Malas....

And it seems to afflict the males more....

Laziness kills.... It kills the conscience, mind and body. It makes one into a pacat. Cos lazy people basically have to leech of everyone else around them eventually. Laziness is an attitude problem. And in today's world where we are supposed to be super prihatin, laziness comes in different guises.

I teach 16 year olds. Truancy is a problem. When a student is truant from class, there is not much we can do. Their minds begin to rot cos what they basically do is do nothing. When very little action is taken on them, they become emboldened. And all it takes is just a couple of weeks and you'll have a confirmed lazy bum. After a couple of months, the lazy bum's mind would be so rusty and corroded that it would be very difficult to get them to even sit down and complete a written exercise. All it takes is just a couple of months for this regression to take place. Undoing it is most difficult.

Az is a amiable fler who is very good at sweet talking. I don't buy much into what he says the few times he was in class. Having skipped a good part of his lower secondary year and his PMR exam entirely, he just couldn't sit still. His mind was too lined with karat. Work is an anathema for him. Once he told me that he still got to Form 4 despite not sitting for PMR! This is one sesat kid who thinks he has managed to outwit the system. So, by and by he influenced quite a few of his classmates to play truant with him.

Y on the other hand is a good looking , whom with a little suaveness and language skills might land himself in some modelling career. But unfortunately he and Az are bosom buddies. So he goes missing quite often as well, since he is Az's sidekick. I see the worst of peer influence at work here. The few times he was in class, I noticed that writing a few sentences took a great deal of effort. And he used not to be this bad.

F, on the other hand, was one of those who tried to follow Az but after his class teacher informed his father, he stopped skipping classes. Something must have taken place at home. The importance of parental role is seen here. The teacher called both Az's and Y's parents too but nothing came of it. Does that mean that their parents can't control their boys? Or that they just don't care? I recall a parent whom I met recently. I told her that her son was skipping many classes and very often absent from school. Both times, I got only silly grins. I think too many parents wash their hands off actual parenting these days.

We lament at the increasing crime rates. Snatch thefts is on the rise everywhere. Ever wonder why? Where do you think this skill-less kids end up? Their conscience is already deadened and hard work is something alien to them. There are certain housing estates where walking out is a scary experience because a gang of motorcyclists would zero in on you and encircle you like a pack of vultures. Many old people have given up their morning walks for the fear of being robbed. When I learned about this, I realized that this is the kind of future that awaits such kids.... For those who have not awaken to this, we do not realize that we've a hand in creating a slum, ghetto kind of living too... Melentur aur biarlah di waktu rebung... and to bend a bamboo, you need to use metal wires, basically some hard disciplining. The mind can a very devious place, even at a very young age... and the first response is always to want things easy....

But of late too, I've learn that you can fool your way through many things. I've noticed that the largesse of the civil service is a good place to feign many ailments... especially that which cannot be diagnosed physically. Claim psychiatric reasons, and you can take MCs and be excused for so many things. I am not saying that there is no such thing as a psychiatric problem. The mind is a very wired organ and many things can go wrong. What I observed is, the same mind, being so wired, also can wire up many excuses and reasons; many of which can fool even the most trained professional. Go read Along Came the Spider by James Patterson. Some years ago, I had the opportunity to visit a psychiatric hospital. I noticed this there... I didn't actually see fat people there. These days, if people claim they have psychiatric problem and are fat.... I'd have my doubts. Worries do make people fat... depression may cause us to eat more too... but to be able to function generally quite normally in most areas and then claim to be depressed.... and look prosperous? I'd have my doubts.

Perhaps then we should treat laziness as an ailment too... a magic pill, anyone? It'd solve many problems that I face now. And malas being a more male problem? ..... there are more males it may seem but the females are catching up too!