Social issues need to be addressed

MYT 3:43:59 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation has lauded the move to launch a pilot project in 10 selected areas in the Klang Valley, to reduce social ills and crimes. 

Its chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said it was a good step to address the nation's social issues and find ways to overcome them particularly with the numerous social problems such as drug addiction, juvenile delinquency and crime, child abuse, vandalism, littering and moral degradation. 

He was responding to the announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Monday that the Government would embark on a pilot project to reduce social ills and crimes in 10 areas in the Klang Valley by providing necessary facilities for the residents there.  

"There is an indication of declining values which, if not addressed truthfully, will jeopardise our aspiration to make Malaysia a fully developed nation. The world today is confronted with a very disturbing phenomenon," said Lee, adding that modernisation and economic development also brought about new problems. 

Lee said that society not only had to cope with social problems and economic challenges but also issues of tremendous concern to racial integration, unity and nation building. 

The fact that hardly a day passes by without reports of crimes and social ills has prompted many to ask what was wrong with society, he said in a statement Friday. 

"The reality is that crime continues to be committed by the socially deviant and even by young people. We have to examine the causes of these criminal acts and find the answers to these problems. 

Lee said the Government, non-governmental organisations and the entire community needed to embark on a massive "Values for the Nation" programme to promote human values in society. 

"We must not be a society of selfishness and greed, madly pursuing material wealth. We have to build communities imbued with a caring spirit, moral awareness and spiritual enlightenment," he said.