MORE and more, inter-faith and inter-religious dialogues are being organised to bring together leaders of the world’s major religions to address ways of promoting peace and unity among mankind. While a major part of the discourse centres around identifying commonalities across the religions and focusing on the universal values and ideals, there also arises the need to pinpoint the uniqueness of each faith and belief system. Often the outcome is an impasse as spiritual leaders and adherents speak about the exclusiveness and autonomy of their own religion.

What deserves a more definitive approach is an explication of the underlying oneness that all religions teach ie its core spirituality. Religion relates an individual with his or her specific community; but its core spirituality relates us all.

Core spirituality is the basis of shared human values and must form the basis of a shared value system. Without being anchored in spirituality – as opposed to religion – the teaching of human values lacks meaning and depth.

An important aspect of the inter-faith and inter-religious heritage that has been overlooked despite its great significance, is the spiritual heritage of mankind. Humans are inherently imbued with a spirituality that leads them to search for greater meaning in life than just the physical and tangible. People across the world have this common goal and must come together in its pursuit. It is a significant gap that has to be bridged in the interest of promoting peace and harmony on earth.

The question is this: Why has such an important aspect of human civilisation and advancement been ignored? Religion after all transcends material culture, resonating with man’s deepest needs, providing guidance and hope and relating to meaning systems that lie at the very core of his existence.

The reason for such an omission could well be that religion has largely been perceived to be the private concern of the individual, especially in the West. A particular religion and its teachings have for too long been seen as the exclusive concern of individuals or groups professing and claiming “ownership” of their respective religions.

There is a need for a more concerted effort to articulate the essence of man’s oneness, to reach out, educate and influence people to use their religiosity/spirituality for the collective advancement of human civilisation. It is a choice that people have and it is important to guide the choice, as religion is a double edged sword that can be used either to advance or destroy our civilisation. It can be used either to ennoble the human spirit, or fill it with hatred and violence.

As we know, the result of religious divisiveness is turmoil and warfare. The world is said to be on the brink of annihilation at a time when the scientific and technological means for world peace and unity hold unprecedented promise for a glorious future. The widespread sectarian animosity, violence, persecution and killings in the name of religion have assumed catastrophic proportions lending weight and credence to the fear that today, religion which has science and technology at its disposal for achieving good, poses the greatest threat to world peace and human civilisation.

Since this is a choice that will determine the fate of mankind, it cannot be a choice that is simply thrown to the people or their religious and political leaders in the name of democracy. The choice must be initiated, guided and monitored by a movement that will take the discourse several notches higher in order to establish a fuller, deeper understanding of the notion of “spiritual heritage of mankind”. By exploring the universal values of spirituality underlying Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and the other religions, a consensus can be reached as to what constitutes the core spiritual values that effectively foster peace and unity among mankind.

To the sceptics grown weary of too much talk which has not been translated into action, I say there’s hope yet if there are enough of us who care to sit down at ground level to share our common experiences. To the critics wary of the growing divisiveness across and within religious communities, I say do not perpetuate the “slam and damn” culture by adding to fear and suspicion.

The cure for society’s ills lies in its spiritual transformation where the traditional ethics and moral codes of our religions amalgamate and form the basis of our national ethos. A vital part of our quest for peace and unity lies in spiritual values such as love, kindness and compassion which all religions teach must be revitalised into contemporary forms which people can translate into their everyday life. The spiritual transformation of society starts with the individual who lives out these values which then permeates his family, community and the outer society.

EARLY next year I’m hoping to launch rather belatedly a book, an autobiography published in 1982 and revised almost 30 years later in 2011.

Why the bother some will ask since it has already passed its expiry date? Who would be interested in reading the memoirs of a man who is not in the public eye? Why the need to revive an old publication when the author is long gone and the narrative history?

Well, the simple answer is that it is the very elements of history and heritage in the book that make it worth a second run and a second read.

A few things about the book are interesting. First, the author started writing his memoirs on his 71st birthday, long after retirement when he had more time to reflect on his life and remember the significant moments.

This was when there was uninterrupted quiet for long periods to tap painstakingly on the old typewriter and keep the tales coherently organised, the facts correctly referenced and the language meticulously checked.

Second, a memoir written late in life has a much mellower flavour and is richer in its contents. It represents a collection of old world experiences and retrospective insights into the life and times of people from a past era.

