Tema Hari Kebangsaan 2013

Malaysiaku Berdaulat : Tanah Tumpahnya Darahku

Rukun Negara adalah ideologi kebangsaan Malaysia. Ia telah dibentuk pada 31 Ogos 1970 oleh Majlis Gerakan Negara iaitu setahun selepas berlakunya tragedi 13 Mei 1969 yang menghancurkan perpaduan dan ketenteraman negara.

Teks

Bahawasanya negara kita Malaysia mendukung cita-cita hendak:

• Mencapai perpaduan yang lebih erat di kalangan seluruh masyarakatnya
• Memelihara cara hidup demokratik
• Mencipta satu masyarakat yang adil di mana kemakmuran negara akan dapat dinikmati secara adil dan saksama
• Menjamin satu cara liberal terhadap tradisi-tradisi kebudayaannya yang kaya dan berbagai-bagai corak
• Membina satu masyarakat progresif yang akan menggunakan sains dan teknologi moden:

Ikrar

Maka kami rakyat Malaysia berikrar akan menumpukan seluruh tenaga dan usaha kami untuk mencapai cita-cita tersebut berdasarkan atas prinsip-prinsip yang berikut:

• Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan
• Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara
• Keluhuran Perlembagaan
• Kedaulatan Undang-undang
• Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan

PENJELASAN PRINSIP RUKUN NEGARA

Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan

Bangsa dan Negara ini telah diwujudkan atas kepercayaan yang kukuh kepada Tuhan. Melalui kepercayaan beragama inilah akan menjadikan bangsa dan negara ini sebagai satu bangsa dan negara yang berdaulat. Perlembagaan Persekutuan memperuntukkan bahawa Islam ialah agama rasmi Persekutuan, tetapi agama dan kepercayaan-kepercayaan lain boleh diamalkan dengan aman dan tenteram di mana-mana bahagian di dalam Persekutuan dan tindakan membeza-bezakan terhadap seseorang warganegara atas alasan agama adalah dilarang sama sekali. Jawatankuasa penggubal Rukun Negara menyedari akan pentingnya agama dan kepercayaan kepada Tuhan dalam kehidupan manusia. Ketiadaan agama boleh meruntuhkan keperibadian seseorang dan juga sesuatu bangsa dan negara. Menyedari betapa pentingnya keteguhan pegangan anggota masyarakat terhadap ajaran agama masing-masing, prinsip ini telah dipilih sebagai prinsip pertama dalam Rukun Negara.

Kesetiaan Kepada Raja dan Negara

Malaysia mengamalkan Sistem Demokrasi Berparlimen dan Raja Berpelembagaan dengan Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong sebagai Ketua Negara. Selaras dengan kedudukan Yang di-Pertuan Agong sebagai Raja mengikut Perlembagaan, sistem beraja juga diamalkan di setiap negeri, dan Yang Di-Pertua Negeri bagi negeri-negeri yang tidak beraja. Seri Paduka Baginda, Raja-Raja dan Yang Di-Pertua Negeri adalah merupakan lambang perpaduan rakyat. Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara bermaksud, bahawa setiap warganegara hendaklah menumpukan sepenuh taat setia, jujur dan ikhlas kepada Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Di peringkat negeri pula, rakyat dikehendaki menumpukan taat setia kepada raja yang memerintah negeri tempat mereka bermastautin tanpa mengurangkan taat setia kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Keluhuran Perlembagaan

Prinsip ini menekan perlunya rakyat menerima, mematuhi dan mempertahankan keluhuran atau kemuliaan Perlembagaan Negara. Perlembagaan Negara adalah sumber perundangan yang tertinggi. Fungsinya untuk memberi perlindungan kepada setiap rakyat negara ini akan hak dan keistimewaan mereka sebagai warganegara. Setiap warga negara Malaysia dikehendaki menghormati, menghargai, serta memahami maksud dan kandungan serta latar belakang sejarah pembentukan Perlembagaan Negara. Perlembagaan Negara telah digubal berasaskan kesepakatan semua kaum dan semu pihak di negara ini. Dengan demikian ia merupakan satu kontrak sosial rakyat yang tidak boleh dipersoalkan dan diganggu gugat oleh mana-mana individu atau mana-mana pihak. Perlembagaan Malaysia menentukan pola politik dan kedudukan sosio-ekonomi rakyat di negara ini. Ia adalah sumber rujukan bagi segala hal yang berkaitan denga sistem pemerintahan, perundangan, kedudukan dan hak sosio-ekonomi rakyat.

Kedaulatan Undang-Undang

Keadilan diasaskan atas kedaulatan undang-undang di mana setiap rakyat sama tarafnya di sisi undang-undang negara. Kebebasan asasi terjamin bagi semua warganegara Malaysia. Undang-undang negara berasaskan kepada Perlembagaan. Oleh itu kedaulatannya perlu diterima dan dipertahankan. Tanpa undang-undang, hidup bermasyarakat dan bernegara tidak aman dan stabil. Oleh itu undang-undang negara dijamin pula oleh institusi kehakiman yang bebas dan berwibawa. Setiap negara memerlukan undang-undang untuk mengawal dan mewujudkan satu masyarakat yang aman, stabil dan makmur. Kewujudan undang-undang akan menjamin kehidupan anggota masyarakat dapa bergerak dengan licin dan teratur tanpa sebarang kekacauan, di mana semua anggota masyarakat akan merasas selamat. Hak-hak semua rakyat boleh diamalkan dengan bebas asalkan tidak melanggar undang-undang serta perkara-perkara sebagaimana yang dijamin oleh Perlembagaan Negara. Hak-hak dari kebebasan yang dijamin oleh Perlembagaan itu tidaklah termasuk hak menggulingkan kerajaan sama ada dengan kekerasan atau dengan cara-cara yang tidak menurut Perlembagaan.

Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan

Prinsip ke lima ini menekankan perkembangan personaliti dan tingkah laku seseorang rakyat. Tujuannya ialah untuk membentuk warga negara yang bersopan santun dan bersusila selaras dengan kempen Budi Bahasa dan Nilai Murni yang dijalankan sekarang. Sifat individu yang bersopan santun dan bersusila adalah paling bermakna dan amat penting dalam konteks perhubungan antara satu sama lain dalam masyarakat pelbagai kaum di negara ini. Sikap bersopan santun dan bersusila patut diamalkan bagi membentuk seseorang individu dan masyarakat yang berdisiplin serta bermoral tinggi yang akan membantu mewujudkan sebuah masyarakat yang harmoni. Tatasusila ini membenci dan mengutuk tingkah laku atau perbuatan yang angkuh atau menyinggung perasaan seseorang atau sesuatu golongan. Tingkah laku sopan juga mengandungi suatu darjah kesusilaan yang tinggi dalam kedua-dua kehidupan persendirian dan kehidupan bernegara. Prinsip ini menjadi panduan supaya perilaku masyarakat sentiasa terpelihara dan berkembang sesuai dengan keperibadian bangsa dan nilai-nilai murni.

