Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Minister calls for individual social responsibility to keep Kuching clean
A State minister yesterday called for the introduction of what he termed as "individual social responsibility" (ISR) to engage people from all walks of life to keep the city clean and scenic.
Environment and Public Health Minister Datuk Michael Manyin reckoned that such concept needed to be promoted in every city dweller rather than emphasizing too much on corporate social responsibility (CSR), which the government proposed more than two years ago. "Individuals have social responsibilities also, not only the corporate sector. If we all say this is not my job, that is not my job, there is no way we can make the city beautiful. It is the responsibility of each and everyone of us who lives in the city to make the place clean, green and beautiful. This is not the sole responsibility of the local councils and the government", he stressed.
Manyin made the remarks when officiating at the Tree-planting Day jointly organized by Kuching South City Council (MBKS), KTS Trading Sdn Bhd and Andreas STIHL AG Co Germany in conjunction with the 40th KTS-STIHL partnership anniversary at Muara Tabuan here when more than 400 trees were planted.
http://www.mbks.gov.my/pressdetails.asp?mode=187
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Individual Social Responsibility
From a post by Suresh Govindarajan in http://www.siv-g.org/joomla/content/view/155/29/
there is a need for a strong commitment from every individual to contribute to the society. This commitment is what I would call as Individual Social Responsibility (ISR), like the CSR. I am very keen to popularize the idea of Individual Social Responsibility (ISR). Why should we pass on the responsibility to the corporate entities which most of the time throw money like the coconut to Lord Ganesha? More than that what is needed is the commitment by the individuals through ISR. When it happens, it will be through millions of people and the impact will be unimaginable even if the contribution is minimal.
Now, what could be the first commitment one can make under ISR? A very simple one! One need not throw money (pick up the coconut). It must be the commitment of demonstrating one’s integrity and honesty in every walks of life and being not very selfish! This is something which is absolutely in one’s hand and one need not look out on external materiallistic things on which we do not have any control. There cannot be a greater commitment and contribution to the society by an individual than this little one as Individual Social Responsibility! Once this basic commitment is fulfilled, then, perhaps an individual can think of higher commitments and then go on to the commitment of corporate social responsibility. If the ISR becomes a way of life, then perhaps, there would be hardly any need for CSR, because by fulfilling the commitments of ISR, every part of the society, including the corporate would have made a strong foundation on which the whole society operate in a much better way.
After all, it is said “give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you!” Perhaps, the commitment through ISR is the best way to demonstrate our basic character (like integrity, honesty and so on) to the society, if not the best in us, which in turn will come back to us from the society in the best way!
there is a need for a strong commitment from every individual to contribute to the society. This commitment is what I would call as Individual Social Responsibility (ISR), like the CSR. I am very keen to popularize the idea of Individual Social Responsibility (ISR). Why should we pass on the responsibility to the corporate entities which most of the time throw money like the coconut to Lord Ganesha? More than that what is needed is the commitment by the individuals through ISR. When it happens, it will be through millions of people and the impact will be unimaginable even if the contribution is minimal.
Now, what could be the first commitment one can make under ISR? A very simple one! One need not throw money (pick up the coconut). It must be the commitment of demonstrating one’s integrity and honesty in every walks of life and being not very selfish! This is something which is absolutely in one’s hand and one need not look out on external materiallistic things on which we do not have any control. There cannot be a greater commitment and contribution to the society by an individual than this little one as Individual Social Responsibility! Once this basic commitment is fulfilled, then, perhaps an individual can think of higher commitments and then go on to the commitment of corporate social responsibility. If the ISR becomes a way of life, then perhaps, there would be hardly any need for CSR, because by fulfilling the commitments of ISR, every part of the society, including the corporate would have made a strong foundation on which the whole society operate in a much better way.
After all, it is said “give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you!” Perhaps, the commitment through ISR is the best way to demonstrate our basic character (like integrity, honesty and so on) to the society, if not the best in us, which in turn will come back to us from the society in the best way!
Social Responsibility - Individuals
Individual Responsibility and Civil Involvement with Others
Definition
Individual responsibility and civil involvement with others are traits that grow with the opportunities to share mutual tasks in a democracy. These tasks should be accomplished in a orderly fashion for the welfare of the group. The work should encompass personal independence and individual rights while accommodating the responsibility necessary to maintain group orderliness.
