Move to teach integrity to the young

PETALING JAYA, Tues:

The need to nurture future leaders with integrity begins at a tender age. Swiss ambassador Dr Urs Stemmler said that in view of this, a campaign to mould them at a young age to realise the importance of integrity was essential.

Speaking at the launch of the Integrity Campaign for primary school children by Malaysian Society for Transparency and Integrity, the Swiss Embassy, Education Ministry and New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd, Dr Stemmler said that the campaign involved the participation of 60 schools in the Klang Valley over a period of six months.
He also added that corruption was like a contagious disease and had to be stamped out.

The campaign has four segments covering a range of activities anf information on them will be published with Didik (which is available as a pullout with the New Straits Times and Berita Harian on Mondays).

Assoc Prof Mohamad Dr Ali Hasan, who is the deputy president of The Malaysian Society for Transparency and Integrity, said that there were a number of internal and external plans to overcome corruption.

"These plans are more action oriented than just about creating awareness."

He said that while the main focus of the campaign was for primary schools, the campaign would also be reaching out to secondary and tertiary students soon.