Human values as important as growth, says Anwar
NILAI: The nation’s development needs to be in tandem with the emphasis on humanitarian aspects to boost Islamic understanding, said former Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim) chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
However, Anwar said, at the moment, efforts to show Islamic understanding were facing the challenges of knowledge, understanding and attitude.
“Our economic view must not be only good governance and no corruption, but there must be human values too.
“Because, sometimes, development in terms of numbers shows stunning growth, but the human dimension is marginalised,” he said at the “National Seminar: The Islamic Vision in the New Malaysia Aspiration” in conjunction with the 47th general assembly organised by Abim.
Anwar said it was one of the approaches that the government tried to implement, but it needed to be strengthened.
He called on Malay children to master the Chinese language as it was an important regional “economic language”.
“Mastery of other languages must be supported, but it does not mean that I am defending Chinese and English languages.
“The Chinese language is a strategic regional economic language, provided it is accepted without questioning the position of the Malay language as the national language.”