Parents must play an active role at home in educating their children from a young age through the education of good values to set our moral compass right.
“We live at a time where our moral compass has gone haywire. After a series of major corruption cases that plagued our nation, our moral values have been tested, " said the news portal, Free Malaysia Today’s managing director Azeem Abu Bakar.
He added that corruption is happening rampantly from top to bottom, aided by people’s tolerance towards governance issues as the ‘new normal’.
“This is dangerous for the nation”, Azeem warns.
“We as parents or older generation need to look at our young and impart values to them. Mothers especially, in my case, my wife spends much time with our two kids. What we teach them at home is key to getting children to appreciate human values,” according to Azeem.
Azeem explained that many of us have “seen and tolerated too much”, losing clarity of right and wrong. However, the younger generation, aged between one to 10, see the world from a new perspective which is why we can instil the values more effectively early on.
“If we can educate a generation and insulate them from this lack of moral compass, there is a glimmer of hope in fighting corruption,” Azeem told more than 100 participants at an ‘Ethics and Integrity in Businesses and Professions’ forum organised by Rotary International District 3300.
Speaking on “Investigative journalism and its impact on ethics and integrity in businesses and professions,” Azeem said that as a media, FMT would continue to play its part in keeping corruption in check and reminding everyone to stay on track.
On the impact of journalism on business and ethics, Azeem said that even with all the media power FMT has, there’s only so much it can do. FMT is currently the English news portal with the biggest audience, according to Similar Web, serving six million people a month with a 45% share of voice among all online media portals. Everyone needs to work together to reorientate our moral compass as a nation.
“Corruption is like cancer, and we (the media) can do chemotherapy. But as long as our moral compass is haywire, these things will keep popping up.”
1MDB was brought down, and prosecution is still a work in progress. “Now we’re seeing governance issues surrounding the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and Penjana Wibawa. It never ends. So, we need to correct our moral compass first,” he concluded.
M. Krishnamoorthy is a media coach, associate professor, and journalist who worked and freelanced with Bernama, NST, The Star, and Malaysiakini. He also freelances as a fixer/coordinator for CNN, BBC, German and Australian Television networks and the New York Times. As an undercover journalist, he has highlighted society's concerns going undercover as a beggar, security guard, blind man, disabled salesman and Member of Parliament.
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