Rude, rude Indian youths

I received this email through one of the yahoo groups in which I was inexplicably made a member (that’s another story all together now). Anyway, the email represents the worrying trend which seems to be facing the Indian community in Malaysia today.

Everywhere you see, you are bound to come across rude, crass and unruly Indian youngsters. I wonder how the situation has come to this but I do agree education and the social environment of these kids play a major role in moulding them.

Anyway, here is the email, thanks to the author, one Mr Ganesan S Pillay:

“One of the regrets I had in my life was NOT sending my two kids to tamil school.

When cultures comes together, beginning in schools, look at what evolves. Nowadays it so shocking to see many Indians taking over the BAD habits , practices and cultures of some ethnic people in the schools and even out of them.

You all would have read recently about a 16 year old girl who flushed her new born child in the toilet bowl few days ago. What was shocking was she is an Indian!

The male culprit was a relative.This used to be a different culture's story, how did it come here? Schools?

Talking about schools, a recent conversation between a Notary Public (Lady) and an NGO official was the rampant sex violations and abuse within INDIAN school girls and boys from the age of 13. Oral sex is the norm it seems, because it doesn't make one pregnant!

Closer to home, two of the fairly good schools, La Salle PJ, ( my son is in standard six there) there is always a bunch of INDIAN school kids, puffing cigarettes away under the walk bridge. When I approached them one day, they just told “Poodah Maire”!

The other school my 13 year old daughter goes to, Assuntha, has many Indian boyfriends (can tell by their behaviour and proximity) in motorbikes dropping and picking up Indian girls to and from school. Is this a case of parents neglect?

Neglect due to the strains of earning a living? Is this cause due to cultural assimilation?
Or is this the new age order? Somehow, I feel early Tamil schools education instills proper morals to Indian kids.”

Okay, that was what he wrote. For me, I find it unsettling to blame other races and ethnic for the bad habits picked up by the Indian youths. If at all anyone should be blamed for the sorry situation, it must be the community itself, the political leaders and the family of these youngsters.

Perhaps by going to Tamil schools, some of these rotten attitudes could have been evaded but how sure are we that the youngsters won’t be influenced by outside negative elements at all, especially when they leave the Tamil schools to go to the secondary level.

As I mentioned above, education plays a massive role in building a good personality in these kids. Good school, good teachers with good teaching will never allow these youngsters to stray.

But equally important is the stability these kids receive in their homes. The household must be economically viable and stable, the parents must have good communications with the children and above all the children must feel wanted and loved at home.

If we look at the wayward Indian kids today, what we find most is that their family background is not one that can be termed as being a conducive environment for proper upbringing.

There are many reasons for this - a failed migration from rural to city, squalid living conditions in a squatter area, the absolute necessity for both parent to work etc.

Thus, unsurprisingly, the children get neglected in these households and the result of that is what we see now in the unruly, rude and brainless Indian youngsters.

So then, if that is the problem, how do we overcome them? I am worried its too late to change the present lot. However effective changes can be made to ensure future kids don’t turn up like these. And for the present rotten apples, I am sure most of them will come back to the right path after a certain age!

And that means we have to endure these pain in the butt for some years at least.