Moral Education (anyone?)

you'd take things for granted as you grow (older) UNTIL some incidents hit you hard and bring you to some contemplations and revelations.

i've been in the US for more than 5 years. i have observed enough to share what i wanna say now.

to most malaysians, our education system might seem not so perfect in bringing us up as the model human being. yes, one can always argue his/her way on this subject. as a non-malay malaysian myself, to have moral education as one of my 'required' subjects to study seems like any other subjects--to educate me as a whole (good) person...especially living in a multiracial country....ummm...how to behave appropriately, morally. ;-)

for those who doesn't understand our education system. moral education is part of the main subjects to study since 1st grade-11th grade (it's in the standardized nationwide examination!). and what do we study?

The moral education curriculum is designed around ten values:

physical and mental cleanliness,
- cleansing is a must. not just because we're near the equator where the weather is always hot and humid :-P

consideration,
- consider others' need and feelings. be compassionate and put oneself in others' shoes

moderation,
- do not boast. do not take advantage of the weaker ones. i have one in chinese saying, 'if u aint got a big head, do not wear a big hat'. lol

diligence,
- 1% talent + 99% hard work = key to success

thankfulness,
- always be grateful of what we have dear to ourselves. it brings people together--being thankful/grateful, humble :-)

trustworthiness,
- how much time and effort one must invest to gain trust of others? action always speaks louder than words...

fairness,
- injustice brings anger and frustration to others

affection/love,
- there are subcategories to this: parental love, siblings love, friends love, neighborly/community love, lover's love, nation's love. wow...how we MUST have distinctive lines and actions correspondingly!

respect,
- also, subcategories: respect the elders(!), respect the teachers(!), respect others...

and society.
- gather all the above values and put them in the society--peace and harmony ;-)

we were given alot of case scenarios which test our moral ability to seek out the most rightful way to response according to the given situations. oh boy...how we use to laugh at our righteous and silly answers--what's right to do and hell do we do that in real? nooooo... maybe... ;-P

but at least the whole nation are somewhat educated morally. lol

now this made me think that perhaps USA could learn a little from a little multiracial 3rd world country. i have seen many people having difficulties 'behaving'. i'm not gonna pinpoint anyone right now, but i would say that it's alot healthier for the entire nation to at least learn these fundamental values to become a better person for peace, harmony and the betterment of the society.

ALL ABOUT WORKING FOR WORLD PEACE in our little humble ways ;-)