Third, it provides the backdrop to much of the old values and traditions and connects it with the new. So to those who are planning to write their life stories, be inspired that it is never too late and that your narratives are indeed relevant.

Dr Mohamed Said: My Early Life will therefore appeal to readers who appreciate the sense of history the book evokes. Set against the background of tiny kampung Linggi at the turn of the 20th century, the first half of the book recounts traditional Malay life with all its vicissitudes and shortcomings, yet filled with the dignity and honour of the folks who inhabit it.

It offers us a glimpse into rural Malay life with its myriad customs and traditions at a time when Malaya was an undeveloped British colony. The author vividly describes the socio-cultural and religious milieu of the era and helps us to understand better the shaping of the psyche of a small community of Malays.

To those unfamiliar with rural Malaya then, the book depicts with much candour and directness the minds and hearts of orang Bugis Linggi in their everyday concerns. It would not be wrong to say that it accurately describes the life of other groups of rural Malays in modern Malaysia today, a century on.

The stories told may be mundane to some and dismissed by others if not for the author’s superb use of the English language which makes the writing worth a study in itself.

Perhaps, expressing himself in a neutral language allows the author to remove unnecessary emotional baggage, the yearning (rindu) which accompanies a lot of literary writings in Malay.

Reminiscing the premature death of his father at 35 when he was only five years old, he writes:

“Thus died a father whom I had not yet learned to love, but who, I was later told by my mother, loved me very much. Later as an orphan I gradually began to understand the disadvantage of not having a father to guide me and save me from the humiliation which I felt whenever well-meaning people gently rubbed my head in sympathy over my orphaned state.”

One wonders how this matter of factness would have been expressed if the author had written in Malay.

The second half of the book treads on more familiar territory – that of English education from where the author acquired his literary penchant and writing skills.

At 12 years old he was transposed to the world of an elite institution, the Malay College Kuala Kangsar, modelled in the tradition of the best boarding schools in England.

It was in this educational environment that rural boys like him were taught by dedicated schoolmasters whose vocation it was to instil in their young students the best learning experiences.

It was in the language and literature classes that his love for reading was nurtured and was translated years later into the desire to write in the best of English styles.

There is no doubt that it was this grounding in an education which stressed the importance of excellence not only in one’s academic pursuits but also in character, principles and moral values that bred several generations of outstanding Malayan/Malaysian public servants and professionals.

It was the role models and mentors in the persons of sympathetic and caring relatives and teachers described so vividly by the author that instilled in the young of his generation admirable traits and attitudes.

All in all, a sense of real history and heritage. All in all, a good read.

IT is tempting to look at “moderation” as the anthithesis to “extremism”, a term which in recent years grew to be associated more and more with religious extremism, in particular Islamic fundamentalism.

The spate of violent acts committed by people in and from the Muslim countries lent weight to the perception that terrorism was a religious phenomenon and that Islamic terrorism was a growing threat to society.

9/11 was the turning point when the whole world was focused on the dastardly acts of violence perpetrated by Muslim extremists and their organisations.

Acts of extremism by a tiny minority of Muslims came to be seen as a reflection of the whole of the Islamic faith. Muslim countries including those in Southeast Asia which had a high number of Muslims were looked upon as the “nexus of evil” and as potential dens for harbouring these extremists.

The unprecedented rise of skepticism against Islam led, in some countries, to the backlash of witch hunting and persecution better known as Islamophobia.

Paradoxically, instead of allaying fears it led to greater religious bigotry as zealous adherents of all faiths set up protective barriers to insulate themselves against perceived threats, or to retaliate against real injustice.

Discrimination on the grounds of religious differences quickly became a 21st century reality unashamedly practiced by some of the world’s most advanced nations.

Among the victims, it ironically provided the most fertile grounds for greater extremism. As acts of violence committed by people from other denominations were publicised, it became obvious that zealotary was not the prerogative of Muslims.

It was spread across the most marginalised and deprived communities manifesting itself in violent uprisings among different religious groups. Indeed, poverty and dire need lead to dire consequences.

Extremism has made its way into the daily lives of people as they are defined by their religious, socio-cultural, political and economic status.

Following similar paths, different kinds of stances have emerged such as political extremism, ethnic extremism, environmental extremism, human rights and animal rights extremism each defining societal causes, each asserting its particular identity and each with its own potential for bigotry. Ultimately, any belief or cause can give rise to extremism when its proponents have closed minds.

