Module 5: Ethics and Law

Many might think that we behave ethically when we obey the law. However, conformation with the law alone is not enough for ethically responsible behaviors. Many will think that something is “wrong” only if the laws forbid it and vice versa. We must not accept this attitude because “legal” and “moral” are two different things. Law does punish many actions that are morally wrong like murder but law also allows many actions that are morally offensive such as taking advantage of people.

There were a few cases where the outcomes were legally rights but morally questioned. For example in the case involving Tammi C. Allen and Sidney Mcphee. There are huge problems with a system that requires a victim of sexual harassment to have the outcome of her reporting it depend on the findings of a committee that would be put together by the person who harassed her. To establish and enforce a policy with such potential for misuse and abuse is morally wrong. Although it is legally right but morally it is had us queried whether it is right morally to take such actions.

In Malaysia, crimes such as snatch thief do happen daily. Through the media, we see the culprits were beaten up badly by those who caught them. Although these perpetrators have caused great harm to the victims- that does not warrant the actions taken by those who caught them. Beating up an individual no matter him is a criminal or not is punishable by law. So, we should not take the law into our own hands.

Law is the collection of rules imposed by authority. It is imposed to maintain the moral values of the society. Without law, more criminals would happen in this world. Thus, the enforcement of law is important in encouraging and ensuring good behavior of the people.

In this module 5, I realized that we must do our parts as citizen in Malaysia. For example, we should report to the police when we witness a crime like snatch thief. This is important so that we could help the society to reduce the crimes in our country.