Don’t Just Talk About Morals Open Letter to MP Peya Mushelenga

ON 19 February 2007 I read in the Allgemeine Zeitung that you want to initiate a debate in Parliament about the decline of moral values among the youth of today.

Apparently you have never heard of the term called EXAMPLE otherwise you would not have initiated such a debate. The youth learn this lack of respect from their parents and other people like politicians living in their environment, as they DO read newspapers.Is the treatment by Government officials of the elderly who are experiencing problems presently with the re-registration of their pensions fair? You personally have probably never stood in a queue for five hours and more and experienced the humiliation caused to these elderly people by the Government of today of which you are a part.Do you think young people do not see this and act accordingly? The aggressive driving habits of our taxi drivers in the country (not only in Windhoek) with their total disregard of traffic laws are another example.Have you ever gone to the North with one of the minibuses? They overtake against a solid white line, drive with speeds up to 120 km per hour and more but are allowed only 100 km per hr.What is the result? Twenty-seven dead people in one accident.What are the Police doing about it? Nothing.I am on the road myself a lot.I never see any traffic Police, neither do they have any speed traps.So, law enforcement is non-existent.How do you imagine that the youth of today does not see these things? The total disregard of budgets and the disappearance of funds without trace (N$ 30mil at the SSC to mention but one) up into the highest offices in this country (the paymaster of former President Sam Nujoma cannot account for expenditure of N$ 520 000).Just open any newspaper and you find a report every day on the disappearance of funds, unauthorised expenditure, driving Government vehicles for private purposes (a common habit of so-called civil servants), fraud, corruption and similar disregard for the laws of this country.When an official is thrown out of one job because money disappeared, he is pushed into another job where he can lay his hands on even more money.So, crime pays in this country! Do you really think, Mr Mushelenga, that all this is not seen by the youth of today? Do you really think they are so stupid? I don’t think so! We elderly (and I include myself) are busy creating a generation of thieves, corrupt people, murderers and rapists by setting a bad example and not respecting the community and the laws ourselves.Our youth is dependent on us for leadership and for being someone to look up to.If parents are bad, the coming generation will be worse.So, to conclude, we should ask ourselves where we went wrong and not put the blame on the youth of today.I thank you for the patience to read my letter and appeal to you to think about what I have written.Joe Walter Via e-mailThe youth learn this lack of respect from their parents and other people like politicians living in their environment, as they DO read newspapers.Is the treatment by Government officials of the elderly who are experiencing problems presently with the re-registration of their pensions fair? You personally have probably never stood in a queue for five hours and more and experienced the humiliation caused to these elderly people by the Government of today of which you are a part.Do you think young people do not see this and act accordingly? The aggressive driving habits of our taxi drivers in the country (not only in Windhoek) with their total disregard of traffic laws are another example.Have you ever gone to the North with one of the minibuses? They overtake against a solid white line, drive with speeds up to 120 km per hour and more but are allowed only 100 km per hr.What is the result? Twenty-seven dead people in one accident.What are the Police doing about it? Nothing.I am on the road myself a lot.I never see any traffic Police, neither do they have any speed traps.So, law enforcement is non-existent.How do you imagine that the youth of today does not see these things? The total disregard of budgets and the disappearance of funds without trace (N$ 30mil at the SSC to mention but one) up into the highest offices in this country (the paymaster of former President Sam Nujoma cannot account for expenditure of N$ 520 000).Just open any newspaper and you find a report every day on the disappearance of funds, unauthorised expenditure, driving Government vehicles for private purposes (a common habit of so-called civil servants), fraud, corruption and similar disregard for the laws of this country.When an official is thrown out of one job because money disappeared, he is pushed into another job where he can lay his hands on even more money.So, crime pays in this country! Do you really think, Mr Mushelenga, that all this is not seen by the youth of today? Do you really think they are so stupid? I don’t think so! We elderly (and I include myself) are busy creating a generation of thieves, corrupt people, murderers and rapists by setting a bad example and not respecting the community and the laws ourselves.Our youth is dependent on us for leadership and for being someone to look up to.If parents are bad, the coming generation will be worse.So, to conclude, we should ask ourselves where we went wrong and not put the blame on the youth of today.I thank you for the patience to read my letter and appeal to you to think about what I have written.Joe Walter Via e-mail