Checklist of Observable Behaviors
___ 1. Reliability
___ 2. Trust (competency, commonality, propriety, intent)
___ 3. Self-control
___ 4. Sensitivity to group needs and group problems
___ 5. Promoting the best interests of the group (accountability) (key
words: comprise and accountability)
___ 6. Consciously and voluntarily following all procedures adopted
by the group (key words: following group procedures)
___ 7. Positive participation
___ 8. Patience
___ 9. Cooperative learning techniques
___ 10. A behavior appropriate to the situation
___ 11. Sense of community within a classroom or a school, or
fostering stronger ties for the student with the community
beyond the school; community service and involvement
___ 12. Civil non-participation when appropriate (against your
beliefs)
___ 13. Contributing one’s own identity and uniqueness to the
group process
Reference
Good, C. V. (1973). Dictionary of education. New York: McGraw Hill.
General Example
Several key areas of learning can help educators focus on encouraging a sense of social responsibility and civil engagement: cooperative learning techniques, nonviolent management or resolution of conflict, multicultural education, environmental education, global education, the creation of a sense of community within a classroom or a school, and fostering stronger ties for the student with the community beyond the school (La Farge, 1992, p. 348).
A teacher might use a specific person as an example who could illustrate individual responsibility and civil involvement with others. A good example of these skills is Mahatma Gandhi, who was the personification of responsibility. Starting from the fact that he was one of the few men in history to fight simultaneously on moral, religious, political, social, economic, and cultural fronts, the teacher might focus on the idea of responsibility.
As a moralist, Gandhi was preoccupied with personal integrity and individual responsibility. He had great difficulty in coming to terms with the need for collective discipline and the moral compromises required by membership of the state. Gandhi claimed that every citizen was responsible for his actions and that responsibility was in no way diminished by what others did or did not do.
However, in his opinion it was wrong to say that what an isolated individual did had no wider consequences. For Gandhi it was the citizen’s sense of moral responsibility for his own actions that ultimately determined the character of the state. Men were responsible for one another, and if one of them turned delinquent, the rest could not disown their equal responsibility for his behavior. Even as a wrongdoer must search his conscience, the others must probe theirs.
The slow and painful task of cultivating and consolidating the sense of humanity, and thereby laying the foundations of a truly moral community, was an essentially collective responsibility. In Gandhi’s view the citizen is responsible for the actions of his government. The citizen is a party to its actions and partly responsible for their consequences. A citizen cannot hide behind the façade of collective responsibility, for it is composed of and does not replace individual responsibility (Parekh, 1989).
Classroom Example
The teacher can involve high school students in activities in which they can play the teacher role. For instance, the students may create hands-on science activities. By demonstrating them to younger students, the high school students show individual responsibility in their work because they are playing the teacher role. This activity provides opportunities for civil involvement with others through engaging the younger students in the hands-on activities.
References
La Farge, P. (1992). Teaching social responsibility in the schools. In S. Staub & P. Green (Eds.), Psychology and social responsibility: Facing global challenges (p. 348). New York: New York University Press.
McLaughlin, J. (1999). Ocean Exhibits [Video]. INTIME: Integrating New Technologies Into the Methods of Education. [On-line]. Available: http://www.intime.uni.edu
Parekh, B. C. (1989). Gandhi’s political philosophy. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
http://fp.uni.edu/model/democracy/indi.html
Definition
Individual responsibility and civil involvement with others are traits that grow with the opportunities to share mutual tasks in a democracy. These tasks should be accomplished in a orderly fashion for the welfare of the group. The work should encompass personal independence and individual rights while accommodating the responsibility necessary to maintain group orderliness.
Checklist of Observable Behaviors
___ 1. Reliability
___ 2. Trust (competency, commonality, propriety, intent)
___ 3. Self-control
___ 4. Sensitivity to group needs and group problems
___ 5. Promoting the best interests of the group (accountability) (key
words: comprise and accountability)
___ 6. Consciously and voluntarily following all procedures adopted
by the group (key words: following group procedures)
___ 7. Positive participation
___ 8. Patience
___ 9. Cooperative learning techniques
___ 10. A behavior appropriate to the situation
___ 11. Sense of community within a classroom or a school, or
fostering stronger ties for the student with the community
beyond the school; community service and involvement
___ 12. Civil non-participation when appropriate (against your
beliefs)
___ 13. Contributing one’s own identity and uniqueness to the
group process
Reference
Good, C. V. (1973). Dictionary of education. New York: McGraw Hill.
General Example
Several key areas of learning can help educators focus on encouraging a sense of social responsibility and civil engagement: cooperative learning techniques, nonviolent management or resolution of conflict, multicultural education, environmental education, global education, the creation of a sense of community within a classroom or a school, and fostering stronger ties for the student with the community beyond the school (La Farge, 1992, p. 348).