Membina Kecemerlangan Sekolah

If you put a frog in water and slowly heat it, the frog will eventually let itself be boiled to death. We too, will not survive if we don't respond to the radical way in which the world is changing (Charles Handy, 1990)-The Age of Unreason

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Prinsip penambahbaikan kemajuan sekolah:-
1. Mempercayai dan mengkaji bahawa semua pelajar boleh belajar, diajar dan boleh mencapai kemajuan.
2. Mempercayai dan mengakui bahawa sekolah adalah kunci utama bagi kejayaan para pelajarnya.
3. Pembangunan kemajuan sekolah memerlukan falsafah, matlamat, objektif, dan dasar sekolah.
4. Pembangunan kemajuan dalam sekolah merupakan usaha untuk mewujudkan satu budaya sekolah yang lebih positif.
5. Kelolaan dan pengurusan bilik darjah yang berkesan ialah aspek penting untuk meningkatkan lagi pencapaian akademik sekolah.
6. Penyelesaian masalah sekolah harus ditumpukan kepada punca-punca yang menyebabkan timbulnya masalah itu dan bukannya kepada gejala-gejalanya.
7. Pembangunan kemajuan sekolah perlu dilaksanakan atas dasar usaha sama dan bukannya semata-mata usaha pengetua seorang sahaja.
8. Maklumat balas yang berterusan merupakan mekanisme penting perlaksanaan pembangunan kemajuan dalam sekolah.
9. Mempercayai dan mengakui  bahawa ibu bapa dan masyarakat sekitar mempunyai pelbagai kemahiran dan sumber tenaga yang dapat membantu pihak sekolah.
10. Kemajuan sesebuah sekolah memerlukan pengetua yang mempunyai kepemimpinan yang berkesan.

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Tatacara bagi Deligasi

Konsep
Tugas-tugas yang dideligasikan atau perwakilan kepada pihak lain.

Apakah sebenarnya tugas deligasi?
1. Tugas deligasi mestilah melebihi tugasan orang bawahannya.
2. Tugas-tugasnya adalah penting tetapi bukanlah tugas yang utama.
3. Tugasnya adalah bersesuaian daripada tugas orang bawahannya.
4. Sesuatu tugas itu mestilah sesuai dengn kemampuan jawatannya.
5. Melakukan tugas yang digemari dan tidak digemarinya.
6. Tugasannya tidaklah berpusat kepada tugas pengurus.

Bagaimana melakukan deligasi ?
1. Menentukan tanggungjawab yang jelas.
2. Melengkapkan kesepadanan kuasa mutlak dan menentukan had-had sesuatu tugasan dengan bijaksana.
3. Menentukan laporan-laporan mengikut keperluan.
4. Memastikan tanggungjawabnya diterima oleh orang bawahannya.
5. Memberitahu hanya kepada sesiapa yang perlu tahu.
6. Memantau kesesuaian proses perjalanan sesuatu tugasan.
7. Mengagihkan kepada orang bawahannya sesuatu maklumat penting yang diterima.
8. Melengkapkan sokongan dan bantuan, tetapi mengelakkan diri daripada menentang pemimpin.
9. Menjadikan kesilapan sebagai pembelajaran melalui pengalaman.

Sumber : Abdul Ghani Abdullah et al. (2008)

Comparative Of Higher Education Among Singapore and India.

Introduction

            The value of education’s has received global recognition over the past two decades. The world today, in the 21^st century, is a very different one. We now live in a very interconnected world. Economies have become globalized, and this has become an irreversible phenomenon. As the term “global village” suggests, people have come to relies that a country’s unilateral actions could have monumental consequences.  In fact, economic globalization has led to greater interdependence between countries and universities around the world are concerned with producing graduates who are multilingual, cross-cultural and possess a global perspective.

            The business of education has also undergone a tremendous revolution. The original of education –gaining knowledge  for its own sake, and learning to play one’s part  in one’s own society-are still important but no longer the sole purposes. Another  purpose of education to prepare and develop a person for the globalized economy. Demand for education has been growing throughout the world, as countries open up and become more economically dynamic. According to, Newman (2004), ‘The advent of the knowledge-based economy (KBE) and the rapidly expanding globalization

[1] are re-shaping the fabric of the higher education landscape’.

            Higher education can bring significant benefits to both individual and society as a whole.  In terms  of  the global economy, the importance of higher education becomes paramount as knowledge plays  an increasingly key role in economic development. The benefits of higher education, showing that uneducated workforce in increases productivity to sustain employment and earn higher income.

            The transformation of universities, form being a community of scholars  devoted purely to the pursuit of intellectual activities to the modern university has taken plays that societies plays on higher education.  According to Flexner, (1930), ‘A university is not outside but inside the general social public of a given era….(It is) an expression of the age as well as an influence operating upon both present and future’.

            Today, in the first decade of the 21^st century, another set of related terms is emerging that  includes transnational education, borderless education, and cross-border education. The term borderless refers to the blurring of conceptual, disciplinary, and geographic borders traditionally inherent to higher education. In recent years, information technology has improved our quality of life tremendously. Technology has a powerful effect on how institutions function in the marketplace. It is also reshaping pedagogy and teaching of learning base on lifelong learning.

            Ironically, technological wonders brought  the rapid advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in its various manifestations. At the fundamental level, ICT will influence and change the lifestyle of the learner.

            This paper commences by examining the recent reforms  and development of higher education throughout the world. The paper then turns to the structure and development of the higher education system in Singapore and India to demonstrate and compare their similarities and differences.

Global Higher Education Reforms

            The world today, in the 21^st century is equated as the era of globalization. According to Sehugurensky (1999),..the development  of higher  education in global context cannot be isolated from the emergence of the knowledge-based economy, in which productivity relies on science, technology, knowledge, management and also human capital.[2] Economies  have become globalized  and this has become an irreversible phenomenon.  We now live in a very interconnected world.

            In  our lives,  we no longer deal with only our neighbors or people of our community and culture, but increasingly, with people from all over the globe. To give a better life for their citizens, countries cannot isolate themselves economically . They must open up to the global marketplace. In order to prosper in this global marketplace, their people must be familiar with the norms of international business and commerce. They must feel comfortable and confident with people with people from all over the world.

            The business of education is the recent development of higher education. Regarding with this situation, private institutions are providing  both access and the skills needed for the economy of the 21^st century. Public universities  increasingly resemble private institutions in funding patterns. According to Philip G. Altbach, (1998), The idea of an academic degree as a “private good” that benefits the individual rather than a “public good” for society is gaining acceptance. The “logic” of today’s market economies and an ideology of privatization have contributed to the resurgence of private higher education and the establishment of private  institutions where none existed before.

