptations, holding hands as an invitation to share bodily fluids, and the list goes on.
The law does not do a marvellous job of regulating, policing and judging petty disputes; how can you assert authority in someone’s private life without looking utterly ridiculous? When did we pass rules and laws on morality?
Globalisation, modernisation, information technology and their effects have forced us to accept practices that we could never accept in the past. Unethical behaviour is becoming quite the norm in some quarters. But what is considered unacceptable is to get caught. In other words, do what you want but don’t get caught!
We often hear stories of scandals and acts of immorality. But is it our business what people do with their personal lives? Who is responsible for them and their actions?
However, what if it involves minors? Then the parents and maybe the teachers can discipline them.
In the corporate world, it is a different story. There are very strict rules on ethics and etiquette, on what constitutes sexual harassment and what the rules are with regard to “romancing on the job”. Those who break corporate rules of the game put their jobs on the line.
So what is the fuss all about? Every race in Malaysia has a moral code of conduct, some a little lax than others but there is a code nonetheless.
So why then do we need a “moral police force” to look at how we behave in public? Will they also promise to check how people who have power behave in public?
Also, how morally upright and good are the so-called officers? What do we know about them? How do we know what kind of role models they are and what reputation they have in society?
Despite having lived in a multi-racial country for over 40 years, many Malaysians (including the ones who do the policing) have forgotten one little fact that makes a big difference in everyone’s life: showing respect for human beings who do not share the same faith or social beliefs as us.
If we hold on to the belief that those who are different from us are bad, then we need to close our borders and lock up all foreign tourists (Westerners for wearing revealing clothes; Indian women for baring the midriff when wearing the saree; Middle Easterners because the men greet one another with big hugs and kisses; and Eskimos for rubbing noses when they greet one another).
What we really want, and possibly need, is essentially a code of conduct that promotes peace and harmony. The proper and only way to change behaviour is through role modelling, not by embarrassing people who may not understand what the fuss is all about. Humiliation is a terrible teaching tool. Yes, it is all about dignity. Even young people get offended and they react by breaking more rules.
If our society truly wants a moral police force, then their job specifications could begin with the following:
Go to all the schools and start teaching the children about real moral values that must be practised. Start from Year One and move on to the secondary schools. ( They will have their work cut out for them and that will keep them all occupied for years.)
Nab all parents who abuse/abandon their children. It is morally wrong for people to bring children into this world without being responsible for their upbringing. I went to an orphanage one day and saw babies and young people being looked after by childminders. So where were you (the moral police) when these irresponsible people abandoned their children?
Go after all the fathers who disappeared, leaving the mothers to fend for themselves and their children.
Get the guys who do not pay child support but have enough financial means to marry again.
Make a serious attempt to catch the rapists, the snatch thieves and the murderers. Where are you when innocent women and children get mugged or raped or murdered? These are all crimes of morality.
Caring moral activists often get publicity when they fight for a cause. But look at the moral issues that are prioritised. Why should everything revolve around sex? Surely we have better things to concentrate our efforts on, like educating our youth to think, to be creative, to take care of the environment and to compete with the rest of the world.
Moral minders often forget that when they provoke outrage among the members of society, then they will ultimately alienate the very people who basically believe in their cause.
Moral minders may win politically but will lose morally. And this is no way to win the hearts and minds of the people.
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