4 Mar 2015

丹斯里拿督彭茂燊太平局绅给领袖们的一封公开信(04/03/15)

丹斯里拿督彭茂燊太平局绅给领袖们的一封公开信(04/03/15)

砂拉越首席部长丹斯里阿德南在华人新年期间所说的那番话,令人觉得暖心;我引述网上报导:“或许你的祖父,或是曾祖父是从中国移居到此,但是你已经是第三、第四、第五代人了,这里是你的家!当然你有时会到中国探亲,但是只到中国度假罢了,假期结束就会回来,这里是你的家!”
这让我不禁在想,如果所有马来西亚的政治和社会领袖都有如此开阔的胸襟、宽宏的肚量,这个国家就有福啦!因为,有度量的领袖,他就有包容的雅量,这是促进国家和组织团结的一个先决条件。但是,从目前的情况来看,似乎事与愿违,领袖本身却不断地制造种族性的话题,不断在种族之间筑起高墙。
在乙未羊年里,让我们把人民比喻成羊群,而领袖们就是领头羊,因此,羊群不是跟着这头领头羊,就是跟着那头领头羊。因为领头的缺乏宽宏度量、包容雅量、眼光狭隘,甚至急功近利,令到已经脆弱的种族关系更加危危可岌。
丹斯里阿德南的谈话,在一个执政州和中央的政治圈子而言,简直就是逆水行舟。我们暂且不理会他谈话的真正目的,也不知道他是否有谋算,但这一番谈话,简直可以被形容为沙漠中的一个绿点,但如果各各领袖都能这么看待问题,这一点一点的绿点就可连成一片绿洲!
今天的人民思维已有显著的转变,我们当中许多人已不再执着于“海市蜃楼”般的虚幻希望。因此,领袖们必须拿出实际的行动,各州和中央政府更需做出适当的调整。
阿德南的不理西馬,砂州私自承認統考的言論,展現他的膽識,更讓華社,尤其是受華文教育者欣喜萬分,只是要全面的落實,尚待阿德南親自護航。
我相信,只要砂州政府願意承認統考文憑,落實問題都不是障礙,必能一一克服。
大馬各族人民的要求其實很簡單,只是期盼獲得公平的對待和安寧的生活,如此而已。

捍卫华教,华人有责 Chinese Press Articles (04-03-2015)

捍卫华教,华人有责
Chinese Press Articles (04-03-2015)




26 Feb 2015

Don’t mistake caning for discipline, NGO cautions

KUALA LUMPUR: An NGO has said that public caning is not to be equated with discipline as the former is more likely to exacerbate delinquent behaviour in children instead of nipping it in the bud.

Speaking to FMT, the founder and chairman of Social Care Foundation, Robert Phang said that over 20 years of research showed that caning did nothing in modifying undesirable behaviour.

“Research indicates caning is linked to increased aggression, delinquency, mental health problems and a breakdown in parent-child relationships,” Phang said.

He also cited the 2013 study by Elizabeth Gershoff, a developmental psychologist at the University of Texas, that confirmed that children who were caned were more likely to develop depression, anxiety, drug use, and aggression when they were older.

“On the other hand, discipline involves teaching our kids to manage their emotions and desires. It might take extra work but it yields positive, long-term results.

“If parents and school authorities weren’t so quick to pick up the cane, they would see how setting age-appropriate expectations and boundaries, coupled with a fair degree of empathy, could turn even the naughtiest child around,”

Phang explained. He also placed special emphasis on counselling, considering it an integral part in behavioural modification in problem children.