A large part of the global understanding of moderation must therefore be embedded in the concept of reconciliation where the rejection of extremism is matched by a return to moderation. There is a pressing need to remind the world that moderation runs through the heart of the great religions.

In Islam, the Prophet Muhammad counsels that “moderation is the best of actions”; in Christianity the Bible says “let your moderation be known unto all men”; the Torah teaches people of the Jewish faith that moderation in all things is a “way of life”.

In the Eastern faiths, Buddhists are urged to follow “the middle way”, to the Chinese Taoists and Confuscianists, the “ying” and “yang” principles define life’s balance.

It has become imperative for the universal values of spirituality inherent in the philosophies of world religions to be propelled into greater prominence. Values in our common spiritual heritage must be revived and used as a positive force to mediate differences and dispute.

Ancient wisdoms in advocating harmony, equilibrium and balance must be used as the basis for moderation.

Lest the discourse on moderation becomes merely academic and tautological, the concept of “moderation” itself must be given a working definition to allow it to be developed at the more practical level of policy and programmes by governments and the organisations that champion the cause.

It appears as though the old middle paths of tolerance and accommodation, conciliation and cooperation are no longer sufficient to mediate major differences in ideologies and visions, values and principles.

To work strategically on the ground, moderation must be understood in terms of the principles of compromise and collaboration.

In resolving conflict and solving impasses at the socio-cultural, political and economic levels, the middle path is one of negotiating outcomes that are acceptable to the dissenting/competing groups.

Sometimes, it is necessary to come to a compromise where each group is prepared to concede in the short term in order to gain in the long term.

For deeply sensitive issues, it is best that mediation comes in the form of a spiritual commitment to peace, conscience and reason. There may be contexts where people’s beliefs are best left where they are. Perhaps Barry Goldwater was right in thinking that “on religious issues there can be little or no compromise”.

I REFER to the letter on the Allah impasse published in theSun on Oct 18 which did not go down well with some readers who were unhappy with the compromise suggested. I was privately taken to task on email and publicly chided on Facebook for supporting the court decision.

Having been accused of insincerity and pandering to the powers that be, may I say that my comments are consistent with what I wrote more than three years ago, that is the issue is caused primarily by a poor cross-lingual translation of “God”. The following letter was published in a couple of mainstream newspapers in 2010.

“BEING trained in linguistics, in particular translation theory, I see the “Allah” issue as one involving semantics and the translation of a key religious concept – God.

The word for the Muslim concept of God (Allah) has been transposed or borrowed to represent the Christian God in the Bahasa Indonesia translation of the Bible.

Cultural and religious concepts are the hardest to translate. Many words are culturally loaded and have evolved in the holy books and its teachings among the multilingual community of followers. They are often embellished and reinforced by their distinctive sociolinguistic environment and have acquired specialised contextual meanings.

In the lexicon of a language some words have a direct referential or denotative meaning – the most obvious being a name.

“Ali” refers to or denotes the person of Ali. Others have a referential meaning as well as a connotative or implied meaning eg “pig” refers to the pig (animal) but it can be used to imply the pig’s characteristics such as “gluttony” as in “You are a real pig”.

However this expression would be culturally offensive to a Muslim or Jew to whom the pig is taboo. Similarly the idiom “like a pigsty” should not be translated literally and would need a translation relevant to the particular language and culture.

“Allah” is a culturally loaded concept in Islam both in the language of the Quran and the language of its Malay Muslim adherents in Malaysia. It is imbued with many meanings including the 99 attributes of God familiar to the Muslims.

To juxtapose “Allah” in the culturally distinct Christian milieu is to translate what is basically an untranslatable concept – both of the unity in the Muslim understanding of God and the Trinity in the Christian conception of God. These concepts are highly complex and abstract in themselves. Why confuse people further with a poor translation?

In translation theory, there is the notion of “untranslatability” and when a concept is untranslatable the translator resorts to employing the generic term supported by notes or an explanation. In this case the generic Malay word for the concept of the universal God “Tuhan” can be used in the Bible translation with notes and an explanation about the Trinity.

Translators must demonstrate the highest linguistic sensitivity and exercise the greatest caution when they translate important texts and documents. Not only must they be specialists in the subject area but linguists in their own right. Ideally, the translator must be a native speaker of one of the two languages involved and have a mastery over the other.”

