Have a Meaningful Aidil Fitri - tomorrow in The Star

HAVE A MEANINGFUL AIDIL FITRI

Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub – Saladin (ca. 1138 – 1193); 

the gentleman warrior who was noted for his chivalry, magnanimity, compassion and sensibility even during times of war.

Choose the middle path: End does not justify the means.

Conflicts exist in the realm of politics, business and personal interactions. There must be certain rules of engagement in dealing with dissension. We must learn how to disagree and yet, respect each other.

Saladin, in motivating his army, did not condemn the opposing side. He pointed out the virtues that make their opponents strong, honoured and made them an example. He was a true leader.

Unlike Saladin, many of our leaders and their supporters play the zero-sum game and push things to the extreme. This gradually creates a divisive “I’m right and you’re wrong” gulf, leaving no room or possibility in seeing the good in others. This is poisonous.

We need to better our rules of engagement.

We need Malaysians:

Who know how to balance ambition and courtesy.

Who know how to compromise and yet stay true to their core values.

Who know it is vital to find a win-win situation.

Who engage each other in a civil and gentlemanly manner.

Who can disagree while respecting the other.

Who believe the end does not justify the means.

When we have better rules of engagement, we will have a positive culture to pass down to our young. We will create a nation that encourages courtesy, civility, thinking in our discourse and articulation.

Our legacy is to create a nation who believes in winning with honour and not to sacrifice the means in achieving the end.

At zubedy, our programs draw strength from shared values and traditions. We believe that at heart, all Malaysians want good things for themselves and for their brother and sister Malaysians, simply because our nation cannot prosper as a whole if some of us are left behind.

Let us be first and foremost Malaysians.