A teacher might use a specific person as an example who could illustrate individual responsibility and civil involvement with others. A good example of these skills is Mahatma Gandhi, who was the personification of responsibility. Starting from the fact that he was one of the few men in history to fight simultaneously on moral, religious, political, social, economic, and cultural fronts, the teacher might focus on the idea of responsibility.
As a moralist, Gandhi was preoccupied with personal integrity and individual responsibility. He had great difficulty in coming to terms with the need for collective discipline and the moral compromises required by membership of the state. Gandhi claimed that every citizen was responsible for his actions and that responsibility was in no way diminished by what others did or did not do.
However, in his opinion it was wrong to say that what an isolated individual did had no wider consequences. For Gandhi it was the citizen’s sense of moral responsibility for his own actions that ultimately determined the character of the state. Men were responsible for one another, and if one of them turned delinquent, the rest could not disown their equal responsibility for his behavior. Even as a wrongdoer must search his conscience, the others must probe theirs.
The slow and painful task of cultivating and consolidating the sense of humanity, and thereby laying the foundations of a truly moral community, was an essentially collective responsibility. In Gandhi’s view the citizen is responsible for the actions of his government. The citizen is a party to its actions and partly responsible for their consequences. A citizen cannot hide behind the façade of collective responsibility, for it is composed of and does not replace individual responsibility (Parekh, 1989).
Classroom Example
The teacher can involve high school students in activities in which they can play the teacher role. For instance, the students may create hands-on science activities. By demonstrating them to younger students, the high school students show individual responsibility in their work because they are playing the teacher role. This activity provides opportunities for civil involvement with others through engaging the younger students in the hands-on activities.
References
La Farge, P. (1992). Teaching social responsibility in the schools. In S. Staub & P. Green (Eds.), Psychology and social responsibility: Facing global challenges (p. 348). New York: New York University Press.
McLaughlin, J. (1999). Ocean Exhibits [Video]. INTIME: Integrating New Technologies Into the Methods of Education. [On-line]. Available: http://www.intime.uni.edu
Parekh, B. C. (1989). Gandhi’s political philosophy. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
http://fp.uni.edu/model/democracy/indi.html
Social Responsibility - Articles
Social Responsibility and Accountability: Summary
by Manfred Davidmann
Contents
Social Responsibility and Accountability
Social Responsibility of Those Who Govern, Direct, Lead or Manage
Countering Antisocial Behaviour
Social Benefits and Costs
Worldwide
http://www.solhaam.org/teachings/sclacc.html
A Code of Social Responsibility as a Social Contract
Keith Rankin
Social Responsibility Conference
Massey University, Albany Campus; 12-15 February 1998.
http://keithrankin.co.nz/krnkn_SocResp.html
by Manfred Davidmann
Contents
Social Responsibility and Accountability
Social Responsibility of Those Who Govern, Direct, Lead or Manage
Countering Antisocial Behaviour
Social Benefits and Costs
Worldwide
http://www.solhaam.org/teachings/sclacc.html
A Code of Social Responsibility as a Social Contract
Keith Rankin
Social Responsibility Conference
Massey University, Albany Campus; 12-15 February 1998.
http://keithrankin.co.nz/krnkn_SocResp.html
Social Responsibility - People
On the basis of this analysis, the MLPC has adopted the slogan For Us, Accountability Begins at Home. At its centre is the recognition that when society is being held back and every avenue to solving its problems is obstructed, the working class and people take up their own social responsibility to change the situation.http://www.cpcml.ca/Tmld2006/D36142.htm
September 27, 2006 - No. 142
Inquiry Into Canada's System of Government
Conception of Accountability in the
Federal Accountability Act
- Sandra L. Smith, National Leader, Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada -
September 27, 2006 - No. 142
Inquiry Into Canada's System of Government
Conception of Accountability in the
Federal Accountability Act
- Sandra L. Smith, National Leader, Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada -
Social Responsibility - Meeting of Asian Political Parties
36. We believe governments should nurture political cultures that enable citizens to exercise civic and social responsibility to realize their potential to lead meaningful lives. And for this purpose, we see our own role as that of bringing our governments and citizens together in partnership.
1st ICAPP: Conference Declaration
Part of
Asian Declaration 2000
Manila, Philippines
THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ASIAN POLITICAL PARTIES
17-20 September 2000
http://www.idcpc.org.cn/icapp3/2004-06/23/content_2369370.htm
1st ICAPP: Conference Declaration
Part of
Asian Declaration 2000
Manila, Philippines
THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ASIAN POLITICAL PARTIES
17-20 September 2000
http://www.idcpc.org.cn/icapp3/2004-06/23/content_2369370.htm
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