Look into educational, psychological aspects as well to address youth social issues, says Lam Thye

PETALING JAYA: Look into the psychological and educational aspects of the youth to deal with social issues, says Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

The Alliance for Safe Community chairman said that the aspects were important besides considering good city and town planning.

In response to a report by The Star on Saturday (April 22), Lee said stakeholders must ensure that there are interests from the youth in providing social infrastructure.

“We can provide the facilities for the youth, however, would they be interested?

“Learning from past experiences and with ‘mat rempit’, despite being provided with an arena where they can show off their skills, they still went on the road,” he said, adding that education on personal and community safety was equally as important.

The report cited that experts suggested better urban planning would be able to help in mitigating the social illnesses among younger populations.

Lee also said the government and experts should also look into the psychological aspects of the youth who tend to take their “extreme sport” to the road.

“We need to understand and study their psychology. Why do they prefer to do dangerous stunts in public?” he added while proposing that continuous mental support should be provided for the youngsters.

Lee commented that children who were involved in “basikal lajak” would potentially “graduate” as mat rempit, hence, prompt research and education must be conducted to mitigate the issue.

“Parents also must do their part in this, including the enforcement such as police.

“Instead of arresting and releasing the kids involved in basikal lajak, they could bring the children to their respective houses and meet the parents while educating them about the dangers of being involved in such activities,” Lee said.