            Within a knowledge-based economy (KBE) environment, the “shelf-life” of learned knowledge and skills gets shorter as demands for new skills and knowledge happen at a faster rate. One of the keys to the continual growth and well-being of universities is their ability to successfully anticipate future skills and knowledge, and to provide programmes to support the life-long learning needs of the workforce. There are ‘New Economy’ skills related to hoe to operate in the global economy more in the domain of people, management or leadership skills such as skills for communication, negotiation, innovation and coping the change. These skills are applicable to every one in the workforce.

Higher  Education In  Singapore

            University education reforms has been among the most important  policy agenda item for Singapore in recent years. As a public policy area, university education is not immune from the profound influence of such concepts as accountability, performance-based assessment, quality assurance, and market relevance, which prevail in a wider policy context of public-sector reforms and governance changes since the 1990s.

            According to Michael H. Lee and S. Gopinathan, (2003), ‘Three major elements of university policy changes and reforms can be identified.’ The first is the transition from quantitative expansion to qualitative consolidation in the course of the shift from elite to mass higher education. The second is the diversification of financial resources for the university sector. Finally, there is a common trend of comprehensive reviews of higher education systems.

            According to (Tharman, (2004), Singapore has a rigorous  education system that consistently deliver high quality education for nearly every student up to secondary level, and about 80% of the primary one  cohort for post-secondary education. The outcome of this system was to produce high averages in the performance of students in schools and universities. However, in order for Singapore to continue to remain a leading Asian centre of excellence, the education system needs to move beyond its current emphasis on effiency to one that ‘promotes flexibility, competition and a diversity of educational pathways’. It will achieve high averages performance among the students.

            Singapore remains one of the largest  markets for transnational higher in the world and is a particularly important market for Australian and U.K. universities. Private institutions, such as Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), are key local partner and have been drawn to foreign partnerships as a way of offering degrees. According to Richard Garret, (2005), “the latest announcements by Singapore’s government desire to reduce dependence on foreign higher education.

According to the Singapore Department of Statistics, in 2003 around 170 private tertiary providers in Singapore enrolled 119,000 students. Of those, 140 offered programs in collaboration with foreign institutions and enrolled 89,000 students in such programs (75 percent of the total). This shows the importance of transnational provision in Singapore. Apart from that, Singapore Department of Statistics (2000a) : 239, mentioned that the higher education sector, including three universities and four polytechnics, as a whole occupies more than 30% of public expenditure on education, which accounts for S$1.1 billion or S$600 million dedicated to university education (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2000a : 239). Strictly speaking, the higher education system of Singapore is universal in nature.

The Singapore higher education market is undoubtedly becoming more competitive. A  government target of 60 percent cohort participation by 2010 and adult learning initiatives spurred by the proposed national open university will see longer term cohort decline offset by increased youth participation and a more active lifelong learning sector.

The cases of Singapore reveal that government tend to follow the principle of “autonomy for accountability” to steer the university from a distance. Instead of implementing direct control, quality audits and governance reviews are commonly adopted by the government to devolve more responsibility upon individual universities and maximize the "value for money" for the public expenditure spent on the university sector. In Singapore university now have to respond to external pressure for achieving better performance and to be more accountable, which makes the universities corporately responsible for their own performance and outcomes. Therefore, quality is more likely to be interpreted as efficiency of resource allocation more than as the quality of teaching and learning processes.

The government  once again revealed a strong economic bias when it announced that these reforms would enable Singapore to “compete in the next century as a creative nation with additional sets of skills and capabilities”.[3] Several notable trends may be detected in the flurry of reforms. First, there is a continuing and overriding concern with the role of higher education in sustaining economic competitiveness. Even the reform of the arts colleges has been undertaken toward this end. This is perhaps not surprising since the government views human resources as the only means of economic survival.

Second, the government is concerned that creativity and innovation take root in higher education. Its curricular reforms and emphasis on Research and Development (R&D) parallel similar reforms in the primary and secondary sectors, where reforms under the banner of "thinking schools" are being planned and implemented at breakneck speed. It will not be easy to persuade teachers, students, and parents that changes need to be made to established modes of teaching and learning, especially since these practices are seen as having served Singapore well in the past. A local researcher has also pointed out further inhibiting factors toward the development of a thriving R&D culture--namely, the lack of an indigenous R&D tradition and the relative lack of interest among many local undergraduates in an R&D career.[4]

Higher Education In India

            Higher education in India also seriously challenged. Globalization has generated a new dilemma. India has significant advantages in the 21st century knowledge race. It has a large higher education sector—the third largest in the world in student numbers, after China and the United States. The system encompasses approximately 304 universities including 62 “deemed universities,” 11 open universities, 14,600 colleges, 10 million students, and 0.5 million teachers. Besides these public and private institutions, the exact number of private colleges, international institutions, and enrollment involved in Indian higher education training and vocational skills is not yet  known.

            According to Suma Chitnis, (2002), when India achieved independence from British Colonial rule in 1947, only a few thousand students were enrolled in higher education. Today, with 250 universities and approximately 8 million students, India has the world’s second-largest system of higher education. Unfortunately, the students enrolled account for barely 6 percent of the population of the relevant age group. This figure is disturbingly low as compared to the countries of North America (60 to 70 percent) and Europe (40 to 60 percent), or the recently developed Asian Tigers (33 to 55 percent), with which India needs to compete as globalization advances.

Despite the massive increase in student numbers, the fact that enrollment (as a percentage of the population of the relevant age group) remains poor in India illustrates how development is defeated by the phenomenal increase in the population of the country since independence—one billion according to the latest (2001) census, up from about 33 million in 1947. At the same time, it is important to recognize that enrollments in higher education suffer because of the slow progress in primary and secondary schooling. With great effort, the country recently achieved 100 percent school enrollment, but 40 percent of the children drop out before they complete primary school and only an estimated 20 percent complete high school.

There are a small  number of high quality institutions, departments, and centers that can form the basis of quality sector in higher education. The fact that the states, rather than the central government, exercise major responsibility for higher education creates a rather cumbersome structure, but the system allows for a variety of policies and approaches.

Philip G. Altbach, (2005), in “A World-Class Country without World-Class Higher Education: India's 21st Century Dilemma”, said that  India educates approximately 10 percent of its young people in higher education, still a rather low number by international standards—compared to more than half in the major industrialized countries and 15 percent in China. India's academic system has an unusually small high quality sector at the top—most of the academic system is of modest quality at best. Almost all of the world's academic systems resemble a pyramid, with a small top tier and a massive sector at the bottom. India has a tiny top tier. None of its universities occupy a solid position at the top. A few of the best universities have some excellent departments and centers, and there are a small number of outstanding undergraduate colleges.

India’s college and universities very difficult to provide top-quality of learning. The education system in India provides few incentives and lack of accountability at any level to perform to highest standards. Even the small top tier of higher education faces serious problems. Few in India are thinking creatively about higher education. There are no field of higher education research. For example, in China more than two-dozen higher education research centers, and several government agencies are involved in higher education policy.