In different versions of the English Bible, the terms “Lord”, “Father”, “God” are used as appellations for the Christian God, to refer to him as well as to call out to him. The same terms are used in Christian prayers chanted by the individual alone or with the rest of the congregation in a chapel or church.

Attending primary and secondary school in the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, Seremban , I grew up knowing the English version of the Lord’s Prayer and Hail Mary by heart and even mouthed them silently at school assemblies and other events where the Roman Catholic nuns offered these prayers. It would be interesting to know how these prayers are translated into Malay for a Malay-speaking Christian congregation.

Datin Halimah Mohd Said
President PCORE
What The Sun did not publish

Below, I offer my own translation of  the  Hail Mary:

English version:

Hail Mary, full of grace.

Our Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women,

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God

Pray for us sinners

Now and at the hour of our death.

Amen

Malay Translation:

Ya Mariam, penuh dengan limpah kurniamu

Allah di sisimu

Kamu dirahmati di kalangan hawa

Dan kerahmatan tunas rahim mu, Isa

Mariam yang suci, Ibu kepada Allah

Doa’kan kami yang berdosa,

Kini dan pada saat kematian kami.

Amin

I leave the readers to read into the greater implications of this translation as well as other translations of Christian texts where God in English is rendered into Allah in Malay.

A PUBLIC outcry again! This time it is with dismay and disbelief at the Auditor-General’s 2012 report which reveals yet another year of mismanagement in government spending.

Yet again, the ministries and departments whose budgets give them access to public money have abused the trust invested in them. The overspending is gross, the wastage behind it atrocious.

The officials responsible must be brought to book. Bloated claims must be investigated as incompetent civil servants have allowed themselves to be duped (advertently or inadvertently) by service providers and suppliers. Invoices and claims defeat honesty as the government spends money, showing an obvious crack in the line of authority.

How did the spending for this and that get past the scrutiny of department committees and their heads or of the minister for more important inventory? Why were departmental guidelines and the treasury instructions not adhered to? Is not accountability implicit every step of the approval?

With the PAC and other official agencies and committees standing in line to investigate the government’s yearly financial faux pas, some of these questions will be answered and assurances given that they will not happen again.

But the question of whether the government is prudent enough or its calls for austerity serious enough remains unanswered for as long as the budget is superfluous and public monies carelessly disbursed.

One has only to look at the routine activities of government departments such as meetings, workshops, seminars and conferences to realise how big the allocations must be.

Mundane as it is, the supply of food and drink is one area of regular abuse because of its very regularity. It has become normal practice to “lay out the table” at least three times a day – morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea – and lay the plates with food regardless of appetites.

This is one part of the budget which can be drastically cut down without hurting anyone except perhaps the office caterer. If the government is serious about encouraging thrift among the public, it should start by removing the unnecessary and irrelevant details in catering expenditure.

Looking at the generous spread of food served at government events, one should not be surprised if obesity is a prevalent disease among civil servants along with diabetes and hypertension.

It has been rumoured that if a whole roast lamb or several are not in the menu of government open houses, the department “has not arrived” and its KPI will be negatively perceived.

Being a bit of a socio-cultural bluff, I would like to point fingers at the attitudes and values nurtured in and by a society that has never had it so good – at least among the more affluent civil servants managing ministry headquarters and agencies in and around Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, as well as the state capitals.

Being used to the fast-track lane of managing huge budgets for the numerous programmes and activities at all levels of the community, one can become blasé and disconnected. Paradoxically, it is the ministers and deputy ministers who are in touch with the common people and can see for themselves where the real needs lie.

When one thinks of the sheer irrelevance of musical pop groups such as K Pop and their singer Psy in nurturing good values among the young, one wonders why they were factored into the entertainment in the first place.

If song and dance are the reasons why the young support these government programmes, one should not then wonder why the support was not forthcoming when it came to more serious matters.

While it is true that sports and music bring people together and promote integration among the young, there can be greater mileage in low-budget educational programmes such as language camps where young people can be encouraged to create their own music or drama.

As the next Budget draws near, it is hoped that the government will streamline a reduced allocation to the ministries, their departments and agencies. Instead of a superfluously generous budget which encourages parties to overspend and overclaim, the budget should be stringently focused on key areas that will bring the greatest development to the people.

This way, civil servants will be kept on their toes and on their heads to think harder of programmes and activities that will really benefit the communities they serve.

