At this juncture of our nation’s development we should be proud and confident of the way we organise our society. We should not lose sight of our own culture and identity. Neither should we be close-minded. Our strength in upholding the principles of justice and tolerance in a multi-religious society should be maintained continuously.
However, there is still ample room for improvement in our social organisation. Our society can attain further success and sustain the momentum if we continue to refine our way of doing things. The sound principles of adhering to high spiritual and moral values should be given more attention. These values can ensure fairness in our way of doing things.
The collapse of great civilisations of the past was basically due to their loss of spiritual and moral values. Similarly, the present advanced societies are on the decline because of such neglect. Spiritual and moral values, being a part of human requirement, provide dynamism and are always relevant in social organisations. In our move to develop our society, there should not be a loss of a noble human purpose. A definite goal that is aligned to a final purpose must be clear. Our Rukun Negara has spelt out very clearly that Malaysians should adhere to their religious beliefs. Our vision 2020 continue to be supportive of the ideal that by the year 2020 we must be able to produce a balanced society whose citizens possess strong religious and spiritual values and are imbued with the highest of ethical standards. Our present task is to translate these values into our social systems.
Islam is of the view that moral acts are not distinguished from religious acts. The more religious an individual is, the more morally-upright he will be. To Al-Ghazali, ethics is a study of certain religious beliefs which guide the rightness and wrongness of action for the purpose of practice, and not for the sake of mere knowledge. Al-Ghazali is emphatic that ethics is the paramount practical science, for he who cannot manage and direct his soul will be ill-equipped to manage the affairs of others.
In our present situation, a great concern emerging from our nation’s progress is the loss in the sense of direction among many of our people. This is taking place because we consider wealth, bodily satisfaction and sensuous pleasures as the fundamental goals of our lives.
To Islam, wealth is only an important means for man to realise a noble society. It is not an end in itself. On top of that the emancipation of human bondage of passions can lead to happiness.
It is believed that when the society’s economic condition improves there is a tendency for the society to experience a serious moral decline. It is also believed that in order to progress economically some of the society’s moral principles have to give way. Moral values are considered obstacles to economic progress according to this view.
The inverse relationship between economic progress attained and moral decline of the people is a phenomenon of a social culture influenced by hedonistic worldview and lifestyle. This philosophy of life considers the maximisation of earnings and desire as the highest virtue. The way forward for a society using this approach can lead to social disequilibrium and ultimately can affect economic productivity.
Our model of development which is in line with our national aspiration insists on the importance of upholding moral ideals in our development process. This can be achieved through translating the spirit of justice in the way we organise our economy. It also requires that a serious effort be taken to develop good moral character among our business community. A fair economic organisation provides a conducive environment for every individual to have the opportunity to participate actively in our economic activities.
It is very correct for our nation to embark on a very serious effort to develop our economy. Without economic progress we may not be able to solve a number of our basic social requirements. At the same time we should be committed that economic progress has to be achieved through ethical means and approaches.
In the present situation, our business community has a bigger role to play to ensure that they adhere closely to a set of values which would guide them in undertaking their business activities. The principle of profit with social responsibility has to be understood in a dynamic perspective. To be socially responsible is not to reduce profit earnings of the business community. Instead profit earnings are earned through bigger sales. Konosuke Matsushita argues that business should make the service to society as its objective, and while serving society profits will automatically be obtained.
Profit, which is normally understood as total revenue minus total costs, can be optimised through social responsibility. Total revenue can always be increased through bigger volume of sales. This can be made possible through producing quality products and charging competitive prices.
Total costs on the other hand can be reduced through quality production technology and efficient management. If all the above ingredients are made available to the business entity, there is a great possibility for making bigger profits. In this situation everybody will be in a win-win situation.
The establishment of a caring society as envisaged by our Vision 2020 requires the more fortunate to play positive roles towards the needy. A number of urgent agenda facing the poor such as housing, has to be tackled immediately. The business community has to lend a helping hand to complement the government’s efforts to solve the problem. It will not be a big request if every employer in the private sector can give a serious consideration for her employees to overcome the great demand for housing, particularly in the urban areas. Proper accommodation for the poor can be a good starting point for them to have an opportunity to bring up a good family. A stable society begins with good families.
Educational opportunities is another area that needs to be given serious attention. As our population increases, the costs incurred by the Government on education is also substantial. Eventually, opportunities for higher education will be very costly.
A stable and harmonious society needs literate and educated individuals. Human development through better education is not only required for economic purposes but also in creating a civil society. Our nation has made a very right decision to give greater emphasis on educational development.
Our nation’s identity can be effectively developed through education. The future generation should be individuals with good character, highly skilled, and people with a purpose. It will be big a mistake to produce a mechanistic society, whose members conduct their lives like robots. A thoughtless society is not an excellent society. Definitely the 21st century requires a sophisticated Malaysians with their own identity who are proud and ambitious and would strive very hard to fulfill the nation’s vision of a developed society.