TS,Tuesday 28 June 2011
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar was recently reported to have said that good-looking police officers would be assigned to portray a friendlier look for the force.
It is noteworthy to be aware that we are always communicating through our facial expression, posture and gesture, commonly referred to as body language, without having to say a word.
When talking to others, our visual appearance has greater impact than the tone of our voice. Surprisingly, the words used matter little and this is lucky for us. We often suffer from poor choice of words due to our poor mastery of language.
Therefore, it is essential to look good to others rather than merely be good-looking. Those with good looks can appear even uglier when angry.
They must also develop what they have between their ears in order to look intelligent and smart, and their hearts to look kind.
Any good-hearted person looks beautiful. A person with such virtue naturally displays courtesy and it can be easily seen and immediately felt by others.
Lest we forget, courtesy and morality is included in our national philosophy known as the Rukunegara and most Malaysians can remember by heart all the five principles.
Other than for passing exams, rote learning is of little use as knowing does not equate to applying. The importance of courtesy is not fully realised and, as a result, it is lacking in all levels of our society.
To promote courtesy in the tourism industry, a national travel association is offering training workshops for both the public and private sectors.
Participants can discuss their concerns in any of the 50 tourism sub-sectors found in the workbook which contains 350 questions to help raise their level of awareness.
For example, the first two questions on police are “Were the presence of police officers reassuring or intimidating?” and “Do they seem approachable or otherwise?”
Raising our level of courtesy can improve the quality of life more than any other initiatives. Displaying courtesy can prevent and stop frequent petty quarrels and unnecessary arguments.
The onus to show courtesy lies on every individual and organization. To be more courteous, we need to raise our emotional intelligence.
After learning about sentiments and courtesy in a workshop, participants are required to pledge on how they can be more courteous and to keep practicing it until it becomes a habit.
I made the mistake of wearing a stern look - inspired by Sean Connery (James Bond) - in my teenage years, falsely thinking that it would make me more macho.
After several decades, it has still not worn off. I regret for not showing courtesy with a friendlier look. As such, it is easy to understand why some police officers can look fierce, considering what they have to put up with.
Happily, all this is set to change. If successful, it would be a great transformation for our Royal Malaysian Police and a great legacy for our IGP.
YS Chan
Kuala Lumpur
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