23 Jalan Seri Damai,
Taman Bukit Indah,
40220 Kuala Lumpur.
Dear fellow Cempakans,
I’m writing this letter to share with you ways to shape a better future for our country. This is because we,students, don’t pay much attention to what is happening in our country.I’m quite sure many of you are totally unaware of how our citizens have gone from bad to worse over the past few years. Crime rates have been increasing... Our country’s becoming dirtier by the day. These issues are caused by none other than, irresponsible citizens. There are many things that can cause one to have the label “irresponsible citizen”. Ranging from stealing someone’s car to throwing that plastic wrap which comes from the packet of milo you drink. How many times have you seen the words “snatch thief,abduction,robbery” appear in the newspapers? How many times have you heard someone complain about how our country is polluted? Exactly. All this has to be changed. We all want the next generation and the generations after that to live in a peaceful, harmonious and a clean country,don’t we? So, the question is, how can we?
Well, simply by making each and every Malaysian a responsible citizen. No,I’m not saying that everyone will transform into a responsible citizen at one shot, but more of making it happen slowly,step by step. Ever heard someone older saying, “I wish I learnt it when I was in school. It would have been so much easier...” ? If you have, then,what I am trying to say from this ,is that, if we were to sculpt citizens to become more responsible, the best place to start is in school; this is the stage where humans’ minds are influenced easier and tend to follow when told to do something. For example, if someone was brought up speaking 2 languages, they’ll be able to speak both languages fluently as they have been taught since young. So, what does being a responsible citizen mean? Being a responsible citizen means keeping our country clean, helping the community, and most importantly ,obeying the law.There are several things that can be done by us students and the school to bring up a better future for our country.
Firstly, as individuals, we should learn how to love and take care of the environment. Schools should encourage this by having environmental-related events. Amongst them are, having a “Recycling Day” once a month, whereby, each month, on a designated day, students have to bring as many newspapers or old recyclable items to school. Each form will have a classroom to put their recyclable items in. The idea of this event is to get the students to compete against each other; the form with the most amount of recycled items at the end of the year win grand prizes. This event makes students carry out the practice of recycling both directly and indirectly. There are also many other environmentally related events that can be carried out by the school.Thus, as students, we must participate in these events in order for it to be successful.
Other than that, we must also remind ourselves not to litter wherever we go. If you can’t find a dustbin nearby when you need to dispose something, just wait until you come across one. Don’t throw it on the floor, because if you do, you are not only effecting other people ,but the environment too. And, if it’s something reusable, keep it instead. You can make something nice out of it. So, remember your three Rs -Reduce,Reuse, Recycle!
Secondly, you may think that we, students, have limited chances to help out with the community. You are wrong. There are so many things out there that can be done by us to help the community. The problem with our generation is that, we are too glued to our gadgets that, we don’t bother about what’s going on around us. So, shut down your laptops and start helping out; Be a volunteer at an orphanage.Speak to the citizens at the old folks’ home, make them feel loved. Donate some of your allowance to charity- It doesn’t matter if it’s only a bit, because, if you constantly do it, it will end up as a lot. Many people in this society ignore the people who are less fortunate just because they have a disability. They think that people with disabilities are unable to do the things we do in our everyday lives; one of them being work. We can help them by making awareness campaigns as school groups. The message will be powerful because we, young students are the ones who care.
Lastly,as a citizen ,we must obey and abide the laws and regulations of the country. The reason why some people become criminals is because they don’t have enough money, so they end up stealing , snatching , sometimes even injuring innocent people just to get money. And why don’t they have money? Because they don’t have jobs. Because they were poorly educated when were younger. This is a lesson to all of us students. We should always pay attention in class; strive to do our best, so in the future, we will not end up having to break the law in order to get something we want.
My dear friends, there are no boundaries to what will happen in the future. Thus, In order to have a better,brighter future for our coming generation and the generations after that, we must work together to make our vision a success because ,nothing is impossible.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Cheng Yen.
(916 words)