Now, as India strives to compete in globalized economy in areas that require highly trained professionals, the quality of higher education become increasingly important. To compete successfully in the knowledge-based economy of the 21^st century, India needs enough universities that not only produce bright graduates for export but can also support sophisticated research in a number of scientific and scholarly fields and produce at least some of the knowledge and technology needed for an expanding economy.

How can India build a higher education system that will permit it to join developed economies ? India will need to create a dozen or more universities that can compete internationally to fully participate in the new world economy. Several of the well-endowed and effectively managed private institutions maintain reasonably high standards, although it is not clear that these institutions will be able to sustain themselves in the long run. They can help produce well-qualified graduates in such fields as management, but they cannot form the basis for comprehensive research universities. This sector lacks the resources to build the facilities required for quality instruction and research in the sciences, nor can enough money be earned by providing instruction in the mainstream arts and sciences disciplines.

 Apart from that, it also can  promote advanced technical and professional education and research to be self-sufficient and to remain in the forefront of knowledge. Alternately, it can concentrate on providing a variety of vocational and technical courses to equip the population to take advantage of the employment opportunities that are generated as multinationals locate labor-intensive production processes in India. The second alternative may create dependence, but it will enable many Indians to earn well. The challenge is to combine government funding with privatization, to build the resources required to accomplish both options, and optimize the country’s gains from globalization.

Discussion

Higher education reforms between Singapore and India are totally different. This two countries has a difference academic cultures. Diverse social, political, economic, and cultural structures have formed that serve to differentiate outwardly similar countries and influence their organizational environments and those who work in them. That is, institutions of each nation have developed their own shape, and culture and these, at different levels and emphasis, are worthy of reflection.

Our focus here is on the diffencere  in academic cultures in both countries between India  and Singapore. On the surface, one might expect the academic cultures in both countries to be almost identical given their colonial heritage. After all, India was a British Colony for many years and Singapore gaining independence in 1965, Singapore rapidly built up its higher education base on labour-intensive economy. The most obvious difference we have found between academic cultures in Singapore and India is the dominant expectations in terms of research, publishing, teaching and government policies regarding with higher education.

AS far as we are aware, academics in Singapore have yet to experience similar pressure with regard either to professional practice or departmental resources. Fewer external research funding opportunities are available in Singapore, perhaps reflecting a less intense emphasis on large-scale, internationally relevant research projects. While valuable research is conducted in Singapore, in our experience, it is more likely to be personally motivated rather than institutionally or structurally driven and focused on local in-school rather than international issues.

According to Jandhyala, (2002), The government of India’s 1997 discussion paper on Government Subsidies in India provided a revealing insight into government thinking. For the first time, higher education (as well as secondary education) was classified in the discussion paper as a “nonmerit good”  (and elementary education as a “merit good”), government subsidies  for which would need to be reduced drastically. After that, Ministry of Finance has  partly modified its earlier classification  of good. It reclassified  higher education into a category called “merit 2 goods”, which need not be subsidized by the state at the same level as merit goods.

The higher education system in Singapore has gone through the process of massification in tandem with a significant increase in the participation rate of university up to 21%, since 1990s. Education at Indian universities; the faculties of the arts and humanities, which account for 60% of the total enrollments in higher education in the country have fared the worst.

The two public universities in Singapore--the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU)-have been urged by the government to assure and enhance their quality through the recruitment of talented local and foreign academic staff, a stringent tenure policy, and monetary rewards for good teaching and research performance.

At present, the world-class institutions are mainly limited to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and perhaps a few others such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. These institutions, combined, enroll well under 1% of the student population.

It is widely believed that in India no student has ever been denied admission at any of the six IIMs for lack of funds. However, the Singapore government, which does not suffer from a shortage of public funding, intends to take a preventive approach to avoid the over reliance of universities on the government as their sole source of funding before the problems of financial cutbacks occurs. (Michael H. Lee & Gopinathan , 2003)

The most recent change in Singapore lies in the restructing of the university sector. The National University of Singapore (NUS) will be transformed in a university comprising three autonomous campuses, while the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will expand into a full-fledged, comprehensive university and Singapore Management University (SMU) will continue it role as a “niche” university specializing in business and management education.

Based on Indian Universities, Anthony Stella, (2002), said that,  with 259 university-level institutions, more than 10,750 colleges, 8 million students, and 400,000 teachers, India has one of the world’s largest higher education systems. While the numbers may look impressive, they cover only 6 percent of the relevant age group, and 88 percent of student enrollments are in undergraduate education. Ensuring the quality of education provided to this small percentage is vital to the success of the nation. There is at present no system of quality assurance and accreditation of cross border education operating in India.

The case of Singapore reveal that government tent to follow the principle of “autonomy for accountability” to steer the university sector from  a distance. Quality audits by the government to devolve more responsibility upon universities and maximize the “value for money” for the public expenditure spent on the university sector.

The core mission and values of higher education in Singapore – to educate responsible citizens and for active participation in society, to advance, create and disseminate  knowledge through research and to provide an open space for higher learning and for life-long learning. (Michael H. Lee & Gopinathan, (2003).  Regarding  with higher education in India, that is not clear who bear the responsibility. From the policy perspective, when the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) was established it was given the mandate to advice the University Grants Commission (UGC)  and the Ministry for Human Resource Development on standards of higher education, and a formal mechanism to dispense this function is yet to be put in place. Although established and funded by the UGC, the extent to which the NAAC’s advisory role will have a direct bearing on policymaking is not yet clear.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, this  paper discusses and comments on the recent higher education reforms in Singapore and India. The realities of a rapid changing world of interdependence  and competition in international trade, focus on the university’s responsibility to serve the societal needs in response to financial and public pressure imposed  upon higher education institutions. The challenges facing higher-education are both global and local in nature. While the trends set forth by globalization and the advent of ICT will influence and change the learning processes.

            Reforms has been introduced because universities in this two countries want to transform themselves before they can serve their communities. Indian universities have not yet reached the status and prestige of excellence compared Singapore universities. However, universities still have to meet with various frustrations like the shortage of resources and the lack of appreciation by their communities on their way towards international excellence.

            From my perspective, the academic working culture in both countries offers different types of reward and opportunity.

            The opening up of the education sector to private schools and universities will make the system more robust to internal and external challenges. Private higher education is emerging as one of the most dynamic of ideology of privatization that is so influential at present and with the trend worldwide to cut public spending.

            Higher education provides a board array of benefits to both individual and society. The quantifiable benefits of higher education extend beyond labor market and economic impacts and warrant more scrutiny. In any country, higher education reforms could go a long away toward improving the prospects for local and sustainable economic development, social stability and individual prosperity.

References:

Altbach, P. (1995). "Problems and Possibilities: The US Academic Profession." Studies in Higher Education, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 27-45.

Altbach, P. (1998). Comparative Higher Education: Knowledge, the University and Development. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong.

Altbach, P. (1999). "The Logic of Mass Higher Education." Tertiary Education and Management, no. 5, pp. 107-124.