Ministry officials and their political masters must lead the way in showing thrift and prudence in the management of their activities. For one, the entourage which accompany them on both local and international trips can be reduced which then trims down all related expenditure.

The class of air travel is another area which can be revised to reflect the country’s austerity drive. Travel by LCC should be the first choice rather than the last resort. “Austerity For Prosperity” should be adopted as the new national slogan.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah launched a coffee table book titled On Common Ground by columnist Tuanku Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah.

The event was also graced by the Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah.

On Common Ground is a collection of 80 selected articles by Raja Zarith Sofiah that were published in her column On Common Ground and Mind Matters in theNew Straits Times and The Sunday Star respectively from 2000 to 2012.

In her speech, Raja Zarith Sofiah, who is the consort of the Sultan of Johor, thanked the King and Queen for gracing the book launch.

It was a dream for any writer to have his or her work published, she said, adding that she felt blessed to have hers fulfilled, thus allowing a larger circle of people to share her thoughts.

“Beyond our families sharing memories together, all of us, as Malaysians, share the same concerns about local and international issues,” she said.

“Through the articles I wrote, I was able to share these concerns with my readers.”

This, she said, was much more valuable than the monthly remuneration she got from the publishers.

She said it was also rewarding to meet different groups of people and be told that they had enjoyed reading her articles.

Page 132

HRH Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah is the Patron of Association of Voices of Peace, Conscience and Reason (PCORE)

Published by MPH Group Publishing, the 234-page book is priced at RM135 and is available at all major bookstores. — Bernama

WHENEVER a country’s anti-corruption efforts are discussed, a crucial point made is that there must be political will to fight the scourge. The success or failure in fighting corruption inevitably boils down to the presence or absence of strong political will. In his research on the anti-corruption measures adopted in 10 Asian countries, Jon Quah concludes that “curbing corruption in Asian countries is not an impossible dream if there is political will”.

What then is “political will”? The definitions I googled include the following:
» Demonstrated credible intent of political actors (elected or appointed leaders, civil society watchdogs, stakeholder groups, etc) to attack perceived causes or effects … at a systematic level
» Commitment of actors to undertake actions to achieve a set of objectives and to sustain the costs of those actions over time
» Reform space: intersection of ability, authority, and acceptance
» Willingness as evidenced by commitment and inclusiveness
» Sustained commitment of politicians and administrators to invest political resources to achieve specific objectives
» Concerted use of political power for the good of the nation and its people.

To summarise, political will is best seen as the commitment made by the government of the day and the relevant parties to pursue a cause (of action) to its desired conclusions.

In Asia, the two countries that rank highest in having successfully minimised, if not eradicated, corruption are Hong Kong and Singapore. By empowering their independent anti-corruption agency to adopt effective corruption control and implement the anti-corruption laws, Asia’s two richest city states in terms of GDP per capita have cleaned their once corruption-ridden societies.

By appointing honest and incorrupt individuals to public office, the most important catalyst for change – an incorruptible political leadership – is in place to exert the political will and impartially enforce effective anti-corruption measures without fear or favour.

Among the more effective anti-corruption reforms that can be adopted is the two-pronged approach which integrates political will and the people’s will. By combining the top-down efforts of the government and their agencies and the bottom-up initiatives by civil society and citizen movements, anti-corruption measures can be successfully implemented in the critical sectors such as the police, health and education services which have a direct bearing on people’s lives.

As the public outcry against corruption gets louder and as the people bray for more big fish to be caught, they themselves must admit that they are part of the corruption entrapment. It is the people who are both the givers and takers whether they are in the public or private sector. They are the small fish and the medium-size ones that feed into the mouths of the sharks. This is the ecosystem of corruption so ultimately, the people’s will is as important as the political will.

As the International Anti-Corruption Day (Dec 9) draws near, the prime minister and his cabinet must ingeniously device the ZERO TOLERANCE PLAN FOR CORRUPTION. Key to this is instilling in Malaysians not just the fear of being caught for giving or taking bribes but more importantly, the belief that it is morally wrong. As the United Nations declares:

“International Anti-Corruption Day is a time for political leaders, governments, legal bodies and lobby groups to work together against corruption work by promoting the day and the issues that surround this event.”

