Silver Lining

We were first taken aback by reports that after the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Japanese people were still following social order albeit their ordeals. They were very calm, patiently waited in lines to buy necessities (even though for hours), they shared unselfishly with others, voluntarily cut back on electricity and gasoline, and no one looted. These are stark differences to scenes observed in other disaster struck places like Acheh, Haiti and even the 'western' New Orleans.


And now, some five months after the disaster, Japanese police claim that $78 million of missing cash have been turned in. The Japs have sent the standard for ethical awareness.


We Malaysians, have a loooong way to go. Remember this image?


This was from a report in The Star of a road accident involving a truck carrying coins in Melaka. After the accident, in which coins were strewn onto the highway, motorist stopped their vehicles on the side of the highway to collect the coins. And they were not collected to be returned to the owners, even after the owners pleaded. You can read the report at the link above. And we're not talking about 100 ringgit notes, or 10 ringgit notes or heck, 1 ringgit notes. These are just 10, 20 and 50 sen. That's how cheap we are. And judging from the photograph, most of them were Malays, Muslims. We should be ashamed.

Its about time we stop adopting just the J-pop, K-pop, culture and dramas from those countries in the East. Its time we adopt their moral values, as well.