Gopinathan, S. (1997). "Globalization, the State and Education Policy in Singapore." In: Lee, W. O., and Bray, M. (eds.) Education and Political Transition: Perspectives and Dimensions in East Asia. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong. pp. 68-80.

Schugurensky, D. (1999). "Higher Education Restructuring in the Era of Globalization: Towards a Heteronomous Model?" In: Arnove, R. F., and Torres, C. A. (eds.) Comparative Education: The Dialectic of the Global and the Local. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. pp. 283-304.

Singapore Department of Statistics. (2000a). Yearbook of Statistics 2000. Singapore: Singapore Department of Statistics.

Winter, R., Taylor, T., and Sarros, J. (2000). "Trouble at Mill: Quality of Academic Worklife Issues within a Comprehensive Australian University." Studies in Higher Education, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 279-294.

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[1] Globalization has also underscored the imperative for institutions to internationalize. Internationalization poses a major challenge to higher education system.

[2] Human Capital - The set of skills which an employee acquires on the job, through training and experience, and which increase that employee's value in the marketplace.

[3] Co Committee to Upgrade LASALLE and NAFA, Creative Singapore: A Renaissance Nation in the Knowledge Age (Singapore: author, 1998), 38.

[4] C. B. Goh, "Science and Technology in Singapore: The Mindset of the Engineering Undergraduate," Asia Pacific Journal of Education 18, no.1 (1998): 7?24; C. B. Goh, "Imported Technology: Its Idea and Development," part 1. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 71 (1998): 41-54.

This essay mainly publish in year 2005*

Background Violence In Schools

            Violence in American schools has increased dramatically. In looking at some recent figures for the school year 1995-1999, there were 103,900 cases of violent crimes reported. There were also 5,000 cases of forcible rape, 28,000 for robbery and 69,600 for aggravated assault reported.

            What do we know about violence in the school ? Chuck Hibbert tells us that “Violence knows no urban, suburban, or rural limitations. It can happen anywhere”. Urban schools suffer most from violence. Many of these schools serve neighborhoods troubled by violence and gang-related crime. According to him also, “violence is conflict between two individuals that results in physical altercation”.

            Most agree that youth violence is a major problem in American society. According to, Journal of American Medical Association, December 2001, “between 1994 and 1999, there were 220 school associated violent events resulting in 253 deaths – 74.5% of these involved firearms.  Handguns caused almost 60% of these deaths. In one year, more children and teens died from gunfire than from cancer, pneumonia, influenza, asthma, and HIV/AIDS combined (Children’s Defense Fund).

            Violence at school is too much. Many adults worry about the negative effects of violence in schools. Charlot expands the concept of school violence using a three-level classification :

(a)    Violence : hitting, physical injury, sexual violence, thefts, crimes and vandalism;

(b)   Incivilities : harassment, rude language, disrespectful behavior;

(c)    Symbolic or institutional violence: understood as the students’ feeling of pointlessness about staying in school for many years; learning viewed as an unpleasant obligation, that forces young people to study subjects and contents that do not arouse their interest; the impositions of a society incapable of inserting the young into the labor market; the violence of power relations between students and teacher. Also viewed as violence is the denial of professional identity and satisfaction to the teacher, and also the fact that they are forced to endure students’ absenteeism and indifference.

One of  today’s  most serious problems in schools and in society is the growing culture of violence. In order to link the development of spirituality in school. Counseling to the facilitation of conflict resolution and the reduction of violence. In these case I agreed with Daya Singh Sandhu, “clearly, school violence is on the rise, and teacher, parent, administrators and communities are increasingly feeling the need to take action to prevent violence. As the pressure to develop programs increases, schools are increasingly turning o school counselor for leadership and guidance”.

According to Denise C. Gottfredson, “schools have great potential as locus for crime prevention”. School teams of administrators, teacher, and others school personnel were responsible for implementing the program.

Warning Signs  Initiative

            Educators and schools boards across the nation are trying various

measures to improve school safety. So a number of different strategies are being tried in school to help youth accurately identify potential signs of violent behavior. In this article, the American Psychological Association (APA) and Music Television (MTV) joined together to launch warning signs a youth anti-violence initiative.

            Warning signs is part of APA’s public education campaign, entitled Talk

to Someone Who Can Help, that stresses the important of counseling or Psychological services and good mental health. (Peterson & Newman, 2000)

            Another strategies to help youth identify signs of violence behavior were

more than 500 anti-violence forums held throughout the country and view of real school violence’s by video. Experts also provide information on the sign that youth display that may lead to violence.

            A number of school have develop program that focus in building students

self-esteem and developing  social skill to improve themselves. The role of the school counselor, as that concern adult, becomes an important function for the counselor in linking spirituality with violence prevention today’s school face unique set of demands. They are expected to provide an education in basic skills to a large, widely varying student population while  at the same time preparing their students for a technologically sophisticated work force. (Sehechty, 1997)

            The warning sign guide designed by MTV is an appealing brochures that

is intended to help youth recognize potentially dangerous thoughts, feelings and behaviors in themselves or peers, both with regard to violence directed outward as well as violence  directed toward one’s self. The goal  of this warning signs initiative program has widely expanded  practitioner involvement at the national and community levels  to help prevent youth violence.

Objective Of The Study

This study were designs to use of the warning signs program as widely

expanded practitioner involvement at the national and community levels to help prevent youth violence. Secondly, the goal of this study to conduct of effectiveness  of warning signs in educating young people in a high- risk, urban community about the signs of potential violence and notice of this signs.

Methodology

            This study used two types approaches; the pre-intervention questionnaire

and post-intervention questionnaire. Participants  in this study attended an urban, vocational, public high school located in New York city. The questionnaire of seven open-ended questions were designed  by the researchers  to assess student awareness in the seven areas targeted by the warning signs program. A total of 53 eleventh grade students composed the initial sample were divided into three classes (Classroom 1 : 23, Classroom 2 : 15, and Classroom 3 : 15 ). The demographics of the students sample with regard to race and gender largely mirrored the demographics of the school population.

            This approach delineates four prongs of influence in the outcome of potential violence among youth : (a) personality traits and behavior, (b) family dynamics, (c) school dynamics , and (d) social dynamics. Traits and Behavior prong were assembled by the researchers into six general  themes for aid with analysis and additional future research design : (a) coping/anger management, (b) narcissism, (c) behavior signs, (d) depression, and (f) rigidity.          

            After two months, participants again completed the questionnaire assessing their awareness of the warning signs of violence and the actions needed to prevent aggression in each of the seven targeted areas. The descriptive nature of the responded, data analysis was largely qualitative. Students  responses  to questions  about what they can do to prevent violence in others or themselves.

Conclusion

            The warning signs program in this study were very importance. The students in this study identify a lots factors to carry  out youth violence. The value  of violence prevention programs must be addressed through  multifaceted interventions  that target the community, the family and the school system itself (Fink, 2001).

