{"id":29941,"date":"2021-10-06T09:41:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T01:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/new-wp\/?p=29941"},"modified":"2021-10-06T09:41:22","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T01:41:22","slug":"cultivating-virtuous-patriotism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/cultivating-virtuous-patriotism\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultivating Virtuous Patriotism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An influential Roman poet, Ovid, wrote in Epistulae Ex Ponto<\/em>, \u201cI know not by what sweet charm the native land draws all men nor allows them to forget her.\u201d Those who have had the experience of travelling to other countries indeed felt the then longing to return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English proverb \u201cEast, west, home\u2019s the best\u201d <\/em>has a more poignant native version: \u201cHujan emas perak di negeri orang, hujan keris lembing di negeri kita; baik juga di negeri kita.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it is often said, a patriot would lay down his life for his country. But what causes such extent of patriotism, such love of one\u2019s nation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First and foremost, there are shared moral values including of justice and fairness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps nothing symbolises this emphatic justice more than the Oath of Office of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong that \u201cWe shall justly and faithfully<\/em> perform our duties in the administration of Malaysia in accordance with its laws and Constitution\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This affirms the constant command in the Qur\u2019an: \u201cO believers, be you custodians of justice\u2026\u201d (4:135) and \u201cBe just: this is closest to god fearing. And fear Allah; surely Allah is well aware of all that you do\u201d (5:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This country strives to achieve political justice via democratic practises. It abhors absolutism with no adequate check and balance. The vision is to formulate laws and inclusive policies towards protecting the weak, vulnerable and powerless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rukun Negara<\/em> emphasises another dimension of justice, of economic fairness, as a basis to combat corrupt system which allows the rich to stockpile national wealth at the expense of the poor and the helpless. The Qur\u2019an prescribes distributive justice thus: \u201cwealth should not circulate solely among the rich\u201d (59:7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scholars of Islam interpret the imperative \u201cLove of one\u2019s country is part of Faith (hubb al-watan min al-Iman<\/em>)\u201d as referring to practising charity for the needy, indigent and deprived. On the contrary, immoral or blind patriotism has no place in Islam.       <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Malaysians are not identical in terms of race, culture and language, patriotism enables us to inherit our colourful multi-cultural traditions in stride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Islam recognises human differences in skin colour and languages as among portents of the Almighty Creator, as explained in the Quran: \u201cAnd of His signs is the creation of the heavens and earth and the variety of your tongues and hues. Surely in that are signs for those who know\u201d (30:22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In appreciation of Malaysia\u2019s diversity, a patriot safeguards legitimate interest of all including the minority. No compulsion exists in national policies of religion, culture, and of learning and speaking other languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An intolerant, narrow perception of cultural differences is not an option. Patriotic Malaysians would rather strive to have a fair appreciation of diverse cultural elements, while taking into account Malay and Islamic culture without any chauvinistic elements whatsoever, as outlined in National Cultural Policy <\/em>since early 1970\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given our diverse races and tongues in a relatively young nation-state, for the sake of social integrity and healthy communication, the Constitution enshrines that there should be one national language, the Malay language, nurturing patriotism through common language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disunity looms on the horizon if and when the national language is neglected in cultivating \u201cnational identity\u201d despite it being the mother tongue of a singularly largest majority of around 60 per cent of the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another factor significant for patriotism is termed a \u201cshared historical destiny\u201d by Tan Sri Dr Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Stuart Mill\u2019s major work Representative Government<\/em> singled out the strongest cause of patriotism as \u201cidentity of political antecedents\u201d, defined as \u201cthe possession of national history, and consequent community of recollections; collective pride and humiliation, pleasure and regret, connected with the same incidents in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rukun Negara <\/em>affirms courtesy and kindness (kesopanan dan kesusilaan<\/em>) as the most important trait in social relations of diverse backgrounds. On the contrary, arrogance and causing offence to the feelings of others are condemned, regardless whether it is committed by the rich, the powerful, or linguistic and cultural chauvinists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Prophet Muhammad promotes affectionate friendship by saying, \u201cLove for humanity what you love for yourself\u201d and \u201cHearts naturally love those who are kind to them, and despise those who are cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a basic obligation in human relationship to have compassion and pity, including mutual forgiveness of human weaknesses; openheartedness; benevolence; and loves the goodness, benefits and prosperity gained by others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A proper education cultivates virtuous patriotism, an enabler to appreciating each other. Children learned it through practical examples of their parents, family, teachers and educational institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If leaders of government at all levels are sufficiently fulfilling the needs of Malaysians, then respect and attachment to this country will be heightened. American statesman, Alexander Hamilton, once cautioned, \u201cA government continually at a distance and out of sight can hardly be expected to interest the sensations of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An influential Roman poet, Ovid, wrote in Epistulae Ex Ponto, \u201cI know not by what sweet charm the native land draws all men nor allows them to forget her.\u201d Those who have had the experience of travelling …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}