IN this materialistic world which values only worldly possessions and demeans the essence of character, it needs to be asked how one can develop and maintain self-awareness and self-consciousness during the course of our life.
Almost two decades ago, words such as jealousy, distrust, corruption, abuse were highly unlikely to be heard of. Today, these words have become an everyday occurrence. What does this tell us about society, individuals and the nation? A society unappreciative of moral values, ethics and proper mannerism is not worth living in.
Issues arising in Fiji
What arouses jealousy and is the root cause of it?
Siblings are jealous of each other, colleagues are jealous of each other’s progress, neighbours are envious of their neighbours’ good fortune and the list goes on.
What do individuals achieve by these acts of immorality? Are they making progress in life successfully by sabotaging someone’s character? If these individuals had human values ignited in them then they would certainly be singing another tune and proceed on an enlightened path rather than one of darkness and greed.
When a problem arises, the root cause of it needs to be derived. We are in a crisis where our society has degraded moral values!
Then, who is to be pinned for not imparting moral values education in Fiji? Is it the parents’ role, religious institutions’ or teachers’?
In 2012, while in a taxi in Suva; the driver commented on people saying Fiji was very fortunate to have an increasing number of security personnel in the country. The taxidriver replied it was such a shame that Government had to increase the number of security personnel to protect its citizens from certain dangerous individuals when inculcating human values and humility would eradicate the offenders in the first place. It was a thought-provoking moment because a positive change from one end could also mean a devastating one for the other side.
Anecdotal evidence suggests not enough is being done to increase self-awareness and self-consciousness in schools. It may be so because of the examinable subjects that need to be covered. However, some of our youths lack mannerism and for any small thing that happens, laughter of utter chaos is essential to them.
At home, parents are aware that human values are important for their children, even to the extent that they know their child lacks it. But birthdays now are more about gifting children expensive gadgets (smartphone, iPhones, tablets and play station) rather than buying a book that elaborates the purpose of life, the goal of a human life and a sense of direction.
Language is the means of communicating ideas, thoughts, and feelings. It’s distinctly for the human race.
However, a trend has emerged in the vulgarisation of words in Fiji. A simple example of this is, in Hindi the word “maal” refers to important goods, wealth, delicious food and things (Rajpal Hindi Dictionary, 2011). Today, it is being used in Fiji to refer to girlfriend or boyfriend also used to refer to an attractive female or male. The implication here is that people and goods are on the same platform as these individuals do not value the way they speak a language and utilise words.
To add on, swearing for the younger generation is as important as sound is to the words.
Suggestions
The issues highlighted so far have only surfaced in the last decade with the internet and technology to take some blame for the crisis. Change can only take place in Fiji within the present generation if we want to be morally upright people who prioritise values over materialistic components in everyday life.
The media can contribute significantly by educating the public on ethics and teaching life’s philosophies. Radio stations can play a role in encouraging guest speakers from all walks of life and organisations to participate in discussions to raise awareness of self-consciousness. Quizzes can be organised on air every day to get more people to elaborate on how to handle issues that deal with lack of ethical and moral behaviour.
Furthermore, the print media can allocate a column weekly for educators to highlight the values their students and the younger generation need to gain with urgency.
In 2015, at a seminar series, Professor Subramani proposed the idea of designing a postgraduate course which addressed some of the issues raised here.
He put these questions to the audience.
Where in all our offerings, be it science or humanities, where do we make connections between all the subjects and link them to the fundamental question about who we are, and what is our purpose?
If teachers are equipped with the knowledge to facilitate discussions in classroom on moral values, self-consciousness as well as self-respect, it will reduce illogical and irrational behaviours Fiji can certainly do without.
Policy makers could incorporate in the curriculum a vital text on human values which relates to the education field.
The book Education in Human Values (2012) introduced and edited by Professor Subramani has well-structured 54-lesson plans on different values in life that are pertinent to Fiji’s context.
Some of these include;
* Resilience;
* Vegetarianism;
* Positive thinking;
* Gratitude,
* Gender equality;
* Reconciliation;
* Unity in diversity;
* Ethnic integration;
* Managing anger;
* Learning from failure;
* Self-confidence;
* Self-belief; and
* Compassion.
To strengthen this generation by inculcating these values will only give a paramount grounding for the present and overtly for the future.
Prof Subramani lucidly puts it “a balanced education cannot ignore the moulding of human character and imparting of important values that will produce a fair, just and productive life for everyone on this planet. The foundation of all education is human values and a supreme mission of education is to help students to live by these values daily” (Subramani, 2012, p. 2).
As values need to be instilled from an early age, a suggestion here is to have values education an examinable subject in secondary schools. This component needs to be made compulsory from Year 9 and continued until Year 13. Why examinable one may ask? Mere talking and discussion will be appropriate for a certain age group but for the present generation, preparing for an examination requires effort and it is this effort that is needed to produce citizens in each field who have the essential human values in them no matter how advanced they become in life. Furthermore, by actioning this in secondary schools, Fiji would be the first to set an example for other Pacific Island nations dealing with the same crisis.
Concluding remarks
In the book Between the Lines (2008), Professor Satendra Nandan consoles the nation by stating: “I do feel deeply that despite our man-made tragedies, we must keep faith with Fiji. Just as Fiji cared for generations before us, Fiji will continue to care for generation after us.” (Nandan, 2008, p.328).
The issues we face today have not been imposed on us by an external body, it has come from within and can only be solved by Fiji. A challenge now awaits policy makers, parents and guardians to assess the level of priority given to moral values education in our schools and evaluate the effective and influential level that needs an immediate intervention in the lives of the present generation.
* Prashneel R Goundar is a lecturer at the Fiji National University’s School of Communication, Language and Literature. The views expressed are his and not of this newspaper. For comments or suggestions email prgoundar@gmail.com.