Several violence prevention program have integrated components  focusing on the

promotion of virtues and development  culture  peace. The culture of peace presupposes the fight against in equalities and social exclusion, as well as respect for right and citizenship. School may be privileged places for the fight against violence, provided their staffs include respected professionals, with proficiency pedagogy. According to,  Werthein, 2001, “ the culture of peace try to solve problems through dialogue, negotiation and mediation, in order to render war and violence unfeasible”.

            The importance of  a meaningful understanding of children’s attitudes toward aggression is a critical component in effective violence prevention.

Implication For School Counselors

            Counselors, as leaders through professional development, can work with teacher and others school staff to understand and accept the development and expression of students identity. Programs must be implemented long term and must not only address student behavior and personality traits, but family, school and social components as well. (Moffitt, 1997) Pallone & Hennessy, 1996; Widom, 1995).

            Counselors should pay some attention of children. They need to provide alternatives to violence for  problem solving to encourage more frequent, open, and genuine communication between students and the adults who care for them at home, at school and in community (Gaughan, 2001).

            School counselors also are being asked to rethink their role. They must begin to actively advocate for comprehensive violence prevention initiatives. Many writers have encouraged them to see themselves as educational leaders, students advocates and social change agents. (Clark & Stone, 2000). The findings from this study also have important implications for the design of school counselor preparation programs.

            In addition, this study’s might serve to facilitate meaningful parental involvement in reducing youth violence and promoting their healthful social and emotional development.

There fore, school counselor  training programs need to include competencies for spirituality in counseling to prepare school counselors to provide successful violence prevention programs.

References:

Fink,  P.(2001). Problems with and solutions for school violence : The

Philadelphia experience. In M.Shafii (Eds.),School Violence :Assessment, measurement, prevention (pp. 231-250). Washington,DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Gaughan,E., Cerio,J., & Myers,R.( 2001). Lethal Violence in schools: A national

 survey final report. Alfred, NY:Alfred University

Gottfredson D. C. (1994). The School-based promotion of social competence

: Theory, practice, and policy. In R.J. Haggerty, N.Garmezy, M.Rutter,and L.Sherrod(eds.),Risk and Resilience in Children: Developmental Approaches. Cambridge : University of Cambridge Press.

Moffitt, T.E. (1997). Adolescent-limited and life-course-persistent offending :

A Complementary pair of developmental theories. In T. Thornberry (Ed.), Developmental theories of crime and delinquency (pp.11-55). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

Peterson,J.L., & Newman, R.( 2000). Helping to curb youth violence:

The APA-MTV “Warning Signs “initiative. Professional Psychology : Research and Practice, 31(5), 509-514.

Sandhu, D.S.(2000). Foreword. Special Issue : School Violence and

Counselors. Professional  School Counseling, 4(2),iv-v.

Sehechty, R C.(1997). Inventing better schools: An action plan for educational reform.

San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Stone,C., & Clark,M (2000). School counselors and principals : Partners in support

of academic achievement. NASSP Bulletin, 85(624), 46-53.

Werthein,  J. (2001). Juventude, violencia e cidadania. Brasilia : UNESCO.

Journals

Applications of Classical Conditioning (2006, February 19). Exploring Psychology

Journal of American Medical Association, December 2001. Reterieved  from

http://www.mipt.org/Source.asp?id=173

http://neahin.org/programs/schoolsafety/gunsafety/statistics.htm

Websites

Violence in Schools (2006, February 21). Warning Signs  Initiative: Reterieved  from http://www.academon.com/lib/paper/20515.html

 Violence in Schools (2006, February 21). Warning Signs  Initiative: Reterieved  from  http://www.academon.com/lib/paper/15218.html

Violence in Schools (2006, February 21). Warning Signs  Initiative: Reterieved  from http://www.academon.com/lib/paper/12700.html

The Challenge of School Violence (2006, February 21). Warning Signs  Initiative: WebLesson . Reterieved  from http://www.crf-usa.org/violence/school.html

Kepentingan Rukun Negara dan Wawasan 2020

Proses pembangunan negara kita mengalami perubahan yang pesat sejak kebelakangan ini. Pelbagai dasar dan program sudah dirangka bagi memacu dan menjayakan pertumbuhan politik, ekonomi dan sosial negara supaya selari dengan perkembangan dunia masa kini. Dalam usaha menjadikan Malaysia sebagai negara maju dan moden, sektor pendidikan mempunyai kepentingannya yang amat luas kepada pembangunan negara. Peranan pendidikan dapat mengubah gaya dan corak masyarakat serta negara dalam konteks permodenan  dan perkembangan dunia masa kini. Tranformasi masyarakat berlaku daripada pertanian kepada masyarakat industri, daripada masyarakat berpengetahuan kepada masyarakat informasi maklumat sesuai dengan  perkembangan Teknologi Maklumat dan Komunikasi (ICT) dewasa kini. 

Persaingan di peringkat global telah menghasilkan satu gelombang baru dalam perencanaan dasar dan program negara ke arah menjadikan Malaysia sebagai negara maju dan moden. Bertepatan dengan pembangunan pesat negara abad ini, aspek perpaduan kaum  tidak wajar diketepikan. Integrasi kaum perlu dipupuk melalui pendidikan dan persekolahan (Abd. Rahim 2005). Pendidikan harus memainkan peranan penting untuk mencapai Wawasan 2020 bagi menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara maju berdasarkan acuan sendiri.  Intipati kepada pertumbuhan pesat bagi mencapai halatuju pembangunan negara kita, kandungan dan kefahaman berhubung dengan prinsip-prinsip Rukun Negara dan Wawasan 2020 perlu dihayati setiap lapisan masyarakat di negara ini. Dengan demikian, kemajuan  negara dapat dicapai dan dikecapi dengan pantas oleh masyarakat kita. Pembangunan mapan yang berasaskan pengetahuan (knowledge), teknologi dan  pengurusan perlu digandingkan dengan perpaduan seluruh rakyat Malaysia yang berbilang kaum dan keturunan supaya Malaysia terus maju dan berdaya saing di peringkat global.

Kepentingan Rukun Negara

Penggubalan Rukun Negara pada tahun 1970 adalah bersandarkan kepada keperluan menimbulkan semangat dan identiti yang sama bagi semua rakyat Malaysia. Rukun Negara yang disifatkan sebagai ideologi kebangsaan difikirkan boleh mengeratkan perpaduan kaum memandangkan masyarakat akan mempunyai fikiran, perasaan dan nilai-nilai yang sama. Di antara prinsip-prinsip Rukun Negara ialah;

(i)            Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan;

(ii)          Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara;

(iii)         Keluhuran Perlembagaan;

(iv)         Kedaulatan Undang-undang; dan

(v)          Ksopanan dan kesusilaan.

