Rights and obligations

It is said that the ideal society is one where the strong are held in check and the weak are protected, in which personal freedom exists alongside the force and power necessary for good order and government.

But what about personal responsibility? Can a decent society exist without it?

A council of elder statespeople believe it cannot. That is why they have drafted a "Universal Declaration of Human Obligations" to add balance to the world human rights charter.

We should not place too much emphasis on the word "elder" when assessing the contribution of the council.

This is not a group of senior citizens wagging admonitory fingers at their juniors, although members of the younger generation certainly need to be reminded that a sense of obligation and fulfillment of duty must stand alongside the rights to which they are entitled.

Far more relevant than the age of council members is the geographical composition of the group. East and West are represented. The 29 members include Singapore's political patriarch Lee Kuan Yew, former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter and former Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser.

Obligations listed in the 19-point proposed declaration cover individuals, governments, business and religious groups and the media.

Few will argue with the emphasis placed on such values as respect for life, just and proper use of wealth and power, non- discrimination against people of different faiths, non-violence, protection of the environment, honest dealings and other norms of behavior.

In Hong Kong, meanwhile, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has unequivocally stated that individual rights should never take precedence over community interests.

It has been suggested that Tung was merely making a virtue out of necessity by saying this. But that just underlines the fact that individual responsibility is a necessary component of a decent society.

-- The Hong Kong Standard