THE EDUCATED UNEDUCATED: Personal development lacking in society

I REFER to the debate on the educated uneducated. The so-called educated are expected to conduct themselves in a respectable manner but the behaviour of many leaves much to be desired.

 They are easily angered and often turn ugly when challenged. Could it be due to our education system, poor grasp of language and misplaced priorities?

 We consider those who have completed secondary schools to be educated and those who have studied in  higher learning institutes as being well educated.

 True, they may have studied a wide variety of subjects in school, and pursued a chosen field in universities. However, while those with high academic qualifications may have superior intelligence quotient (IQ), their emotional intelligence (EI) can be below par.

 As such, the learned are not necessarily educated and this is evident when they unleash their emotions to the detriment of others and themselves.

 They have not learnt to love and respect themselves and so cannot do the same to others. Those who are learned in their field of studies may be quite ignorant about themselves.

 Many of our citizens are quick to proclaim "proud to be Malaysian" but are unable to substantiate it  other than feeling nationalistic.

 It is common to see egoistic people proud of themselves even when doing a lousy job or behaving badly. They should, instead, be proud of their work and do a great job.

 Those with supremacist feelings or who champion causes without positive benefits are doing more harm than good for their country, race, religion or language.

 Nationalism is ugly when it is merely to put others down. Instead, we should be patriotic and do something good for our country that even foreigners will be proud of us.

 Patriotism can be studying or working hard  to be productive and contributing to society; protecting the environment and the weak; keeping ourselves healthy and not be wasteful; and respecting others and showing courtesy.

 Many Malaysians can speak several languages or dialects, but are master of none. They can chat for hours but are incapable of writing a professional report in English or in their mother tongue.

 As language is the key to learning, our poor grasp of language has resulted in superficial learning and shallow thinking. This is often exposed when Malaysians are asked to express an opinion.

 Personal development is lacking in our society as our education system is far from holistic.

 Schoolchildren can recite the Rukunegara by heart and attend religious or moral classes. The fifth tenet of our national philosophy "Courtesy & Morality", is merely given lip service. Adults congregate in  places of worship but many of them do not seem to love or fear God.

 They do not take care of sensitivity when communicating. Of course, expecting them to show courtesy by continuing to listen when not agreeing  with  what is being said is  asking too much.

 Lack of courtesy is prevalent in our society and it is the main cause of petty quarrels in almost every home and organisation.

 I have been advocating that trade associations should conduct training workshops on courtesy for their members, and for large corporations to provide the same to the public, as part of their corporate social responsibility.

 Sadly, Malaysians seem incapable of grasping the importance of courtesy. It is not just something nice to have but can actually increase our productivity  and raise our quality of life.

 Instead of hearing intelligent debates on important issues, we are witness to needless and senseless quarrels among politicians and pseudo-politicians in the open and in the workplace.

 Many of our concerned citizens must have shed  tears for our  country. We have failed to bring honour to our founding fathers and only set bad examples for our descendants.

 Perhaps we have been too spoiled. Hopefully, we will not sink to the point of no return.