Sumber : Ranjit Singh Malhi, (1996)

Secara umumnya, kelima-lima prinsip ini bertujuan mewujudkan sebuah negara Malaysia yang bersatu padu serta sebuah masyarakat Malaysia yang adil, demokratik, liberal dan progresif, Berdasarkan prinsip yang pertama, iaitu Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan di mana semua rakyat Malaysia harus mengakui bahawa Tuhan melebihi sebarang kuasa lain. Islam yang dipilih sebagai agama rasmi Persekutuan Malaysia telah menjadi rujukan dan panduan keseluruhan umat manusia. Walau bagaimana pun, agama-agama lain boleh dianuti oleh rakyat. Secara umumnya, seseorang yang patuh dan taat kepada ajaran agamanya mempunyai budi perkerti yang mulia serta sifat-sifat yang terpuji. Keteguhan imannya dan bersikap tolong menolong kepada orang yang susah tanpa mengira kaum. Berdasarkan kepercayaan kepada Tuhan yang Maha Berkuasa rakyat Malaysia mempunyai sikap rendah diri dan sentiasa bersyukur dan menghargai nikmat yang diberikan oleh Tuhan.

Prinsip kedua yang menekankan aspek Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara meletakkan Yang diPertuan Agong adalah lambang perpaduan negara kita. Dalam konteks perhubungan rakyat dan Raja; rakyat harus mencurahkan taat setianya kepada Raja manakala Raja atau pemerintah harus menyediakan perlindungan kepada negara dan seluruh rakyat jelata. Hubungan timbal balas ini meletakkan asas kesetiaan tidak berbelah bahagi dalam kalangan rakyat lantas membentuk semangat kebangsaan yang boleh menyatupadukan rakyat semua. Sebagai contoh, jika seseorang rakyat Malaysia yang berada di luar negara menghadapi kesusahan, maka kedutaan negara kita sebagai wakil Yang diPertuan Agong bertanggungjawab untuk membantunya (Siti Zuraina et.al., 1992). Peribahasa Melayu berbunyi, “di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung” seharusnya menjadi amalan rakyat Malaysia. Justeru, setiap rakyat Malaysia sewajarnya mengetahui asal-usul masing-masing supaya tidak lupa aan kedudukannya di mata pihak lain. Sikap rendah diri dan memahami akan kepentingan orang lain dapat membentuk perpaduan dalam kalangan masyarakat kita.

Keluhuran Perlembagaan mengkehendaki setiap rakyat menghormati dan mematuhi Perlembagaan. Perlembagaan merupakan undang-undang tertinggi negara. Oleh yang demikian, setiap warganegara Malaysia seharusnya patuh akan Perlembagaan supaya negara menjadi aman dan damai. Dalam konteks ini, tiada individu yang terkecuali daripada mematuhi Perlembagaan. Perlembagaan bertanggungjawab menjaga hak rakyat serta menjamin kemakmuran dan perpaduan negara. Sebagai contoh, seseorang tidak boleh mempersoalkan kesetiaan seseorang rakyat lain berdasarkan keturunan atau kaum. Pada hakikatnya, Perlembagaan menentukan bentuk pentadbiran serta melindungi hak asasi manusia secara keseluruhannya.

Prinsip Kedaulatan Undang-undang bertujuan menjamin keadilan dalam negara Malaysia. Husin Mohd Tap et.al.,(2007) menegaskan undang-undang dapat menjamin keadilan serta keamanan kerana setiap rakyat tertakluk pada perlaksanaan undang-undang. Dengan kata lain, semua rakyat adalah sama di sisi undang-undang. Sesiapa yang melanggar undang-undang negara akan dihukum tanpa mengira bangsa dan kaumnya. Di Malaysia, undang-undang yang sedia ada memang cukup baik dan relevan dalam membendung masalah seperti jenayah,penipuan, penindasan dan sebagainya. Keadaan ini dapat dibuktikan di mana kes-kes jenayah berada pada indek rendah berbanding dengan negara-negara lain di rantau ini. Keadaan masih terkawal kerana setiap rakyat Malaysia memahami situasi ini, aspek keamanan dan keselamatan harus dipelihara selamanya.

 Prinsip kelima bermakna bahawa rakyat Malaysia harus bertolak ansur, bertimbang rasa dan berkelakuan baik. Pengamalan prinsp Kesopanan dan kesusilaan ini boleh membawa kepada perhubungan yang harmoni dalam masyarakat kita. Rakyat yang bersopan santun dan bertatasusila dapat membentuk masyarakat yang bersatu-padu.  Prinsip ini sangat penting untuk mewujudkan masyarakat yang menghormati dan menghargai kepentingan kaum lain. Sesuai dengan Malaysia yang terdiri daripada masyarakat majmuk, rakyat harus menghormati dan sling memahami adat resam dan nilai hidup kaum lain dan tidak menyinggung perasaan orang lain.

  Secara kesimpulannya, prinsip-prinsip Rukun Negara sangat penting dan wajar dipraktikkan agar pembentukan masyarakat ke arah perpaduan, demokratik, adil, liberal dan progresif dapat dicapai dengan mudah.

   Kepentingan Wawasan 2020

 Wawasan 2020 merupakan perancangan strategik jangka panjang yang berkaitan dengan halatuju pembangunan negara Malaysia menjelang dekad akan datang. Dalam tempoh masa ini kelak, Malaysia akan menjadi sebuah negara maju berdasarkan “acuan sendiri” (Malaysia, 2001). Dasar pembangunan mapan memerlukan negara merangka pelan tindakan bagi mencapai matlamat menjadi negara maju. Pembangunan negara yang bergantung kepada pengetahuan teknologi, pengurusan dan sebagainya adalah kekunci kejayaan negara daam meningkatkan kemajuan, kemakmuran dan pengagihan kekayaan dapat dilakukan dengan lebih adil dan saksama.

  Cetusan Wawasan 2020 oleh bekas Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-4 iaitu Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad dalam satu forum perniagaan pada 28 Februari, 1991 telah merencanakan sembilan cabaran yang bakal diharungi oleh negara bagi menjadi sebuah negara maju pada masa itu. Di bawah ini tersenarai sembilan cabaran Wawasan 2020, iaitu:

Cabaran1	Membentuk sebuah negara bangsa yan bersatu padu;
Cabaran2	Melahirkan sebuah masyarakat yang bebas, teguh dan mempunyai keyakinan diri;
Cabaran3	Membangunkan masyarakat demokratis yang matang;
Cabaran4	Membentuk sebuah masyarakat yang kukuh moral dan etikanya dan utuh nilai keagamaannya;
Cabaran5	Mewujudkan masyarakat yang matang dan bersifat toleran;
Cabaran6	Membentuk masyarakat yang bersifat sains serta progresif;
Cabaran7	Mewujudkan masyarakat berbudi dan berbudaya penyayang;
Cabaran8	Menjamin pembentukan sebuah masyarakat yang adil ekonominya; dan
Cabaran9	Mewujudkan masyarakat yang makmur.
	Sumber : Ramlah Adam et.al., (2003) m.s.220

  Perpaduan merupakan asas kekuatan sesebuah negara yang sangat penting.  Melalui dasar-dasar kerajaan seperti Dasar Pembanguanan Nasional, Dasar Bahasa Kebangsaan, Dasar Kebudayaan Kebangsaan dan Dasar Pendidikan Kebangsaan telah memberi sumbangan yang sangat besar kepada perpaduan di negara ini. Pelbagai lapisan masyarakat telah melibatkan diri dalam banyak dasar ini bagi mencorak dan membentuk indentiti negara Malaysia yang bersatu padu.

