SHAPING YOUTH
I REFER to your report, “Number of corrupt youth alarming, says MACC” (NST, May 31). Alarming it may be, but not surprising.
After all, the youth are only keeping pace with their elders. It is an exercise in tandem.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull said: “They want to have branded items. They are brand conscious.
“It happens (to youth) both in the government and the private sector”.
So do the VIPs.
Some of them flaunt their wealth by having many properties, driving in luxury cars and wearing diamond rings on almost every finger.
Today’s youth are a sophisticated lot. They are Internet savvy and communication conscious.
The youth are aware of what is going on.
So, when personalities like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad drops bombshells like “RM42 billion from 1MDB is missing”, the youth sit up and take notice.
The riposte by the Sabah speaker that Malaysia Airlines shares were bought back from the government “way above market value, incurring a huge loss to taxpayers” to save a certain individual from bankruptcy did not help matters.
The youth read between the lines. They get influenced.
It rubs off on them. They don’t want to be left out in the search for excitement.
They, too, want to cheat. Youth argue that, after all, what do they have to lose?
The perception — right or wrong — that bribery and corruption are a way of life has crept into the minds of youth.
Shukri said: “Youth have to be taught to act with integrity.
“We have to deal with the issue at the grassroots level.”
I beg to differ. “Integrity” cannot be “taught”, unlike Mathematics or Geography. It is leadership by example.
If the top is clean, it will filter down to the grassroots level.
Therefore, if anyone needs a “lecture on integrity”, it is our members of parliament and assemblymen, as they are the pacemakers of policy and personal conduct.
If they don’t change, how can we expect the youth to change?
Dr A. Soorian, Seremban, Negri Sembilan