Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan

Tan Sri Faizah Mohd TahirMOTHER Teresa is famed to have answered when asked, “What canyou do to promote world peace?” Her answer was, “Go home andlove your family.”The 21st century has brought to our doorsteps the moral question of family and itsinstitutions. The weakening of our social fabric today is seen through the increasein child abuse, domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, rising divorce, breakdownof morality and substance abuse, to name a few societal predicaments.Unresolved issues in families spill into the larger base of communities, holding inmany instances an entire society at ransom of their safety and security, its peaceof mind.Are our family institutions stable anymore?Findings from the nationwide MalaysianPopulation and Family Survey (MPFS 2004)show that divorce rates are up by 1.8% to2.2% of the population from 0.7% recordedin 2000.More than 98% of couples from thesame survey still perceived their familyrelationships as strong and cohesive.Ironically, we are witnessing increasingnumbers of divorce and stress in familylife which is directly affecting our valuesystems.About 10% of the elderlyin Malaysia live alone,according to MPFS 2004,while 1 in 4 claim thatthey have not received anyfinancial assistance fromtheir children who liveaway from them.With the ageing population, we are alsowitnessing increasing numbers of “sandwich generations”; a generation whereworking adults have to support both their elderly parents and young children.About 10% of the elderly in Malaysia live alone, according to MPFS 2004, while 1in 4 claim that they have not received any financial assistance from their childrenwho live away from them.We are starting to observe an increasing number of children neglecting, abdicatingand franchising their responsibilities or even abandoning their parents.This will become more pervasive as the society ages. It is critical to nip this trendin the bud. It has often been said, “A parent can take care of many children butmany children can’t take care of even one parent”.The role of parents in inculcating values cannot be underscored. It is imperativethat parents, as the first and most important teacher to their children and role-57