 Bagi melahirkan sebuah masyarakat Malaysia yang bebas, teguh dan mempunyai keyakinan diri yang tinggi sewajarnya rakyat Malaysia berbangga dengan pencapaian serta tabah menghadapi cabaran. Bangsa yang gagah dan tabah adalah bangsa yang ingin berjaya dan sanggup berjuang mempertahankan maruah negara. Setiap warganegara harus menyedari peranan masing-masing selari dengan usaha memajukan negara ke persada dunia supaya Malaysia sentiasa dikenali di seluruh dunia.

 Masyarakat Malaysia yang demokratik perlu dipupuk dan dibina. Menurut Ramlah Adam (2003) masyarakat yang demokratik memiliki kebebasan untuk memlih kerajaan. Rakyat yang berfikiran matang akan menggunakan hak-hak demokrasinya dengan sewajarnya. Segala perasaan tidak puas hati dan teguran kepada kerajaan dan pemimpin perlu disalurkan melalui saluran-saluran yang tertentu dalam keadaan yang mesra dan bersifat membina.

Dalam membentuk sebuah masyarakat yang kukuh moral dan etikanya, dan utuh nilai keagamaannya perlu diseimbangkan. Sejajar dengan menjadi Malaysia negara maju, rakyat harus kita mempunyai budi pekerti yang luhur, nilai-nilai moral, etika, keagamaan dan kerohanian yang utuh sepanjang masa. Keadaan ini membolehkan rakyat Malaysia bersaing di peringkat global sebagai bangsa yang bertamadun dan berdaulat. Setiap warganegara tidak harus menafikan nilai-nilai moral dalam hidup bagi bersaing secara kompetetif di peringkat global. Keteguhan nilai-nilai yang positif wajar disemai di dalam jiwa masyarakat  tanpa mengira latar belakang, budaya dan agama supaya dapat kita memberi komitmen sebagai bangsa Malaysia yang semerlang.

Dalam konteks masyarakat majmuk, proses mewujudkan masyarakat yang matang dan bersifat toleran adalah Cabaran kelima dalam Wawasan 2020 yang memberi fokus aspek perpaduan wajar dipupuk dalam segenap lapisan rakyat Malaysia. Perpaduan akan memberi banyak kebaikan dalam perhubungan antara kaum di negara ini. Sikap tolak ansur yang ada pada rakyat Malaysia dapat melahirkan dan mengekalkan perpaduan kaum dalam jangka masa panjang dan menjadi landasn kepada kerjasama seterusnya. Peristiwa sejarah hitam negara, yakni 13 Mei, 1969 menjadi tanda penting akan kerapuhan perpaduan rakyat sehingga menyebabkan bencan. Keadaan sangat merugikan negara Malaysia dan masyarakat secara keseluruhannya, terutama golongan yang tidak berdosa.

Cabaran keenam ialah mewujudkan masyarakat yang saintifik dan progresif serta mempunyai wawasan hidup dapat menyerap segala perubahan persekitarannya untuk membina bangsa Malaysia yang cemerlang. Masyarakat yang moden dan peka dengan perkembangan teknologi dapat menjadi pemangkin kepada perkembangan tamadun secara saintifik dan berteknologi tinggi. Dalam era teknologi maklumat dan komuniasi (ICT) masa kini, kemajuan dan kecemerlangan diikmati adalah hasil daripada usaha dan kesungguhan setiap rakyat Malaysia yang tidak pernah putus asa. Banyak kejayaan yang dikecapi selama ini dapat menjadi pemangkin dan ikhtibar kepada kita untuk terus berjaya dan sentiasa berdaya saing di peringkat global.

 Proses melahirkan masyarakat penyayang di Malaysia merupakan satu tanggungjawab bagi memodenkan tanggapan dan pemikiran pelbagai peringkat masyarakat di Malaysia. Masyarakat yang mengamalkan budaya penyayang tidak individualistik tetapi berusaha mengukuhkan perhubungan sosial dalam kalangan mereka agar nilai-nilai kasih sayang dapat dipupuk dan diamalkan dalam perhubungan. Kasih sayang dalam kekeluargaan adalah bermula daripada kasih sayang dalam keluarga itu sendiri. Hubungan yang mesra dan akrab dapat membentuk jiwa anak-anak yang sayang akan ibu bapa mereka. Justeru, penekanan kepada nilai-nilai berbudi dan penyayang ini wajar ditanam dalam setiap benak generasi baru kini supaya sayang dan tidak memingirkan  akan orang tua mereka.

Dalam konteks ekonomi, cabaran kelapan Wawasan 2020 memberi fokus terhadap jaminan pembentukan sebauah masyarakat yang adil dari segi ekonominya. Dasar-dasar  yang berkaitan dengan ekonomi seperti Dasar Ekonomi Baru, Rancangan Pembangunan Lima Tahun dan sebagainya  memberi nafas baru dalam pengagihan ekonomi secara adil dan saksama. Kelompok rakyat yang miskin dan hidup melarat tidak wajar diketepikan kewujudan mereka dalam sebuah negara maju seperti Malaysia. Pengagihan kekayaan secara adil dan saksama dalam kalangan rakyat perlu diteruskan dengan lebih berkesan agar setiap rakyat dapat menikmati buah kemerdekaan tanpa perasaan pilih kasih.

Di samping itu, masyarakat yang makmur dapat dicirikan dengan kemewahan hidup yang baik dan mempunyai taraf hidup yang tinggi. Pada masa yang sama tiada ahli masyarakat kita yang melarat dalam kehidupan mereka. Masyarakat ini ialah masyarakat yang mempunyai daya ketahanan yang tinggi serta mampu menghadapai segala masalah dan cabaran dengan baik. Nur Munirah (2002) menyatakan masyarakat yang berdaya tahan dan saing adalah bangsa Malaysia dapat menjamin keseinambungan tamadun bangsa dan negara pada masa hadapan. Pendapatan isi rumah yang meningkat dan berada pada tahap yang tinggi  akan melahirkan kemewahan dalam kalangan masyarakat Malaysia agar mampu bedaya saing dan tabah dengan segala cabaran.

Sesungguhnya, Wawasan 2020 hanya akan menjadi kenyataan sekiranya setiap lapisan masyarakat Malaysia sentiasa berganding bahu dan sanggup memikul tanggungjawab yang berat ini bagi meneruskan kesinambungan bagi menjadikan Malaysia sebagai negara moden dan maju pada masa akan datang.