Students learn about ethics
Society will plunge into turmoil if members are smart but unethical, according to the Siam Cement Group.
With this in mind, the company recently held a two-day "smart and noble workshop" in Prachuap Khiri Khan. The workshop was for top fourth-year students from seven universities who were recipients of the Siam Cement talent scholarship. It intended to "inculcate good governance and conscience in the cream of students". "My experience here has reminded me that knowledgeable and competent people are not necessarily good. Some of them have harmed society," said Saowalak Sonthornprapaporn, a 22-year-old student from Chulalongkorn University. The scholarship offers non-binding grants to the two top students in engineering, science, accountancy and commerce and business administration at Chulalongkorn, Thammasat, Kasetsart universities and the Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, and King Mongkut's University of Technology at Thon Buri, North Bangkok and Lat Krabang. The best student from each programme gets Bt30,000 and the second Bt20,000. Siam Cement Foundation director Suranuch Thongsila said scholarship recipients were clearly the cream of students and it was sound to promote ethics before they enter the workforce. "These students are going to play a role, one way or another, in the county. They are already highly competent and determined," she said. Workshop participants were required to draw business solutions for different scenarios. The solutions had to seek fairness, not just business survival. Participants were encouraged to organise a theatrical performance for social benefit. This prodded them to think of how to repay society in the future. Rawiwan Koanantachai of Thammasat University said she was determined to do good, regardless of whether her deeds are noticed. "We should never be discouraged or ashamed of doing good things. If all of us do good, our society will be a much better place to live in," she said. Virot Chiraphadhanakul of Chulalongkorn University will embrace ideas from the workshop. "We can't live without our society. Therefore, we must not harm society," he said.
Mayuree Sukyingcharoenwong The Nation
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