The time has come for the prime minister and his cabinet to stand together to sign the Anti-Corruption Declaration and in one voice pledge their commitment to wage a war against corruption. It is for them to lead the way and to walk the talk, hand in hand with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

However, as we know, political pronouncements alone are not enough. One can say a thousand times that one is against corruption and other abuses of power. One can reiterate that the government and their enforcement agencies are going all out to fight crime and corruption. If the proper measures are not put in place, the battles continue as the movers and shakers of corruption restrategise to beat the law and extract the most awesome war spoils to distribute among themselves.

Ideally, the end result of the war against corruption is the complete eradication of this debilitating disease of society. For, like a malignant cancer which destroys the body’s healthy cells and eventually causes death, corruption gnaws at the organs of society until its very heart festers with pus and poison. And without proper treatment and administration of the right drugs, the cancer cells will multiply and invade the body systems causing them to crumble.

We the government and the people of Malaysia must declare that we do not want our beloved nation to go down to the rats who spread disease and vermin. We ourselves must not be the despicable rats of society.

MODERN gadgetry including handphones, digital video cameras and CCTVs are making us impassioned observers and commentators as image upon image appears before our eyes.

As concerned members of society we are quick to sympathise and even empathise with the people we see suffering from personal and societal abuses by their “lawless” and “clueless” compatriots.

The recent brutal handling of an infant by a male staff in a foreign country was condemned by those who had the heart to watch a baby being slapped around like a dead fish. If this had happened in a Malaysian hospital, some of us would have called for the public lynching of the predator animal.

At home, the CCTV recording of a woman being hit and kicked around by a burly husband in a lift watched by her two young children, drew a public outcry which led to a police report and the man’s arrest. We are now disgusted that the brute has the audacity to smile into the camera as he is led to court.

Just last week, the sneaked report of a CCTV installed in a school toilet drew public flak and condemnation of the school management and PTA who “wisely” made the decision in order to deter school vandalism. The education department was not spared brickbats for “foolishly” approving the application.

The general objection is that toilets are private places, even sacred, where the individual alone is allowed liberties. No one else is privy to a person’s bodily functions, let alone a camera which captures toilet actions for posterity.

Developments in the UK, however, show that the new Malaysian obsession with privacy may prove to be detrimental to public security as this excerpt shows: “UK schools so unsafe that surveillance needed in the most private spaces? Since the 1990s, the UK’s Home Office has spent 78 per cent of its crime prevention budget on CCTV installations, and schools have likewise invested significant resources in their own surveillance equipment.”

In Malaysia, now that the CCTV culprits have been witch-hunted and reprimanded, we should look at the issue of school toilets squarely in the face. School toilets are private YES, but not the sacred area it is made out to be. It is not a taboo area that cannot be literally and metaphorically touched but should be seen as a utility area that the school community owns and needs to look after.

Granted schools employ cleaners to clean up after schoolchildren, but would it not be wonderfully nurturing if we get the children involved? Would this not be a hands-on way of teaching the young that ownership comes with responsibility?

As part of their character-building and ethic-instilling roles, many dedicated teachers are now organising community work such as helping the orphans and elderly, doing odd jobs or “gotong-royong” in the neighbourhood, etc. Why not involve students in looking after their school toilets?

Classes can take turns to spruce up the toilets. This can be done with proper time-tabling. And at assembly every week, incentives can be announced. There can be a prize for the class that is judged to be the best in this community effort and stars can be given to the runners-up.

When respect for toilets is nurtured and the particular skill of cleaning toilets is learnt from young, children will grow up with the right attitude and behaviour towards toilet use. Malaysian schools can then look forward to a cleaner future with toilet-trained students.

In this respect, the Japanese who are known for being sticklers for cleanliness and politeness in their daily lives, train children to clean their school toilets.

In the outer community, some of us have had horrendous experiences of Malaysian public toilets, infamous for their stench and water-ridden seats and floors. It does not help to explain that we are a water culture where we toilet clean ourselves and perform spiritual cleansing with water.

For instance, besides dealing with their bodily functions, Muslims pray five times a day and take ablution each time – which explains why the toilets in government offices and agencies are always wet. Added to this are the dirty sinks as office staff wash their oily plates of rice and curry, leaving bits of food to clog the outlet designed for running water.

Yes – Malaysians still have a lot to learn and unlearn as they strive to become a technologically advanced nation by 2020. Woe betide us if we own the most sophisticated technology and gadgetry, have superior mental capacities which have been nurtured by a transformed education system – yet fail badly in our toilet skills.