By YS Chan

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is right in saying that one of the marks of a developed country is the civic-mindedness of its citizens.

As he said in a recent speech, building a civic-minded society is one of the biggest challenges we face as we strive to meet the objectives of Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50), the 30-year transformation plan introduced by Prime Minister Najib Razak when he tabled Budget 2017 last year.

“You can have the best laid plan and the road map to the top 20 nations, but without attitudinal, behavioural changes in Malaysia, you are not going to make it,” Khairy was quoted as saying. He was addressing a gathering of about 500 youths.

It’s doubtful that our young people truly understand the meaning of good behaviour or courtesy, although it is the fifth principle of the Rukunegara.

Nearly all Malaysian students can recite the Rukunegara but what they have gained from it is merely superficial knowledge with little application.

Just knowing what courtesy means is not enough. Courtesy is behaviour that requires practice every minute of our lives – at home, in the neighbourhood, at the workplace and wherever else people gather.

It is not something that can be switched on at will. That would be pretence. It must come from the heart and a genuine delight in pleasing others. If we cannot understand that, there is no way we can be courteous.

Those who are rude are uneducated, however learned, religious, rich or powerful they may be. Sadly, there are too many of such people at all levels of our society. It is a vicious circle. Children learn from parents who are bad examples, and new drivers ape the attitude of inconsiderate motorists just to look cool.

Learning from the Japanese

As a society, we are starkly different from the Japanese. To the uninitiated, the constant bowing and nodding may seem pretentious. But their true character was laid bare by the destructive earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

Amid the devastation and misery, the civility of the Japanese remained steadfast. In one of the most admirable scenes amid the horrific disaster, we saw them patiently queuing at dispensing machines to pay for items essential for their survival, such as drinking water.

If such a tragedy were to strike other countries, the people there would have ripped open and looted not only the dispensing machines but also stores and supermarkets.

It would be a gargantuan achievement for us to reach Japan’s current level of economic and societal development by 2050. So why not emulate the Japanese in courtesy, productivity, punctuality, tidiness and cleanliness?

For a start, Khairy’s ministry can conduct training workshops on courtesy.

Any Malaysian with good communication skills and who knows the meaning of courtesy can be roped in to attend a two-day train-the-trainer programme, after which they can conduct one-day workshops to train youths to be courteous.

In time, other ministries and large corporations will also do the same for all levels of society as a corporate social responsibility.

There is a ready programme available with a 72-page trainer’s manual and 82-page participant’s workbook, which contains 34 published articles on courtesy that are applicable to 50 industry sectors.

It’s been a life-changing experience for those who have attended the training. Some wept with guilt and pledged to turn over a new leaf. Most did not realise how rude or inconsiderate they were.

The training was effective as each workshop was limited to 25 participants in a U-shape seating. Answers were not spoonfed to them and they were required to identify which behaviour was courteous and which one rude, and to share their experiences of both.

Apart from practising courtesy during training, every participant was required to declare specifically what he or she would do immediately after the workshop to be more courteous.

There are many customer service training programmes on the market, but few people realise that without courtesy, there is simply no customer service. Many companies are not customer-friendly precisely because courtesy is grossly lacking at the organisational level.

Courtesy is not just something nice to have. It is the essential thread in the fabric of society. It determines the quality of our life. We feel rotten when it is lacking.

With courtesy, there is less argument at home, the workplace and in politics. Fewer internal battles will be fought, leading to greater productivity and prosperity for our nation.

YS Chan is an FMT reader.

With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s (or organisation’s) personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.