Nothing to Hide fiasco: Who is to blame?

The disrespectful and reprehensive behaviour of our youths at the Nothing To Hide 2 forum recently, has me equally angry and sad.

My first instinct was to join in the chorus of condemnation and place the blame on political parties and on the youths themselves.

But I decided to take a step back, and think, who is really to blame?

We will have to admit that it is the political rhetoric in Malaysia that has poisoned the minds of our youth.

Think about it.

It was just a couple of weeks ago, that our esteemed deputy prime minister chided former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad for being of mixed blood.

And who among us, do not know about the infamous Jamal, whose thuggish behaviour and instigations often times, cause violence to erupt to an extent that some get injured?

Nor can anyone forget about the street demonstrations that frequently turned violent and caused injuries and damage to public properties.

The truth is, as a society, we have become immune to these politics of hate, to the point that violence, disdain and insults have become a part of our psyche.

It has come to the point where this immature politics of hate has taught our children to ignore the right and wrong.

Our children and youths are being raised in an environment where differences are frowned upon, and differences of opinion are insulted.

Our youths are growing up in a society where the elders are too busy politicking or making a living, that we have no time to hear out the needs and problems of the youths.

Is it any wonder then, if this has led to our children and youths losing their moral compass and losing their safe haven where they can pour out their troubles?

Society should listen to their challenges and despairs, and point them to the right path, guiding them so that they do not repeat their mistakes and misjudgments.

It should be the society's duty to look for a solution to help these youths manoeuvre their way through these challenging times.

Instead, the society has been careless to the point that it takes the recent violent incident to wonder what went wrong, and where have the Malay cultural sensitivities vanished to. 

We must not politicise the future of our children and youth, and this requires the cooperation of all parties. 

Let this incident be a lesson to all of us. It is still not too late. 

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TARIQ ISMAIL is a Bersatu supreme council member. - Mkini