Letter to the Editor: Adult Hypocrisy and our Youth

Adults in Malaysia appear to have an integrity problem when it comes to young people. Recent reports on out of control drug use, sexual promiscuity and others among youth have re-ignited apparent concern about the health and direction of younger Malaysians. In virtually every case, the question always seems to be, ‘what’s wrong with our youth?’ Well, I for one feel that there is nothing wrong with our youth, rather, the problem rests with us adults. In my opinion, young people are merely reacting to the hypocrisy of adults. For example, how often do our young people hear about the need and importance of science and technology? To be world-class scholars, they need much more than schools. We as a nation must create a culture that is inherently intellectual, that desires to know truth and is committed to human excellence in all aspects of life. Knowing this, what do we do toward facilitating this? We give them Malaysian Idol, Mentor, Survivor, Jom Hebot and the like – a steady diet of it. On the one hand, our leaders rightly encourage youth to strive toward becoming world-leading scientists, engineers, doctors and professionals while on the other hand, everywhere they turn they are being seduced into lives of glamour, self-aggrandizement and mind-numbing ‘infotainment’. We frown on classical and traditional arts but spend billions on promoting hip-hop, rap and other contemporary ‘art’ forms that contain virtually no intellectual or cultural value -- all in the name of profits. The bottom line? Young people are used for their consumer power by none other than who? Adults. They are targeted by big corporations because as a collective group, they have money and they like to spend it. Has anyone wondered how much telecommunications companies make off those sms contests? Do these corporations really care that our young people are squandering millions every year for these useless contests when they could be saving their money for things like education and marriage? We don’t really care about our young people, let’s face it. If we did, we would have things like world-class libraries instead of discos, and profits would come second to things that really mattered to them and their future. The next time we feel the urge to criticize our young people, maybe we should start by looking in the mirror and pondering what kind of example we are setting for them.