Don’t Forget The Basic Values, Says Raja Nazrin

IPOH | A successful nation could face ruin if its people forget the basic values that propelled them to greatness in the first place, said the Regent of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah.

Raja Dr Nazrin stated that this could be seen in the history of the Samarkand city in Uzbekistan and the Ottoman Empire.

“Visiting Uzbekistan in 2011, I have seen the historic city of Samarkand, a main trading point along the famed Silk Road and a home to diverse religions and ethnic groups.

“The city was also a knowledge hub where intellectuals such as Ibn Sina were born, but unfortunately internal leadership conflict gave rise to political instability and the city failed to develop technologies on sea transportation, which ended their golden years,” he said during the Perak Islamic and Malay Customs Council 183rd conference yesterday.

Raja Dr Nazrin also pointed out that the Ottoman Empire was prosperous but in the 17th century, it was met with challenges ranging from loss of territory, weakening army, political and economic stagnation.

The empire's leadership have continuously failed to carry out political reforms, intellectual rise and new technological innovation. Any other modernisation efforts by the leadership were also met with great resistance from leaders, the army and the people who were conservative in their thoughts.

As the 14th century sociologist Abdul Rahman Ibn Khaldun observed, when a community attains wealth, their character becomes weak, he said, adding that the two nations served as an important reminder to all.

Earlier, Raja Dr Nazrin received a total of RM7.4mil zakat contribution from five agencies in Perak for the year 2012 and presented it to the council's chief executive officer Datuk Dr Syed Omar Sharifuddin Syed Ikhsan.

Also present were Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and state secretary Datuk Abdul Puhat Mat Nayan.

- TheStar