Doing the Right Thing!

January 3, 2020

“Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching – even when doing the wrong thing is legal” Aldo Leopoldo.

First time I read it, I was impressed.  Ever since, I value this principle, apply it to my daily life.  I also place this moral standard upon my friends, my co-workers, my family members and even a stranger.  Rich or poor, educated or uneducated, politician or artist, emperor or common people, ethical behavior must live in everyone’s mind and soul.  It differentiates us from beast, so we do not steal, cheat, lie, and are unkind to others.

Do the right thing should be our instinct, something with which we are born.  I remember my professor once said, “We ought to obey rules and do the right thing.  We may think laws and orders take away our freedom for they restrict what we can and cannot do.  For example, one may not cross a street when the red light is on.  If we follow laws and orders, one day, we will realize that what we conform to do becomes what we enjoy doing, what we ought to do turns to what we love doing.  That is when ultimate happiness is achieved.”  It sounded so profound and I could not fully comprehend it first, but it stays with me all these years.

No one should succumb oneself to unethical behavior.  Bad conduct, if it is not corrected and reprimanded, can create a toxic environment, deteriorate our heart and soul.  I once, risked my career to report to the authority of unethical conducts committed by a senior government official.  The process, although took years and I encountered numerous setbacks, I NEVER gave in.   At the end, justice was done.

I take no pleasure seeing anyone lose a job, but my determination to do the right thing restores victim’s hope that no one is above the laws.  If one commits a wrongful act, there are consequences, and in due course, he/she will be punished.   No one, certainly, is untouchable!