Extracted from Strait Times
Forum
IT PAINS me to read about the dishonesty of our university students
('NTU hostel fined for rigging inter-hall games'; ST, Feb
1
.
An event that was meant to promote sportsmanship and camaraderie
was turned into a mockery of all that it aimed to be. This does not
bode well for Singapore.
I am not making a moun-tain out of a molehill. If the students
could do what they did for a trophy, just imagine what they would
do if the stakes were much higher.
All that mattered to the students involved was winning - at all
cost and by all means; even if the trophy in this case was just the
title of champion.
I hate to ponder what the students would do where it really counts,
that is, in their exams.
I shudder at the thought of these students graduating and joining
the workforce or becoming businessmen or, worse, politicians.
Singapore is known for its above-board, clear-cut and honest
dealings in all matters, business and politics, so much so that
sometimes we are taken advantage of.
However, must we sacrifice the values of honesty and integrity for
the sake of winning? Must we lie and cheat to gain an advantage?
The answer is no.
At no time should our integrity and honesty be undermined. Just one
instance of dishonesty is enough to shake people's confidence in
us, and enough incidences will sink our credibility
completely.
What will these students do when they graduate? They have shown
themselves to be dishonest and conniving in small things like the
inter-hall games; will they not be dishonest too in bigger things
like their exams and, in the future, in business and
politics?
Mr Adrian Yeo admits that it was a small mistake. I disagree with
him that it was small, or that it was a mistake.
It is by no means a small thing to cheat, and it is by no means a
mistake; it was a deliberate act.
I would think twice about hiring such people for my organisation,
and thrice when deciding if I should assign them greater
responsibility.
They would have to show that they have repented and changed, not
just outwardly but right to the core, before I would trust them
with bigger things.
If one cannot be trusted in small things, how can one be trusted in
greater things?
LEOW SHIN HWAH
do you think these people deserve trust or be given a
second chance?