KUALA LUMPUR: The fight against corruption should begin at home with parents instilling such values in their children, says a body language expert.
Dr Leow Chee Seng said this during an anti-corruption forum organised by Malaysia Corruption Watch on Friday night.
"A children's education originates from their parents. If adults have the wrong perception on corruption, then what about the children?" said Dr Leow who works for South China Morning Post.
Citing his own research conducted on a group of eight-year-old pupils, he found that these kids struggled to understand the concept of corruption due to lack of exposure.
"So, they will instead learn from the television and social media," he said, adding that children may in turn emulate the wrong values.
"They will think to themselves, 'if there's an opportunity, then take it, no one will see'.
"This, will then make the 'culture of it is okay' to spread in society," he said.
While stressing that education on anti-corruption must begin at an early age, Dr Leow urged the Education Ministry to "take action so that children can understand the meaning of corruption at a young age."
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner Datuk Shamsun Baharin Mohd Jamil, who was also present at the event, lamented that national corruption issues were being politicised by certain parties.
"Sometimes, there are certain individuals or groups who want to be champions on the issue of corruption."
"But, when they are personally faced with a similar issue, they refuse to walk the talk," he added.
