Starting them young
35 years ago, P.Ganason (FSKK 80) was a degree student in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) who decided to go deep into Tembangau to the rural Orang Asli village of Pos Iskandar for his thesis. Ganason stayed in Pos Iskandar, nearly an hour’s drive from Bandar Bera, for three months while he worked on his thesis, which was a case study on the socioeconomic interaction between the orang asli and the outside world. “Back then there were no tarred roads, it was only gravel all the way. Tasik Bera was also big and I went there to swim everyday,” said Ganason, who is now director of Terengganu MACC. “It was a simple life here as they could get fish from the lake, vegetables from the fertile land and there were fruits every season throughout the year.” Remembering the pleasant times he had here, Ganason wanted to give something back to the community in Pos Iskandar and as MACC director, he decided
to bring the Wira AntiRasuah or WAR (AntiCorruption Champions) programme to SKIskandar on Wednesday.
Ganason said the programme was targeted at primary pupils toraise their awareness on the MACC and its fight against
corruption. He added that teaching primary school children about anticorruption measures and moral values was something he had learned when he was doing his masters in anticorruption studies at the International AntiCorruption Academy in Vienna, Austria. “I believe in teaching them in primary school and not in secondary because by then, they are already exposed to all sorts of negative and unwanted elements, so it is more difficult to mould them then,” he said. Ganason first gave the 36 Primary Six pupils a short ISminute talk on moral values and anticorruption. In the evening, Ganason and some of his staff had a friendly field hockey match with some of the children. “They also learnt to spell counter corruption words and terminologies in English and Malay as well as explain their meanings. Most of them performed superbly,” he said. SK Iskandar senior assistant teacher of administration Abdul Khalid Hashim said the presenceof outsiders in the village always got the children excited.
“When outsiders visit, they are more happy and attentive. They are exposed to something new and have fun learning and it is a new experience for them,” Abdul Khalid said.
He added that what the children learn, they will remember and carry with themwhen they grow up and go out into the world. “People here are not as aware of corruption issues. They may see the importance of what they learn now in the future and see how corruption can spoil a country,” he said.
